Personal Branding

Social Networking Paul W. Reidl, Esq. TMGuy – On February 1, 2009, at the height of the recession, I left a good job and started my own firm. I believed in the power of my Personal Brand and the power of social networking as a tool to market it. And more than one person thought I was certifiably insane.

Social Networking: Prologue “Even though I’d been building my Personal Brand for nearly 30 years the first thing I did was to reduce it to writing: Who am I and why should you entrust your important legal matters to me?”

Social Networking: The Plan “Smart and continual use of Social Media to leverage and enhance my Personal Brand.”

Social Networking: Implementing the Plan 1.Build a good on-line profile that describes your Personal Brand. It took me almost 2 years to do a web site because my brand was evolving quickly. Continual revision. 2.Aggressively mine your contacts: –Past colleagues and clients (external and internal) –Past employers –Everyone on your Outlook Contacts List –Friends –Send a “personalized” note and start a conversation about them; let them ask about you –This is a true test of the effectiveness of your Personal Brand

Social Networking: Implementing the Plan 3.Mine your contacts’ contacts 4.Put your brand on –Plan your tweets (Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday) –Make them interesting (blog, cases, thoughts) –Goal: brand enhancement 5. Use a Program such as Tweet Deck to monitor Social Media and cross post.

Social Networking: Implementing the Plan 6.Keep business separate from your social friends. 7.Continuous contacts with your contacts in response to their posts and tweets. 8.Join the conversation: blog, answer questions, join groups and comment. But remember, every post is an expression of your personal brand.

Social Networking: Implementing the Plan 9.Always look for opportunities to expand your network of contacts. 10. Repeat continuously and daily. 11. Think long-term; be patient. 12. Remember: this is only one tool and is not a substitute for all of the others at your disposal.

Social Networking: Metrics “So you talked the talk, now how did your plan work out in practice?

Social Networking: Metrics – 0 % Web Site – 5 % INTA contacts – 15 % “Old Fashioned” (including referrals) – 80 % Social Networking 60 % “reconnects” 20 % “new”

The Golden Rule of Personal Branding Do onto others As they would like to be done onto! (Winston Churchill)

Thank You & Good Luck