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Seth Godin's seminar for good causes
Below is the video I created from my recent trip to New York City. I attended a lecture Seth Godin gave to non-profit executives and change agents on the topic of spreading ideas using storytelling and the importance of understanding individuals' worldview.
I went on behalf of the Society of Professional Journalists' Digital Media Committee - of which I am the chair.
And I expect to be back in New York City in only a few more days to run in the ING New York City Marathon 2009!
Never Run Alone: Social Media
Social Media and Online Reputation Management
Don't take a traditional approach to branding yourself.
As an aspiring professional athlete highlight your skills and experience using all the tools the web has to offer.
As Human Resource departments across America begin performing background checks that include social networks i.e., Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn - so are college admissions officers and potential private and corporate sponsors.
Take action today and clean up your online portfolio.
It's an unfair fact of life that you are often judged by the company with which you keep. If your online persona doesn't match the reputation you are seeking to maintain in public, it's time to start actively managing your online portfolio. What does this mean? You can begin by deleting disreputable photos and posts on your accounts. Jokes in poor taste, nudity, excessive use of expletives, drug use, and you in a drunken stupor are all destined for the ethereal trash bin. Asking your friends and family to delete content that puts you in an unfavorable light is also a necessary, although unpleasant, step.
Why are you doing this? Online reputation management. You are protecting brand YOU. Do you want Google searches of your name to deliver stellar race results and broadcast interview snippets posted on YouTube or content that leaves your potential college-of-choice coach flabbergasted?
Read this: You Can Reinvent Yourself Online
Can you immediately answer the question:
How many online accounts do I have?
If you had to stop and think about it, there is a good chance you have a number of social networks that you haven't updated and have left to die on the vine.
You may have forgotten about them, but your future sponsor will find it. It's time to get into those accounts, and clean them up. Update them to represent the new, professional brand YOU. Or simply kill them off for good.
TIP: Cross promote yourself on each of your social networks you do keep. By keeping your brand consistent and linking to your other online networks you increase your brand value.
Check the availability of usernames (brand YOU) on social networking and bookmarking sites now: Namechk
An example of the site in action is below:
Here is a cool tool that can help you manage your online portfolio.
In their own words: GizaPage is a social network organizer that helps consumers and brands manage their online presence by consolidating their many social networking profiles side by side under a personalized URL.
Other ways you can manage your online reputation is by setting up Google Alerts to track your name or brand YOU. Google Alerts help you monitor who is writing, blogging, posting video, etc., about you and you can't respond to things you don't know about.
Feeding the social media beasts can be time consuming. So knowing which applications to use can be vital. If you have a blog, you should be listed in Technorati – the largest blog search engine online. If you have to pick one social network to start schmoozing and branding YOU online, Facebook is currently the most trafficked social networking site. LinkedIn, Twitter and MySpace are also popular choices for individuals beginning to stretch their branding muscles.
If you need help deciding which site describes the community you’d like to be a part of – check out this article: Who Uses Social Networks and What Are They Like?
Be comfortable with the idea that in the fast-developing world of the internet, you need to be flexible and adapt to the steady influx of online applications available to you. Twittering and Tumblr are popular today, but how will they fare 6 months from now? A year?
Filtering the good applications from the bad can be a skill in and of itself. Hopefully this blog will help you solve a portion of that problem and guide you in the right direction to finding the right tools to best promote the most important brand: YOU.
For individuals who already have a comprehensive online brand (Read Never Run Alone for tips on ways you can start building brand: YOU) you have the ability to influence your success in finding a job or landing a sponsor in more ways than you might realize.
Dan Schawbel wrote a blog post '7 Secrets to Getting Your Next Job Using Social Media' which included a 3-step approach to getting a job. It can easily apply to getting a sponsor too.
1. Identify the top five companies that you would like to work for.
Use a focused approach instead of flooding thousands of inboxes with spam. You want to brand yourself, not just as the person of best fit for a job, but as someone who is eager and ecstatic to work for the company.
2. Use search engines to track employees that currently work there.
There are over 130 million blogs in Technorati and you can search through them to possibly find someone who works at one of your top five companies. You can search through corporate groups, pages and people on Facebook.
3. Connect with the person directly.
Social media has broken down barriers, to a point where you can message someone you aren’t friends with and don’t have contact information for, without any hassles. Before you message a target employee, realize that they receive messages from people asking for jobs all the time and that they might not want to be bothered on Facebook, where their true friends are. As long as you’ve done your homework on the company and them, tailor a message that states who you are and your interest, without asking for a job at first.
Read the full article: 7 Secrets to Getting Your Next Job Using Social Media
If you need more reasons to start taking up real estate on the WorldWideWeb with brand YOU using social media - beyond building valuable personal and professional relationships and improving your brand visibility – continue reading.
Being on Facebook and Twitter gives you something that Google and other search engines currently can’t – referrals for products and training tips from your friends and trusted sources.
For example, you want a better ab workout. You could easily perform a search using Google or Yahoo for 'the best ab workout', or you could ask your old college roommate that you reconnected with on Facebook who always sported a six-pack what technique he uses? Who is the better referral – a search engine or a trusted friend?
Using online tools can save you money too. For example, imagine you are thinking about buying a new expensive sport-related gadget. When it hits the store shelves, do you want to read a performance review by an editor at Runner's World or do you want to hear about it from one of your buddies in Boston who has also been using it for a few weeks? Do you want to read a retailer’s review online or do you want to pull in real-time twitter comments from people using the device? Twitter allows you to send an email to that user directly, which means you can ask questions and get answers about the product instantaneously. Not only can you get unfiltered information about a product you are interested in, but the process might blossom into another personal or professional connection.
Additional Resources:
To 10 Free Tools for Monitoring Your Brand's Reputation
10 Steps to the Perfect Portfolio Website
10 Ways Personal Branding Can Save You From Getting Fired
Never Run Alone, say hello to 2.0
Last night I did an indoor workout. A few miles on the treadmill, a little stair climbing and a dash of stationary biking.
While I was staring out into space and trying as hard as I could to not look at my reflection in the 20 foot long mirror positioned directly in front of me, it struck me that my series Never Run Alone is missing a section regarding the use of social media and branding. Social media can be used as a tool to connect with fans, create buzz, inform, help you stand out from the crowd, and in essence market brand YOU.
I've started working on a section that answers the questions:
Why is social media important? Or in other words, can you afford not to be involved in social media?
Never Run Alone: Marketing the Brand YOU
How to Build an Athletic Resume
Why do you want an athletic resume?
• It helps you clarify your devotion to the sport and boosts your confidence.
• It can help you find the right coach or trainer.
• It helps media personnel (reporters) get to know you and the facts about you, quickly.
• It helps sell yourself to sponsors.
Make sure you include your full name, current postal address, email address, and phone number.
TIP: If you have an offensive email address, consider setting up a new email address. Creating a new email account to market yourself also helps you separate email correspondences from your friends versus your fans/media/sponsors.
Write an objective:
What do you want to accomplish as an athlete? Be specific.
If you’re looking to snag a sponsor or a scholarship consider writing this section as though you were speaking directly to the person in charge of deciding who gets the sponsor/scholarship.
Racing Highlights:
What awards have you won that are most important to you and your sport?
Athletic Experience (race day stats):
Name of Race; Race date; Location; Your time; Awards received
If you entered a race but did not race (DNR), you’ll want to include that too. Add a brief explanation as to why you chose not to compete. Omitting this may cause complications down the road.
Current/Past Sponsors:
Who are you currently endorsing? For how long? Provide dates and obligations.
Work Experience:
This is similar to a traditional employment resume, however, it’s only necessary to list your current occupation.
If you're not a full-time athlete, fans/media/sponsors will want to know how you are supporting yourself (and your family).
Education:
List the name of the college you attended (or high school), its location (city and state) and the year you graduated or expect to graduate. Like a traditional employment resume, be sure to include your major/minor.
If you have not attended college/university, list the date you graduated high school. Be sure to provide the name of the high school and its location (city and state).
Other awards/recognition:
This is where you write in any other volunteer or non-athletic related awards that have been conferred upon you.
You can also list leadership roles in community groups, such as your local running club or local knitting group.
Skills:
Do you know a foreign language? Are you a wizard at web design?
One of these skills could make you stand out to a sponsor or create a new fan-base.
Professional Affiliations:
Are you a USATF member? Are you part of a local chapter? Are you a member of the Society of American Foresters?
Current and Past Coaches:
List your current and past coaches in reverse chronological order.
At the bottom of the resume include: References available upon request.
Have at least three people you can call on that will vouch for you. Be prepared to give a reporter or interested sponsor your reference’s full name, address, mobile and work telephone number and email address and tell them how long you’ve known the reference and in what capacity (friend, coach, boss, etc.).
Remember, the resume isn't a guarantee that you'll get an interview with media personnel or a contract with a sponsor, but it is a jumping off point for both.
ATTENTION: Make sure the spelling and grammar are correct. No typos.
BONUS POINTS: If you can create an online resume, you're way ahead of the game. This allows you to upload videos, add audio from previous interviews or link to online articles where you were mentioned. Interested? Check this out: VisualCV
Additional Resources:
The Top Ten Rules for Writing a Killer Athletic Resume
How to Write a Resume - Mahalo
How to Write an Athletic Scholarship Resume
How to Write an Athletic Resume
How to Write a Masterpiece of a Resume
Resume Writing
