BRAND THYSELF!

★
How to Use Social Media to Build a Strong Personal Brand & Rise Above the Competition

BY LINDSAY HICKS
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Insider
Guide
Brand Thyself!
How to Use Social Media to Build a Strong
Personal Brand & Rise Above the Competition

2011 edition
 Brand Thyself!

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Brand Thyself!

2011 Edition
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Brand Thyself!

CHAPTER 1 2
1 Introduction 9 You Will Be
Googled
2 What Is a Personal
Brand…and What 10 Yes, What You Do
Can It Do for Your on Social Networks
Career? Matters

3 Get Rid of Your 10 To Share or Not

Digital Dirt to Share

4 Taking Control 11 Lock It Up

5 Drafting Your 11 Show It Off

Brand Manifesto
13 Connecting the
Dots on LinkedIn

Brand Thyself !
How to Use Social Media to Build a Strong
Personal Brand & Rise Above the Competition
3456
15 Get Linked 23 Expand Your
Brand: Blogs,
33 Advertising
Your Assets
37 For Your
Reference
16 Tricking Out Your Microblogs,
LinkedIn Profile and Websites 34 Bringing It All 38 Online Resources
Together
18 Practice Good 24 Blog Your Way to 39 Blogs & Twitter
LinkedIn Etiquette a Better Brand 34 Branding
Case Study: 39 Books
18 Get With a Group 26 Tweeting Your International
Brand Aspirations 39 Articles
20 Apps to Enhance
Your Brand 28 You Dot Coms 35 The Elevator Pitch

35 That Reminds Me...

contents
Introduction

1
What Is a Personal
Brand…and What Can
It Do for Your Career?................... 2

Get Rid of Your Digital Dirt......... 3

Taking Control............................. 4

Drafting Your
Brand Manifesto........................... 5
 Brand Thyself!

What is a Personal
Introduction

essential tool when it comes to opening yourself up

Brand…And What
to new opportunities and a more satisfying career. In
CHAPTER 1

this Insider Guide, we’ll help you define, build, and

Can it Do for Your strengthen your brand. You’ll have to consider the
qualities and interests that make you who you are—and
Career? how others perceive you. Once those things are well
› You’ve been developing a personal brand defined, we’ll guide you through the process of promot-
since the day you first stepped into a classroom. Those ing your brand. And because these days, the majority
bright white socks and new shoes. The backpack with of your networking, job hunting, and socializing takes
Be Googled
CHAPTER 2

the cartoon-character theme you hand-picked. And place via the Internet, we’ll pay special attention to
You Will

remember when the teacher asked you to stand up in shaping your online profile using tools such as LinkedIn
front of your peers to describe yourself in three words? and Twitter.
Even then, you carefully picked the adjectives that
described you best with hopes of leaving a good impres-
sion on your teacher and peers.
I SPY
Your response now to the same question has likely
Get Linked

evolved into something more sophisticated than it was

CHAPTER 3

Many of the entire hiring process

back then (“silly” shouldn’t make it into your cover let- hiring managers we and then Google
ters), but the end goal remains the same: to broadcast spoke with say they candidates just
Google applicants at before making an
your strongest attributes and interests so that the people crucial stages of the offer, she opts to
around you have a clear idea of what you bring to the recruiting process, do her “Google-
Expand Your Brand

table. Branding yourself requires that you identify the such as when they screening” before
unique value you can offer an organization and com- are deciding whom interviewing even
to interview. The begins. This insider
municate a memorable and consistent message to all information found says screening can-
CHAPTER 4

current and prospective parties vested in your career. using a quick Google didates by looking
There are countless career benefits to becoming search—the photos, up their social media
the blog, the Twitter profiles early in the
associated with certain interests and characteristics, feed—helps them process decreases the
such as solid leadership skills, environmental activism, a screen for cultural fit. time it takes to weed
great sense of humor, or public speaking skills. A strong One insider told us out bad candidates.
personal brand makes you stand out from other job that although some The lesson? Before
of her colleagues in you even consider
applicants or colleagues with the same educational and human resources applying for jobs,
Your Assets
Advertising

professional background. A successful personal brand go through the clean up your act.
CHAPTER 5

also leads to more unsolicited job offers, as recruit-

ers looking for someone just like you hear about you
through word of mouth or read your blog. It can also
raise the confidence coworkers, clients, bosses, and
potential clients have in you. By knowing your passions
and strengths, you’re more likely to find greater job sat-
isfaction than someone who hasn’t spent enough time
REFERENCE
CHAPTER 6
Watch the Pros
To understand the concept of personal branding, con-
sider one of the strongest product brands out there:
Apple. In one of the most successful campaigns in
branding history, Apple personified itself as a hip,

really thinking about who she is and what she can offer. attractive, worry-free young man. In the same ad cam-
FOR YOUR

The point here: A strong personal brand is an paign, the competitor is an old, out-of-touch stick-in-

2 W E T F E E T I N S I D ER GUID E

the-mud. By reinforcing consumers’ associations with
Apple as a sleek, modern, bold, and smart company
while playing up its competitors’ weaknesses, Apple was
able to secure a whole new segment of the computer
hardware market.
Most corporations employ brand management and
marketing teams that spend countless hours dream-
ing up ways to make their products more attractive to
their target group. No doubt, Apple has a crack team of
marketing types in a locked room brainstorming and
scribbling keywords on a dry-erase board. These are
a handful of words (the emotions and qualities) they
want their brand associated with. The only difference
with personal branding is that you are the product.
“Personal branding is not about being all things
to all people—it’s about being known for something,”
says William Arruda, founder and president of Reach
Communications Consulting. Arruda has developed
quite a personal brand for himself, featured in news seg-
ments on CNN and Fox News as a personal-branding
guru. He discovered a passion for the topic after read-
ing the Tom Peters article “The Brand Called You” (Fast
Company, August, 1997), and transformed himself
from a marketing and brand-management professional
to a personal branding expert. Arruda did so by infusing
his insight, enthusiasm, and energy into every conver-
sation and piece of content about him. He developed
the strengths that made him unique—energy, personal
branding expertise, passion, a knack for public speak-
ing—into a strong personal brand that landed him gigs
at top universities and Fortune 500 companies.
INSIDEr SCOOP
“Competition is fierce and everyone has to think
about him or herself in terms of personal branding,”
says Lindsey Pollak, career expert.
Introduction
What it Means for Your Career
Similar to the crowded marketplace for consumer
CHAPTER 1
goods, thousands of qualified candidates that look
nearly identical to you on paper will submit their
resumes for the same job you’re seeking. Many will have
attended good universities, earned degrees, and have
top-notch references—just like you. It’s imperative to
set yourself apart. “Competition is fierce and every-
one has to think about him or herself in terms of per-
Be Googled
CHAPTER 2
sonal branding,” says Lindsey Pollak, career expert and
You Will
bestselling author of Getting from College to Career: 90
Things to Do Before You Join the Real World. Professionals
with successful brands infuse their unique personality
into every phone screening, interview, and face-to-face
interaction.
Get Linked
CHAPTER 3
Get Rid of Your
Digital Dirt
› The Facebook community has more than
Expand Your Brand
500 million members, LinkedIn surpassed the 85
million mark, and more than 140 million people had
joined Twitter. It’s no secret that the social-media boom
CHAPTER 4
has completely changed the way we connect with oth-
ers.
There was a time when it was easier to separate
our professional and personal lives, but that time has
passed. This can be a good thing. Just as the Internet
has made it possible for you to damage your reputation
at the click of a mouse, it’s made it possible to build a
Your Assets
Advertising
positive reputation by becoming engaged in topics that
CHAPTER 5
interest you and posting comments, photos, and links
that represent who you are and how you think.
But not everybody thinks before they post. Seventy
percent of U.S.-based human-resources staffers said
they have rejected an applicant on the basis of the can-
didate’s Internet behavior, according to a 2010 survey
by Microsoft. The same report showed that although
REFERENCE
CHAPTER 6
60 percent of Web surfers admit to being concerned
FOR YOUR
WET F EET IN S IDER GUIDE 3
 Brand Thyself!
INTRoDUCTIoN
about how their online presence could impact their
professional or personal lives, only 15 percent say they
chaPter 1
consider that when posting content.
> TIP
Before you’re done with your
online cleanup, consider
whether you have any profiles
BE GooGlED
on MySpace, Friendster, or
chaPter 2
other networks you might have
YoU WIll
left behind.
Kitsy Blanc, recruiter for accounting firm PwC,
says even though Googling candidates isn’t a part of
their candidate assessment process, she encourages job
GET lINkED
seekers to be prudent about how they behave online.
chaPter 3
“It’s important for candidates to remember that once
they start [a job], they are representing that particular
company or firm while they’re online.” If a photo or
comment isn’t appropriate for your Aunt Sally to see on
ExpaND YoUR BRaND
your Facebook page, it’s likely going to send the wrong
message about you to potential recruiters—and is prob-
ably worth removing.
chaPter 4
The quick solution is to Google yourself and get
rid of what many of our insiders refer to as digital
dirt—any information, comments, or pics that paint
you as anything less than the consummate professional.
Also, there are some smart strategies you can pursue
to achieve social media cleanliness. More on this in
Chapter 2.
YoUR aSSETS
aDvERTISING
chaPter 5
TAkInG ConTrol
› removing Your digiTal dirt is only one step
in the process of taking control of your personal brand.
Building your brand is all about presenting your best
self at all times, especially online, while differentiat-
REFERENCE
chaPter 6
ing yourself from others. One way we do that is to let
FoR YoUR
people know what interests us outside of work. “My
4 W E T F E E T I N S I D ER GUID E
rule is that you don’t want everything to be exclusively
professional,” says Arruda. “This concept of work/life
balance is really an impossible thing to create. We have
one thing called life and work is a part of life.”
Begin by picking one core interest or skill and
complement it with a set of other skills or interests that
make you, well, you. Infuse that brand into everything
you do online and in communication. Think about it
this way: A sales manager is known among cowork-
ers for his great sense of humor, superior management
skills, and positive attitude. Should the same people
know that he finds balance in his life by rising at 5
a.m. to paddle through waves before the weekly board
meeting starts? They should. And so should his clients,
business partners, and recruiters scouring LinkedIn
for potential candidates. The moment a person begins
telling people who he is, using the many online
vehicles available today, is the moment he opens
himself up to new opportunities.
So imagine what could happen if said sales manager
decides he wants people to know he’s more than just a
successful sales manager. A recruiter at an international
surfing company searches keywords on LinkedIn and
stumbles upon the sales manager’s LinkedIn profile:
proven success supervising large teams spread through-
out the country, check; increased sales 40 percent in one
quarter, check; member of several sales associations and
alumni organizations, check.
The sales manager is still only about as interesting as
the five other people the recruiter found on LinkedIn
yesterday—that is until the recruiter comes across the
sales manager’s positive review of The Surfer’s Guide to
Costa Rica & SW Nicaragua via the Reading List by
Amazon app. At that moment, the recruiter senses a
connection greater than with any of the dozens of other
possible candidates. And he hasn’t even gotten to his
Twitter feed yet.
 Introduction
you can certainly evolve your brand to fit certain skills
and interests, you won’t find success without being hon-

CHAPTER 1
I ’m Good Enough, I’m Smart Enough, est with yourself and others.
and Doggone It, People Like Me!
To make the process easier, we’ve assembled the
following game plan for developing a personal brand
Many people feel self-motivated. This
uncomfortable with is you attempting to manifesto.
the idea of building control the way you
a personal brand want to be perceived Look inside
as part of the job by others.
Find Words and Phrases that Define You

Be Googled
search, not realizing Career expert

CHAPTER 2
Make two separate lists by answering the following

You Will
they’ve been doing Pollak urges young
so for much of their professionals and questions:
lives. If you’ve been students to get over 1. Who am I?
to an interview, the idea that a brand
you’ve made at least is something they 2. What motivates me?
a small attempt to should be embar-
assert your brand. rassed to work on or Take some time to come up with the most honest
You wore your power promote: “It’s about
suit and trumpeted differentiating your-
answers to these questions as you can. For instance,

Get Linked
answer the first question with nouns, such as creative

CHAPTER 3
specific qualities self. It’s not cheesy.
and experiences It’s not skeevy. None thinker, entrepreneur, and baseball fan. Narrowing each
that show what can of this is about description down to only a few words will help you gain
be expected being fake—just
of you: You’re high- being the best ver- focus. And don’t worry: Excluding something from the
energy, engaged in sion of yourself.” list doesn’t mean you’re not interested in it. This is about

Expand Your Brand

the community, and getting to the core of who you are. Once you have four
or five items on each list, start examining your skill set.

Drafting Your

CHAPTER 4
Focus On the Skills that Motivate You

Brand Manifesto
› It’s not easy to tell you this, but the sooner you
realize it, the better: Your friends and followers don’t
care that you washed your hair, ate a wrap for lunch,
or picked up some groceries after work—and nobody
Just because you’ve been told that you’re a great writer
doesn’t mean becoming a journalist will make you
happy. Many people pursue a certain career path because
they are confident with a particular skill. But that one
skill—such as accounting or editing—might not add
value to your life. Arruda suggests making a list of all

Your Assets
Advertising
wants to hear you complain about your boss, about the skills you possess. Then, next to each skill, identify

your neighbor, or about the weather. In other words,
you can tweet your heart out all day long, but those 140
characters won’t do a thing for your career if they don’t
serve a larger purpose. It’s time to stop wasting precious
space and start leveraging the resources out there today
to get what you want from your career.
Defining your brand isn’t an easy process: It requires
CHAPTER 5
whether it’s a motivating skill (one that energizes you) or
a burnout skill (one that makes you bores you). Finally,
rearrange your list with the motivators on top and the
burnouts at the bottom.
Reach Out for feedback
Sure, hearing what other people really think about you
REFERENCE

CHAPTER 6

some serious introspection and an understanding of sounds like a scary experience. But being self-aware
FOR YOUR

how others perceive you. Be true to yourself. Although is crucial to building your brand. “For the most part,

WET F EET IN S IDER GUIDE 5

 Brand Thyself!
Introduction
people know they are good at something, but until
they get that direct acknowledgment from the outside,
CHAPTER 1
they don’t really know how good they are at it,” says
Arruda. Knowing your weaknesses can be equally
important, particularly when they could interfere with
your success.
To understand the power of feedback, consider the
following scenario. You see yourself as a highly creative
person, a powerhouse at generating new ideas. You have
Be Googled
CHAPTER 2
a graphic-arts background and you’re a whiz at Adobe
You Will
Illustrator. But coworkers at the advertising firm where
you accepted an administrative job don’t see you this
way. In this scenario, your weakness involves your abil-
ity to communicate your strengths. Yet without gather-
ing feedback, you’d have no way of knowing how others
perceive you.
Get Linked
The best way to get associates to provide honest feed-
CHAPTER 3
back is to ask them to do so anonymously, using tools
such as 360° Reach or Rypple. These tools allow the peo-
ple you trust to give anonymous opinions of what they
identify as your strengths and weaknesses. Once you
Expand Your Brand
get a good sampling of opinions—from family, friends,
professors, current and former coworkers—you need to
turn these insights into action. Arruda, the creator of
CHAPTER 4
360° Reach, provides some exercises for doing so.
Develop Brand Aspirations
Which of the personas within your feedback results do
you want to be known for? Do you want to be known
for being funny, organized, creative, or one of the other
dozen or so adjectives people used to describe you?
Your Assets
Advertising
Remember that authenticity is still key.
CHAPTER 5
Commit to a List of Actions
For each aspiration, Arruda recommends writing down
a list of corresponding actions. Maybe some people
identified you as a person with creative ideas, but oth-
ers saw the words creative and ideas and didn’t check the
box. Are those people your coworkers? Well, it might
REFERENCE
CHAPTER 6
be time to stop reserving your great business ideas for
FOR YOUR
6 W E T F E E T I N S I D ER GUID E
conversations with friends at the bar. The specific action
point might be: “Share at least one idea per week at the
weekly brainstorm meetings” or “Shoot the team an
email with some good ideas about how we can improve
our products/services.”
Don’t ignore the weaknesses suggested in others’
feedback: Simply identify the most commonly noted
weaknesses that could hinder your success, and reverse
people’s perceptions by working on improving these
characteristics. If you’re always late and people notice
that, start arriving early and making your arrival known
in subtle ways, such as sending an email or greeting
people in the hallway.
Digging Deeper: Exploring
Your Interests and Skills
Figuring out what kind of career or position to pursue
can be so confusing and exhausting that what you
might really want is for someone to just tell you what
to do. If you’re feeling the frustration that comes with
not having a specific career goal, you’re not alone:
Sooner or later, most students and professionals get to
a point where they feel unable to see the next step on
their career paths.
The creators of personality and career-aptitude
assessments such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
and LiveCareer knew this when they decided to develop
revenue-generating ways to guide people through a per-
sonalized assessment.
Although assessment tests don’t just deliver a simple
answer, the results can give you a better idea of what
kind of working styles (independent, team player),
topics (food services, nature, business), characteristics
(organized, creative, technically-minded), and indus-
tries you should consider incorporating in your next
job and your career. These tests may shed light into
opportunities you might not have considered before.
For example, you might know that hiking and being
outdoors makes you happy, but have you considered a
career as a park ranger?
 Introduction
The Home Stretch
Now that you’ve gathered information based on self-

CHAPTER 1
examination and feedback from others, it’s time to pull
the pieces together to form what we refer to as a brand
manifesto. The word manifesto might call to mind the
demands of the proletariat revolution or the ravings of
social deviants such as the Unabomber, but your mani-
festo need not be long-winded or fanatical. Rather, it
should be a concise statement of your brand, convey-

Be Googled

CHAPTER 2
ing who you are, your skills and/or interests, and your

You Will
brand aspirations. Your manifesto should trumpet
the unique value that you offer an organization. For
example, “I’m an advertising account manager with a
passion for sustainability and extensive experience with
‘green’ products.” Or, “I’m an Italian-speaking travel
and food editor with a culinary degree and two years of

Get Linked
experience teaching English in Italy.”

CHAPTER 3
Once you’ve created your brand manifesto and
put it down on paper, the hardest work is behind you.
Building your personal brand is only a matter of restat-
ing your manifesto through different media. In other

Expand Your Brand

words, now’s the time for execution. From this point
forward, your Facebook and LinkedIn profiles, as well
as your Twitter posts, should all be consistent with the

CHAPTER 4
message you’ve conveyed in your manifesto. At first this
will require a conscious effort, but eventually it should
become second nature.
If you’re concerned about being cornered or stifled
by your personal brand, take comfort in knowing that
brands can and do evolve. Should your passion for
mechanical engineering and cars fizzle over time and

Your Assets
Advertising
eventually be replaced with a love for making organic

CHAPTER 5
barbeque sauce and selling it on the Web, don’t worry—
you can simply repeat this process and evolve every-
thing from your mission statement to your Tweets. REFERENCE

CHAPTER 6
FOR YOUR

WET F EET IN S IDER GUIDE 7

You Will Be
Googled

2
Yes, What You Do on
Social Networks Matters............. 10

To Share or Not to Share............. 10

Lock It Up................................... 11

Show It Off................................. 11

Connecting the Dots

on LinkedIn................................ 13
 Brand Thyself!

Yes, WHAT You

INTRoDUCTIoN

that once they see something unsavory, it’s hard to take

do on soCIAl that out of the overall impression they have of the candi-
chaPter 1

date. So if you’re applying for a position with an employer

neTWorks where Facebook screening is an accepted process, one
comment, “Like,” or photo could prevent you from
MATTers getting the job.
› reporTs oF a simple Facebook status update
spelling employment disaster have popped up on news
To sHAre or
BE GooGlED

sites, HR blogs, and Twitter feeds all over the world.

chaPter 2

noT To sHAre
The stories usually go something like this: An employee
YoU WIll

uses her Facebook account to express her job dissatis-

faction publicly. In the status update, she insults her
boss and denigrates her daily tasks. The catch? She
apparently didn’t remember friending her boss on
Facebook. Oops.
We can all chuckle at the young woman’s naïveté,
GET lINkED
› There are TWo main approaches to prevent-
ing your activity on social networks from damaging
your reputation: Either protect your Facebook page
like a teenage girl protects her diary, or put a carefully
managed, workplace-friendly version of yourself out

but her behavior isn’t as rare as you might think. Plenty there for all to see. Whether you want to leverage certain
chaPter 3

of “professionals” are slowly chipping away at their
good reputations—without even realizing it. In this
new world of Internet interconnectedness, it takes
seconds for an incriminating photo to reach every
ExpaND YoUR BRaND
parts your social networks as career tools or use them
solely for communicating with friends and family will
determine how you proceed.

relative, coworker, friend, and former flame. And just

as quickly, your reputation in the eyes of important
tprofessional connections can be forever altered.
chaPter 4

For further proof that what you say on social net-

works matters, take a look at the results of a 2009
CareerBuilder survey of hiring managers: 45 percent
of respondents said they use Facebook and Twitter to
screen applicants—compared to 22 percent the previ-
ous year. Thirty-five percent said they’ve found content
on social networking sites that caused them not to hire
YoUR aSSETS
aDvERTISING

a candidate. The top causes recruiters named for being

chaPter 5

turned off by a potential candidate are: posting of

provocative or inappropriate photographs or informa-
tion; posting content about drinking or using drugs;
bad-mouthing a previous employer, coworkers, or
clients; and showing poor communication skills.
Insiders from a variety of industries offer varying opin-
ions regarding the extent to which social media should be
REFERENCE
chaPter 6

used in the recruitment process, but most recruiters agree

FoR YoUR

10 W E T F E E T I N S I D ER GUID E

Lock It Up
› In the ongoing debate about Facebook’s place
in the professional world, some believe rigid privacy
settings are enough to maintain a firewall between
work and play. By changing your sharing settings to
make your profile visible only to friends, you’re able to
continue posting links and photos and interacting with
others on your wall without potential bosses, cowork-
ers, or recruiters seeing it. You also have the option to
customize these specifications to allow these types to
see your most basic—and hopefully harmless—profile
components, such as your bio, contact information, or
website.
To keep the potentially brand-damaging digital dirt
out of the public eye, go to “Privacy Settings” under
the “Account” drop-down and select “Friends Only.”
To customize this to fit your needs, choose “Customize
Settings” at the bottom of the table.
If you want to continue posting controversial links,
weekend recaps, or other risky content, you need to
recognize the hazards of relying solely on privacy set-
tings. You’ll also have to decide whether to accept friend
requests from colleagues. It’s perfectly acceptable to
refuse a request from a boss or coworker if you plan to
keep your Facebook network limited to personal rela-
tionships—just stay consistent so you don’t look like
you’re playing favorites.
Another thing to watch out for is the Six Degrees
of Kevin Bacon–style connections that can be made on
Facebook. Consider a situation like this: Your boss is
eating lunch with a manager from a different depart-
ment, praising your ability to handle a heavy workload
without complaint. The other manager laughs, noting
that he friended you on Facebook after a happy hour
and some of your recent status updates indicate you’re
not quite as happy as your boss thinks. You may have
been working hard to build a reputation as a positive,
energetic team player—but that reputation is weakened
the minute your supervisor gets wind of your public
bellyaching. The moral of the story: Comments you
Introduction
make on friends’ walls or in groups can wind up mak-
ing their way to people you never intended to see them.
CHAPTER 1
Also, keep in mind that if you comment on the wall or
photo of a friend with a public profile, your activity will
be for all to see.
Show It Off
› Managing your privacy settings can certainly
Be Googled
CHAPTER 2
help protect your online image, but many believe peo-
You Will
ple with the most powerful personal brands take advan-
tage of Facebook as a medium for brand-building. In
this school of thought, the personality you project on
Facebook should reinforce your best qualities as a pro-
fessional. Your Facebook self should still be authentic
and rooted in what makes you a unique individual, but
Get Linked
some editing and polishing are required.
CHAPTER 3
Start by going as far back as possible to remove all
digital dirt. Take a look at your profile, including favor-
ite quotes, comments made by your friends, and links
you’ve shared on friends’ walls, and decide whether each
Expand Your Brand
piece of information is appropriate for your brand.
After you’ve removed provocative or controversial
material you or others have posted on your profile,
CHAPTER 4
bolster the interests and characteristics that make you
different. Employers want to see you have passions or
hobbies outside of work. They want to see your person-
ality shine through. They want to know that you’d be a
great cubicle-mate. For these reasons, it’s okay to dis-
play that you have a good sense of humor and passions
outside of work, such as performance art, cooking, or
Your Assets
Advertising
playing rugby.
CHAPTER 5
Still, as you create a brand-strengthening profile,
keep in mind that digital dirt is anything that negatively
impacts others’ positive perceptions of you, such as
politically incorrect comments, profanity, and anything
indicating that you have a bad attitude. But it doesn’t
stop there: Some of the passions and ideas held close
to your heart could be seen as distasteful or wrong to a
REFERENCE
CHAPTER 6
potential boss. For that reason, consider limiting pub-
FOR YOUR
lic information about sensitive topics. Many of us also
WET F EET IN S IDER GUIDE 11
 Brand Thyself!
INTRoDUCTIoN
don’t have the time to monitor every wall post, com-
ment, or old picture posted throughout the course of
chaPter 1
the day, so if you’re going to make it public, be aware
that there’s always a risk associated with it.
If you’ve decided to use your Facebook profile to
develop your personal brand, the following section will
help make your activity on social media work for you
rather than against you.
BE GooGlED
chaPter 2
taMing the Beast: Managing
YoU WIll
your FaceBook settings
More than 500 million people had joined Facebook
by the summer of 2010, so this is an area you’re going
to want to focus some time and energy on. Start by
going to the “Account” drop-down menu found in the
top right corner of your profile and clicking “Privacy
GET lINkED
Settings.” Here, you can manage who sees the content
chaPter 3
of your profile and how much various people can see.
Click on the “View Settings” link under “Connecting
on Facebook” to control some of the most basic but
far-reaching aspects of your Facebook communication:
ExpaND YoUR BRaND
who can message you, see your friend list, connect with
you through employers and universities, search for you,
and see Facebook activity. Now go back to “Privacy” to
chaPter 4
cumstomize your settings.
Some items that are often best limited to the eyes
of friends are “Photos and videos I’m tagged in,”
“Posts by me,” and “Wall posts by friends.” It’s also
a good idea to stay on top of the frequent changes
made to Facebook, so that you know when it’s time to
update your settings. Recent modifications to Facebook
YoUR aSSETS
aDvERTISING
privacy settings have made it possible for users to cat-
chaPter 5
egorize Facebook friends into lists, so you can limit
what activity certain lists—friends, coworkers, and
family—can see.
remove incriminating Photos
That night of your college graduation was a total blast,
wasn’t it? You went completely crazy and wound up
REFERENCE
chaPter 6
under a table with a Sharpie-drawn mustache. You
FoR YoUR
might consider it a long-forgotten incident—but
12 W E T F E E T I N S I D ER GUID E
unfortunately your college roommate has decided to
preserve it on his Facebook profile for the world to see.
Time to start reviewing your own photos, includ-
ing the ones from albums made long ago. This doesn’t
mean you should remove every photo of you with a
beer, but definitely all the ones in which you’re hold-
ing a beer and are visibly drunk. Responsible profes-
sionals don’t go out with their coworkers after the first
day of work and get tipsy, yet many people fail to show
the same restraint online.
It’s also perfectly acceptable to ask a friend to
remove a photo of you if it’s something you consider
unflattering. Most likely they’ll comply. But if this
person isn’t your friend and won’t remove the photo,
there’s little you can do unless you hold the copyright
to the photo. At the very least, though, you can untag
yourself from the photo; Facebook prevents anyone
from retagging you in a photo that you’ve previously
untagged yourself from.
> TIP
If your Facebook profile
needs some work before you’re
ready for a recruiter to see it,
go ahead and set everything
to “Friends Only” until it’s
more presentable.
review your Wall Posts,
status updates, and comments
Don’t complain about work. Don’t complain about
your boss. Don’t complain about putting in over-
time. Don’t curse. And wipe out any of this kind of
behavior on Facebook going back several months.
Negative or juvenile comments are total turnoffs
for hiring managers. An expletive-laced rant about
wanting the week to end will have employers doubt-
ing that you’d be a professional, likable, produc-
tive employee—nobody wants to work with Debby
Downer for 40 hours a week.

This advice rings true for the currently employed,
says Kitsy Blanc, recruiter at accounting firm PwC. “I
think that it’s really important for candidates to remem-
ber they are representing their particular company or
firm while they’re online. We’ve all had less than stellar
days where we’ve worked, but they should just make
sure they’re aware of what they’re putting out there.”
Take a Quick Look at
Your Interests
As you’ve probably learned by now, the jokes you find
funny aren’t always considered funny by everyone.
Make sure there aren’t any pages suggested by you or a
friend that could give people who don’t know you well a
false impression of your moral character.
Connecting the
Dots on LinkedIn
› Lying on your resume doesn’t do anybody any
good, and your LinkedIn profile is basically a souped-
up digital resume. Look at the sections for “Current”
and “Past” positions and make sure that everything in
those sections is accurate, including your responsibili-
ties, accomplishments, title, and dates.
As mentioned in Chapter 1, you build a strong
personal brand by understanding your strengths and
making those strengths shine in all of your communica-
tion. Cross-reference your LinkedIn profile with your
Facebook profile and your resume to ensure consis-
tency. Do the dates line up? Are the titles all the same? If
you’d feel sheepish or just plain embarrassed if a former
boss saw your LinkedIn profile, revise it. Embellishing
the role you played at the organization could make a
former manager have second thoughts about providing
recommendations.
Introduction
Some Privacy-Setting Basics
LinkedIn is a professional network on which you can
CHAPTER 1
connect and reconnect with professional contacts. It’s
not a website that should require much privacy-set-
ting management. Still, you might not want some of
the actions you take on the site to be visible to all. For
example, LinkedIn makes it possible for its members
to see how many times their profile has been viewed in
the past several days. The “Who’s Viewed My Profile?”
Be Googled
CHAPTER 2
feature also shows the company, industry, location, and
You Will
sometimes even the headline and full name of the view-
ers.
To make it easier for members to see who has viewed
their profile, LinkedIn’s default setting is to show your
name, position, and location to all people whose pro-
files you’ve viewed. If you’d like to search profiles with-
Get Linked
out the people you’re searching knowing, click on your
CHAPTER 3
name at the upper right and drop down to “Settings.”
Click on “Profile Views” under “Privacy Settings.” Then
change the default to one of the other two options: total
anonymity or being displayed only as your title, com-
Expand Your Brand
pany, and location. Although it’s not necessarily a bad
thing that recruiters and other connections see you’re
interested in learning more about their backgrounds
CHAPTER 4
and interests, LinkedIn options allow you to search
without feeling exposed.
During the process of building your brand, you can
adjust your profile settings so you have the freedom
to test new applications, change your photo, and edit
various fields without informing your entire network.
Under “Profile Settings” and then “Member Feed
Your Assets
Advertising
Visibility” to make sure that every change you make
CHAPTER 5
isn’t announced in others’ feeds. Once your profile is
solid and up-to-date, change the setting so that your
network is notified when you add new applications, get
promoted, or change jobs.
REFERENCE
CHAPTER 6
FOR YOUR
WET F EET IN S IDER GUIDE 13
Get Linked

3
Tricking Out Your
LinkedIn Profile.......................... 16

Practice Good
LinkedIn Etiquette...................... 18

Get With a Group....................... 18

Apps to Enhance
Your Brand.................................. 20
 Brand Thyself!

Tricking Out Your

Introduction

associated with your brand. Completing a LinkedIn

LinkedIn Profile
profile—not counting time spent adding other applica-
CHAPTER 1

tions and tools offered by LinkedIn and its partners—

› The beauty of LinkedIn isn’t simply in its abil- should only take an hour or two.
ity to connect people—it’s also in the countless tools it
provides for people to find the common ground nec-
essary to build meaningful professional relationships.
“LinkedIn is to career networking what Match.com is
By using a LinkedIn profile
to dating,” says Melissa Kong, editor-in-chief at stu- to describe yourself, you’re
Be Googled
CHAPTER 2

dentbranding.com. Dating sites allow members to talk saying, “This is what I’m
You Will

about their interests and paint a portrait of who they

are so that others can determine whether they might be
looking for in an employer,
a good match before building a relationship. By using and this is what you can
a LinkedIn profile to describe yourself, you’re saying,
“This is what I’m looking for in an employer, and this is
expect from me.”
what you can expect from me.”
GET LINKED

Similar to a Match.com user who registers, fills in

CHAPTER 3

a few details, doesn’t post a photo, and only checks his
profile once every couple of months, a LinkedIn mem-
ber will reap little benefit from the network if he simply
posts a short description of his experience, expecting
Expand Your Brand
Your Summary: Not Just
Another Resume
Anyone who visits your profile can see you worked
two summer internships at a Big Four company while

opportunities to roll in. “There’s a difference between attending Columbia University, and then spent three
using it and workin’ it, and just putting up a profile years at boutique accounting firm. Rehashing all of this
isn’t workin’ it,” says Maureen Crawford Hentz, Osram in your summary wastes space—and an opportunity to
CHAPTER 4

Sylvania’s U.S. manager of talent acquisition, develop-
ment, and compliance. By engaging in relevant groups,
sharing knowledge, and showing rather than telling
others who you are through various profile enhance-
ments, finding and connecting with people who can
help advance your career is much easier.
Your Assets
Advertising
add personality to your profile.
Though LinkedIn bios aren’t replacing resumes,
personal brand consultant William Arruda says they
are becoming more important than a resume. Unlike a
resume, which is a list of your experience and skills, the
summary offers the opportunity to express your pas-
sions, what motivates you, and your goals and dreams.

Fill ’Er Up This should come easily if you’ve taken the steps to
CHAPTER 5

To maximize your potential, complete your profile as
best as you can. That means filling in all details and
requesting recommendations. Even recommending cur-
rent and former colleagues can increase your reach.
Every component of your profile provides another
opportunity to promote your brand. Lindsey Pollak,
author of Getting from College to Career: 90 Things to Do
REFERENCE
CHAPTER 6
develop your personal brand and the keywords that
best represent you as a person and professional. (See
Chapter 1.)
Just as the summary provides the opportunity to
enhance your personal brand, it can also hurt it if not
done well. Reach out to someone you can trust to edit
your summary so the thoughts you’re communicat-

Before You Join the Real World, says a less-than-complete ing aren’t overshadowed by punctuation or grammar
FOR YOUR

profile makes you look lazy—not a quality you want mistakes. And again, authenticity is the key to a strong

16 W E T F E E T I N S I D ER GUID E
 Introduction
personal brand, so don’t use this field to create a false its site, such as in a roster of the professional organiza-
persona you think recruiters will like. Make it you. tion or committee of which you’re a member. Not only

Find Your Doppelganger
The first step to getting a handle on the strength of your
personal brand online is to Google yourself. Sometimes,
the results are less than encouraging, especially if your
parents picked one of the most popular first names of
your generation to go along with your very common
CHAPTER 1
could that trigger higher search results, it could lend
you credibility when people Google you.
Another easy way to increase your presence online
is to start writing reviews of books relevant to your
field or interests on Amazon.com and posting smart,
relevant comments on other big sites. The comments
and reviews should be well thought-out, because they

Be Googled

CHAPTER 2
last name. But even those of us who’ve never known will show up in search results, representing your brand.

someone else with the same name might Google our-
selves to find some high-school track star with your
name, or a business development manager working at
an IT company in Texas. Doppelgangers are harmless,
except when they dilute your brand by making it dif-
ficult to find you in an online search. Search your own
You Will
Also, promote your brand by including a quick per-
sonal plug in every post, such as “I’ve been working in
the nonprofit sector for five years, specializing in com-
munity outreach. If you’d like to learn more, read my
blog at myblog.com.”

GET LINKED
name on LinkedIn and Google to identify your doppel-

CHAPTER 3
gangers, and then follow these two steps to differentiate
yourself from them: Control Your Domain

1. Change Your Name Regardless of com right now.

whether you decide Search for the same

Expand Your Brand

Okay, so unless you’re an actor or a writer, there’s to produce a full- name you used on
probably no need to go through the trouble of actu- blown personal LinkedIn on a .com
ally changing your name. It’ll just seem weird. Instead, website (see Chapter domain, such as

CHAPTER 4
add an initial, middle name, or maiden name to your 4 for more on that), JaneDoe.com or
at the very least you JaneSDoe.com.
LinkedIn profile name to set yourself apart. Remember,
should purchase a Nothing? Try a
though, you’ll have to stay consistent and use that name personalized Web variation of the
on your business cards, Amazon book reviews, and in domain immediately. same name. Still
other communication. Maureen Crawford Hentz, for- That way you can re- nothing? Come up
merly Maureen Crawford, differentiated herself from a direct your domain— with something
which is concise catchy that defines
greeting-card designer of the same name by combining and looks slick on your brand, and

Your Assets
Advertising
her husband’s last name with her own. business cards and in search for that. Con-

CHAPTER 5
email signatures— sider using domains
2. Start Writing to your LinkedIn such as .org or .info
page, and if the time as an alternative
The simplest way to explain search-engine optimization
ever comes, you’ll (or buy all three
is this: The more times your name appears on legit sites, have secured that to prevent your
the higher your name will show up in search results. domain to use for LinkedIn doppelgang-
You don’t necessarily need to get published on a major your own website. er from getting into
So, go to GoDaddy. your space).
website just to see your name rise in the results. Rather,
REFERENCE

CHAPTER 6

there are some easier steps anyone with any skill set can
FOR YOUR

take. Ask your company to mention you somewhere on

WET F EET IN S IDER GUIDE 17

 Brand Thyself!
INTRoDUCTIoN
keyWord loading
If the experience and summary fields of your profile
chaPter 1
succinctly communicate your skills and interests, your
profile already includes some important keywords. Still,
adding keywords in the correct places on your profile is
an essential step to leveraging the power of LinkedIn,
helping to ensure the right recruiters find your profile.
Crawford Hentz suggests carefully selecting a maxi-
mum of 30 keywords that represent your brand. Save
BE GooGlED
chaPter 2
these keywords into the “Specialties” field.
YoU WIll
Think about the words or phrases recruiters might
use to find candidates. (Hint: “people person” isn’t one
of them.) Select very specific words or phrases that
represent who you are, your skills, and desired posi-
tions. Choose some keywords that represent your field
or industry, perhaps even your desired industry or field
GET lINkED
if you’re looking for a change, and then reuse the same
chaPter 3
keywords throughout your profile, including your
headline. Your list of keywords shouldn’t exceed 10, and
the more focused you can be, the better. Try coming up
with three to five, and incorporate them in a smart way
ExpaND YoUR BRaND
so your sentences still flow well and make sense.
When selecting your keywords, Crawford Hentz sug-
gests adding a list of ideal employers, because recruiters
chaPter 4
often search their own company’s name when research-
ing what’s being said about them or when looking for
candidates interested in working for the company.
YoUR aSSETS
aDvERTISING
chaPter 5
REFERENCE
chaPter 6
FoR YoUR
18 W E T F E E T I N S I D ER GUID E
PrACTICe Good
lInkedIn eTIQueTTe
› When iT comes to using LinkedIn, or any other
online network for that matter, don’t forget your man-
ners. Every member details the type of items he or
she would like to be contacted about in the “Contact
Settings” section. This section is typically found near
the bottom of the page, and sometimes includes a
short, personalized description of the member’s prefer-
ences, along with a bulleted list.
If a recruiter says she will not link with people she
doesn’t know, message her instead of asking to con-
nect. If a recruiter says to visit the company’s career site
to apply for a job, go to the career site and apply for a
job—don’t harass them on LinkedIn. Crawford Hentz,
recommends applying through the proper channel and
then following up with a brief message on LinkedIn that
serves as a short intro and heads-up that you’ve applied.
GeT WITH A GrouP
› linkedin groups provide a valuable oppor-
tunity to get involved in specific topics related to
your brand. They also are a great way to find and col-
laborate with like-minded people. There are groups
for just about everything, including alumni, profes-
sional associations, nonprofits, and fraternities. You
can engage with the group by posting news or start-
ing discussions. Groups are a great resource for inside
info on company culture or fresh job leads. And if
you don’t join any groups, you appear disengaged.
“If you are Googling candidates before you call
them, whatever online content you find about that
person will help them or hurt them,” says one
human-resources insiders. “If you have glowing rec-
ommendations and are out there on LinkedIn groups
offering up high-level advice, and then I have another
candidate that looks better on paper but I don’t find
anything on that person, I would absolutely call you
simply because I know more.”

Do some research before clicking “Join Group.”
You want to be able to get something valuable out of
each group, as well as contribute to each. Find pro-
files of professionals in your field whom you look up
to or people in the departments of companies you’d
like to join and find out where they’re conversing.
Once you’ve joined a group, read up on the topics
members have been posting about. Then, to immerse
yourself in the community, comment on links posted
and direct members to interesting articles or your
own work.
Another way to strengthen your brand using
LinkedIn groups is to start a group of your own.
Pick your niche, the specific topic most interesting to
you as a professional, and click the “Create a Group”
tab. You’ll need a logo and group name, so research
similar groups and develop a clear purpose for yours.
Brainstorm with some close contacts you can be sure
will join your group right off the bat—you don’t want
to look like no one showed up for your party.
5 Tips for Creating a
LinkedIn Group
LinkedIn groups provide a platform for people with
similar interests to congregate, network, and share
information. If you’re the creator of a group, you’re
immediately identified as a subject expert and can gain
tons of valuable LinkedIn connections.
Introduction
1. Name your group something clear, concise,
and easily searchable on LinkedIn and Google.
CHAPTER 1
Lewis Howes, the founder of the Sports Executives
Association and the website Sports Networker, started
the Sports Industry Network on LinkedIn. “Make
sure you type in compelling keywords that people
search for in Google on a regular basis,” he says. “My
group grows 100-plus members every week just because
of Google searching.”
Be Googled
CHAPTER 2
You Will
2. Connect your group to your website or blog.
There’s some prime real estate on the right side of
the group page that lists the owner and website. Use
this space to link to your own site. Just remember:
Nobody likes shameless self promotion, so make sure
your site is relevant—don’t link to your Cocktails in
GET LINKED
the City blog if your group is the Miami Medical
CHAPTER 3
Device Sales group.
3. Leverage your network to gain members. Send out
invitations to existing LinkedIn connections to join
Expand Your Brand
your group. Add your group’s link to your email sig-
nature, your Facebook profile, blog, and business card.
CHAPTER 4
4. Post related content on a regular basis. The more
often you add discussions, news, and jobs, the more
opportunities you provide for interaction. Posting
once a day and syncing your post with Facebook and
Twitter is a good way to stay in your network’s radar.
Just don’t go overboard: Posting more than once a day
may annoy your group members.
Your Assets
Advertising
CHAPTER 5
5. Make it your priority to help others. As Robert
Townsend, the former CEO of Avis Rent A Car, said,
“True leadership must be for the benefit of the follow-
ers, not the enrichment of the leaders.” Although you
may have your own agenda when starting a group, the
most successful groups help advance their members.
REFERENCE
CHAPTER 6
FOR YOUR
WET F EET IN S IDER GUIDE 19
 Brand Thyself!
Introduction

Apps to Enhance
CHAPTER 1

Your Brand
› Aside from your personal summary, LinkedIn
applications provide perhaps the best opportunity for
you to present a strong personal brand to the eyes of
your network. Consider the “Get More Applications...”
Be Googled
CHAPTER 2

link, found under the “More” drop-down menu on

You Will

your main navigation, to be your personal branding

toolbox. While some apps serve a mostly utilitarian
purpose—like Company Buzz, which allows you to
track mentions of your company, or TripIt, which
informs your network of your travel schedule—a cou-
ple of the 15-plus apps were made to help you develop
GET LINKED

and strengthen your brand.

CHAPTER 3

By showing other members what you are reading,

have read, or would like to read, you’re telling them a
little bit about who you are. It also demonstrates your
passion for learning and developing as a professional.
Expand Your Brand

Reading List by Amazon is a great place to start because

it covers all the important bases: connecting with oth-
ers on relevant topics, showing others your interests,
CHAPTER 4

and learning from people you admire. Author Lindsey

Pollak suggests using the network to do your research:
“Really become kind of a studier of what other people
are doing.” If your personal hero in sustainability rec-
ommends a certain book as being an essential read,
check it out. You can “watch” fellow users’ lists, as well,
to get leads on buzz books and trends in your industry.
Your Assets
Advertising
CHAPTER 5

REFERENCE
CHAPTER 6
FOR YOUR

20 W E T F E E T I N S I D ER GUID E
 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 1 You Will CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 Advertising FOR YOUR
Introduction Be Googled GET LINKED Expand Your Brand Your Assets REFERENCE

21
WET F EET IN S IDER GUIDE
Expand Your Brand:
Blogs, Microblogs &

4
Websites
Blog Your Way
to a Better Brand......................... 24

Tweeting Your Brand................... 26

You Dot Com.............................. 28

 Brand Thyself!
Blog Your Way to
Introduction
a Better Brand
CHAPTER 1
› These days there’s a blog about almost every-
thing—from national politics to local microbrews to
pictures of pets in embarrassing costumes. The popu-
larity of blogs isn’t surprising, given they’re easy to cre-
ate, usually free, and a great way to tell the world what
you’re thinking. But what people are starting to realize
Be Googled
CHAPTER 2
is that a blog is becoming an essential tool for personal
You Will
branding.
Starting a professional blog shows employers you’re
engaged in your field, eager to learn, and committed to
keeping up with industry trends. It’s also a vehicle for
showcasing your personality and what sets you apart
from others. “Today’s job market is so competitive that
Get Linked
you have to do as much as possible to stand out,” says
CHAPTER 3
Alison Doyle, author of Internet Your Way to a New Job:
How to Really Find a Job Online. “Your blog can convey
more to a hiring manager than a resume.”
Before you start typing, read the following hints for
Expand Your Brand
putting together a memorable blog and getting employ-
ers to notice you in the blogosphere.
CHAPTER 4
Choose a Unique Topic
This is the biggest challenge you’ll face. Because you’re
inviting employers to your blog, the topic should cover
your specific industry or skills in a way that stands out
from the crowd. “Start with your passion and expertise,
but if that’s too general, create a niche by catering to a
specific audience,” says Dan Schawbel, author of Me
Your Assets
Advertising
2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success.
CHAPTER 5
“For example, instead of blogging as a doctor, blog as
the top doctor in your town for young adults.”
Best Blogging Services
Want to dabble in building your brand in the blogo-
sphere, but not sure where to begin? Here’s a review of
four free, popular blogging services. Read up—and then
REFERENCE
CHAPTER 6
start writing!
FOR YOUR
24 W E T F E E T I N S ID ER GUID E
Blogger
www.blogger.com
Blogger is a brainchild of the folks over at Google, and
uses .blogspot in the URL. If iGoogle is your homep-
age, Blogger is a convenient blog option; you can add a
gadget to integrate your blog into your dashboard. It’s
also very easy to add on Google’s AdSense to put adver-
tisements on your blog.
Blogger is a great basic blogging tool, but it falls
short in the design category. You have to pick one of
their 26 templates for your blog background—not so
good if you want a personalized blog to match your
brand without getting professional design help.
WordPress
www.wordpress.com
There are two different WordPress blog options:
WordPress.org and WordPress.com. The .org site is a
bit more complicated because you need your own web
host. However, it allows for more flexibility in design
and format, which is why Martha Stewart, NASA, and
The New York Times all use WordPress.org as their blog-
ging service.
On the other hand, WordPress.com has made it
pretty easy for the technically challenged to start a blog.
You can select from more than 75 predesigned themes
to beautify your blog. Because of its sophisticated pro-
motion tools, tracking tools, and technical support for
when you hit a snag, WordPress is often ranked as the
best blogging service—which is probably why there are
more than 32 million WordPress publishers.
Tumblr
www.tumblr.com
Not into writing long-winded posts? Microblogging
site Tumblr is a great outlet for short and sweet
entries. Microblogging differs from traditional blogging
because the content is much more concise—maybe just
a sentence or a photo. Think Twitter’s big brother.
Tumblr boasts effortless sharing: Post text, photos,
quotes, links, music, and videos from your computer,

phone, or email. Tumblr also wins points for design: It
has a large number of templates to choose from or you
can design your own. The downside of Tumblr is, it
lacks other blogging services’ editing tools, such as but-
tons to increase and decrease paragraph indents, and it
only has a small text box in which to write and format
your content.
If it’s still available, purchase
the Web domain of your
name—or a close variation
of it—and redirect it to your
blog.
LiveJournal
www.livejournal.com
LiveJournal puts an emphasis on community inter-
action: Every LiveJournal blog includes a “Friends”
page that displays recent posts by friends who are
also journaling online. LiveJournal encourages user
interaction through the comments sections as well as
“Communities,” which are group journals where mul-
tiple users can blog.
Because of its emphasis on community, LiveJournal
is the standout if you want to focus on using your blog
to build your network. However, the free version is less
personal and not as visually interesting: You have to pay
a small fee to upload photos and customize the look of
your blog.
Express Yourself
For your brand to resonate, it’s crucial to be consistent.
When picking a blog URL or username, stick with
what’s on your resume. If it’s still available, purchase the
Web domain of your name—or a close variation of it—
and redirect it to your blog.
Introduction
Select a catchy or at least smart title for your blog.
And, don’t forget the importance of a personal sum-
CHAPTER 1
mary: Consider using a revised version of your LinkedIn
summary for your “About Me” page. If your brand is
truly consistent, the summary should only need an extra
sentence or two explaining why you’re writing about a
certain topic or what readers can expect from the blog.
Avoid the default settings, and instead select a back-
ground design and layout that represents your brand.
Be Googled
CHAPTER 2
It could incorporate a color scheme you like or a photo
You Will
that represents you or your style—just keep it profes-
sional. You might want to consider getting in touch
with a friend or family member who works with web
design. Designing a nice blog layout doesn’t take much
time for a good designer, and you’ll feel more confident
marketing your blog if it looks good.
Get Linked
CHAPTER 3
Keep the Content Professional
Remember: A professional blog should feature only
content you’d feel comfortable sharing with an
employer. You should include your own thoughts and
Expand Your Brand
opinions—just make sure they’re appropriate and rel-
evant to the topic. Comment on an industry article you
found, review a book related to your expertise, or offer
CHAPTER 4
tips based on a previous job or research. If you already
have a personal blog to keep your family and friends
back home up to date, keep it separate. And remember
that everything you do online, whether it’s a personal
blog or professional one, may be viewed by a potential
employer.
Your Assets
Advertising
Write Regularly
CHAPTER 5
If you’re going to create a blog, you need to be active
enough to show employers you’re committed to keep-
ing up-to-date on industry buzz. Set a goal for how fre-
quently you will post; at least one post per day is a good
goal, and two per week should be considered an absolute
minimum. Your posts don’t have to be extremely in-
depth; in fact, they can be as simple as a link to a recent
REFERENCE
CHAPTER 6
article and a few sentences about why it’s worth reading.
FOR YOUR
WET F EET IN S IDER GUIDE 25
 Brand Thyself!

Tweeting
Introduction

Market Your Blog

Your Brand
Once you have a cache of entries, include your blog on
CHAPTER 1

your resume and LinkedIn profile, and mention it in

interviews or follow-up conversations with employers.
On a resume, your blog should be listed with your per-
sonal information or under “Relevant Experience.” To
leverage the digital nature of your blog, include a hot-
link to your LinkedIn profile, professional website, or
an online version of your resume.
Be Googled
CHAPTER 2
› Before you toss Twitter aside as yet another
social media fad, consider this: The way you use Twitter
is totally up to you. When used effectively, Twitter can
be a very handy tool for gathering information and
building your personal brand. In just 140 characters or
less, you can demonstrate your wit or show you’re aware

of the latest trends.

You Will

Don’t Isolate Yourself
“More than seeing that you have a blog, I want to see
that you’re legitimately engaged in your industry,” says
Crawford Hentz. It’s hard to stay engaged if you’re just
writing a blog for your own gratification; instead, show
that you and your blog are part of a greater dialogue.
Get Linked
To get what you want out of the microblogging site,
find the people or organizations most interesting to
you. This could include employers you’d like to work
for, bloggers you trust for advice, and professionals you
look up to in your field. It’s wise to be selective about
whom you follow. Just because Janice from account-

Search for other blogs (try technorati.com), post com- ing follows your feed doesn’t mean you have to subject
CHAPTER 3

ments, and link to them from your blog. Read books yourself to hourly tweets about her cats and husband.
and post comments on Amazon. You can always stop following someone too. So if
your Twitter account becomes cluttered—if you sign in
and don’t immediately find interesting, relevant posts—
Expand Your Brand

Blog Fail then start cleaning it up by dropping the guilty parties.

One of our insiders at which she mentioned Finding Your Niche

CHAPTER 4

a Philadelphia non-
profit Googled a can-
didate while in the
process of narrowing
down a pool of hun-
dreds of applicants.
When he searched
one particularly inter-
esting candidate, he
Your Assets
Advertising
smoking pot with Each tweet represents a small facet of your personal
friends. While the brand. Decide what it is you want to get out of your
nonprofit doesn’t
Twitter account and the knowledge you can provide to
conduct official
background checks to others. Tweeting about your lunch isn’t going to prove
determine whether your value; tweeting an article about the effects of cap-
applicants have used and-trade on the renewable energy industry will.
drugs, the post was
so incredibly unpro- Follow the same rules as you would when setting up

found a personal blog fessional that the a blog when it comes to being consistent and produc-
CHAPTER 5

and started click-
ing through pages
of entries, eventu-
ally finding a post in
REFERENCE
CHAPTER 6
applicant was imme- ing quality content. Use spell-check and take the time
diately taken out of
to edit your work. Typos and grammar errors won’t help
the running.
your brand. Unlike regular blogging, microblogging
requires you to post more frequently, but with fewer
words. Your tweets could link to interesting articles, col-
umns, websites, and anything else that highlights who
you are as a professional. If you’re content with your

current employer but want to get promoted, tweeting

FOR YOUR

about company news is one way to show your cowork-

26 W E T F E E T I N S I D ER GUID E
 Introduction
ers just how dedicated you are. If you’re looking for Getting Started
something new, start following people or publications In the process of setting up an account, you’ll have to

CHAPTER 1
you admire in the fields that interest you. pick a username. Just like a blog, this username could
be your name or another smart, catchy phrase relevant
to your personal brand. The key word here is relevant.
Social Media Success Story You spent the time creating a professional email address
to replace metalhead666, so don’t revert back to your
When Amanda design business in old ways at the first sight of the “Username” field.
Once you’ve decided on a username, you’ll have to

Be Googled
Montgomery, a Dallas but tweeted

CHAPTER 2
2009 graduate about her interest upload a photo or logo. This can definitely be more fun

You Will
of University of in social media and
than your LinkedIn profile picture, particularly if your
Alabama, started her plans to start a
using Twitter, she master’s program in tone will be more casual or the topic more specific. The
took a more laid-back Emerging Media & Twitter profile image is yet another opportunity to let
approach to the Communications at your best self shine through, so choose wisely.
service, meaning she University of Texas.
barely used it at all. Eventually, the The final step before you begin tweeting is to pick
But realizing she’d be recent grad reached a theme for your page. Twitter offers several templates
entering one of the out to Orsburn

Get Linked
easily customizable by color, and there are many other

CHAPTER 3
bleakest job markets through LinkedIn,
this country has seen, beginning a rela-
sites on the Web that offer free templates. If you have
Montgomery started tionship that led something in mind in terms of color or feel and cannot
using the microb- to Montgomery’s find it in one of these places, try to enlist a designer for
logging site as an job at Social Media a small fee.
information source Delivered. “LinkedIn

Expand Your Brand

for finding job oppor- is the best thing that
tunities and career could have happened Follow and Be Followed
advice. Eventually, for people of my Think of Twitter as a game. The objective is to increase
she became more generation coming

CHAPTER 4
active, using it on a into the work force,”
your network of followers by feeding them consistently
daily basis to find Montgomery says, interesting, relevant information, all the while increas-
networking events adding that she ing your own knowledge base. Successful Twitter mem-
and participate in uses social media
bers are rewarded with new contacts, job offers, respect
local forums. to recruit interns.
While expand- “I absolutely look among colleagues, and a solid network of professionals
ing her network, at LinkedIn first to tap into when the time comes. You’ll see your follow-
Montgomery for cross-checking, ers multiply if you carefully choose the people or orga-

Your Assets
Advertising
started following then I look at their
nizations you follow, engage with fellow members, and

CHAPTER 5
“LinkedInQueen,” Facebook and then
Eve Mayer Orsburn, Twitter. That’s post interesting content.
the CEO of con- the thing about
sulting firm Social Facebook, it’s such a
Media Delivered. personal medium, if
What and When to Post
Montgomery I’m going to cross- Content is key when it comes to creating value for your
was working at a reference.” followers. Many tweets link to off-Twitter content, such
boutique interior as articles or reports, or link within Twitter to others’
observations, which is called “retweeting.” The secret
REFERENCE

CHAPTER 6

to success is keeping your feed fresh by striking a bal-

FOR YOUR

ance between the different kinds of posts. If you post

WET F EET IN S IDER GUIDE 27

 Brand Thyself!
Introduction
too many promotional tweets in a row, you’ll look self-
ish. If you are continually posting links to articles you
CHAPTER 1
find interesting, you’ll come off as well read but lacking
original ideas.
The 140-character maximum forces concise thoughts
and encourages more posts, more often. When ready to
post, use TinyURL.com to shrink the link, or a site like
HootSuite.com, which allows you to shrink the link and
post in multiple places (Facebook, Twitter) at once. Try
Be Googled
CHAPTER 2
to post at least six times per day. You’ll probably discover
You Will
soon, if you haven’t already, that Twitter’s word limit
is more freeing than constricting: It allows you to post
thoughts throughout the day without spending much
time constructing them. Still, keep the teenage texts—
the LOLs, the OMGs—to a minimum.
Get Linked
CHAPTER 3
> TIP
Keep the teenage texts—the LOLs, the
OMGs—to a minimum when tweeting.
Expand Your Brand
Leveraging it
The value of your Twitter activity is not only deter-
mined by the number of followers you have, but also
CHAPTER 4
how you leverage those contacts—the relationships you
build. Share good info and you’ll be proving a service to
your network. In turn, following interesting members
will help you stay informed about the topics meaning-
ful to you.
Once you’ve started posting steadily, seek new con-
nections to follow so as to load up on more ammo with
Your Assets
Advertising
which to tweet. You can simply browse the “Followers”
CHAPTER 5
and “Following” lists of trusted connections to find good
contacts, or look for the authors of interesting re-tweets.
REFERENCE
CHAPTER 6
FOR YOUR
28 W E T F E E T I N S I D ER GUID E
You Dot Com
› Without a doubt, creative professionals should
have a personal website because any possible way
to demonstrate their talent, unique perspective, and
passion for their field is essential. But websites aren’t
just for web designers, photographers, and writers; a
personal site can boost the reputation and strengthen
the brand of anyone from a National Park Service
employee to a Big Four accountant.
Before LinkedIn came on the scene, websites were
the only way to showcase one’s skills and work online.
And though LinkedIn is a great tool, a personal website
can be used to showcase your brand in a much more
customized way, requiring more consideration of colors,
fonts, images, and overall look and feel that best repre-
sent who you are. In addition to being a place to display
your portfolio, it can also serve as a platform for your
commentary on specific topics.
Getting Started
Unless you’re in Web design or development, the
easiest way to create a site is to tap into your net-
work to find someone looking to expand his or
her Web design portfolio. If you can’t think of any
friends or relatives off-hand, do some digging and
ask around. Many extremely talented developers
haven’t even graduated from school yet, and are will-
ing to do small projects for very little money, if not
for free.
If going it alone, you can use Adobe Dreamweaver
or work with free Website development software.
There are many options on the Web when it comes
to free software, so be sure to do your homework and
compare the alternatives using dependable resources.
 Introduction
The next step is to start a document that
details the purpose, color scheme, general feel-

CHAPTER 1
Tweet Yourself to a New Job
ing you’d like the site to convey, and any other
descriptions of the finished product. This is an While you’re students and young
essential step when someone other than you will strengthening your professionals.
be making the site, because that person needs to brand by writing
smart tweets and GreenJobs
know what your expectations are. Without this expanding your Learn about the
information, you could end up something very network, why not growing field of
different than what you envisioned. Creating also use Twitter to sustainable jobs from

Be Googled

CHAPTER 2
get valuable career this environmentally
a product description is beneficial regardless,

You Will
advice? Check out conscious feed.
because it’s a way to organize your thoughts and these sources of
plan effectively for your site. some of our favorite LindseyPollak
career tweets: Down-to-earth advice
geared toward recent
Content is King CAREEREALISM graduates and under-
Now that you have an idea of what you’d like the site Creators of the grads.
to accomplish, it’s time to decide what it will display. unique Twitter
Advice Project, which WetFeet_Career

Get Linked
Effective personal websites should contain a collection

CHAPTER 3
lets visitors pose A useful compilation
of your thoughts, evidence of your professional skills questions and get of career-related
and experience, and some of the more important pieces tweet-sized expert news and advice from
of your resume: contact information, background, and advice. us.
URLs of your social media pages. Every visitor to the CareerTV SarahChambers

Expand Your Brand

website should be able to find out who you are, what Instead of just Add some attitude
you’re all about, and what it is that makes you unique. writing about what and wit to your job
different employers search with straight-
The first step is to outline what type of content you
and careers are like, forward and often

CHAPTER 4
want to include and which sections—or pages—will CareerTV links you humorous advice
be needed to organize it. For example, you’ll need an to its video library from this HR profes-
“About Me” page to house your bio, a “Contact” page to see employees in sional.
action.
for your contact info, and so on. Once you’ve settled TheJobsGuy
on the components of your site, make a preliminary DebraWheatman A former online
site map using Adobe or Microsoft software, or even a This resume guru recruitment strategy
offers short, sweet consultant tweets
pencil and paper. (See example on the next page.) This advice for pumping often on interesting

Your Assets
Advertising
map will act as a blueprint, showing where each piece up your resume and career articles and

CHAPTER 5
of content will live on the site. For example, if you’re job search. available jobs in hubs
in advertising, perhaps you’ll have a page critiquing such as L.A., Chicago,
ExperienceLive North Carolina,
your favorite marketing campaigns. Ask yourself: Is this Career advice spe- Dallas, and Florida.
deserving of homepage placement? Going through this cifically for college
process will help you narrow the focus of your site and
ensure that it’s serving your personal brand.
REFERENCE

CHAPTER 6
FOR YOUR

WET F EET IN S IDER GUIDE 29

 Brand Thyself!
Introduction

Sample Sitemap
CHAPTER 1
Be Googled
CHAPTER 2
You Will

Test, Test, Test “It’s about quality versus quantity,” says Arruda, the
You’re not finished yet. Make sure every component on personal branding guru. “Lots of so-called experts say,
your site is functioning as it should before going live, ‘Just be up on the Web, create a video, it doesn’t mat-
Get Linked

because error messages and broken links won’t do your ter if the audio’s bad or your skin is shiny.’ Well, that’s
CHAPTER 3

persomal brand any good. No matter the industry or
field, your future employers, current boss, coworkers,
and any other professional contacts want to know you
can be depended on for great results, and won’t settle
Expand Your Brand
going to work against you.”
It’s better to have only 10 Google results that paint
you in a positive light than several results pages present-
ing a smattering of good and not-so-good portrayals.

for anything less than the best in whatever you do. You In other words, when it comes to any online brand-
don’t want someone to say, “Well, at least she’s trying” strengthening tool detailed in this chapter, remember
or think the site looks amateurish. this: If you’re going to do it, do it right.
CHAPTER 4
Your Assets
Advertising
CHAPTER 5

REFERENCE
CHAPTER 6
FOR YOUR

30 W E T F E E T I N S I D ER GUID E
 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 1 You Will CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 Advertising FOR YOUR
Introduction Be Googled Get Linked Expand Your Brand Your Assets REFERENCE

31
WET F EET IN S IDER GUIDE
Advertising

5
Your Assets
Bringing It All Together ............. 34

Branding Case Study:

International Aspirations ........... 34

The Elevator Pitch....................... 35

That Reminds Me....................... 35

 Brand Thyself!
Bringing It All
Introduction
Together
CHAPTER 1
› Now that you’ve defined your personal brand
and leveraged the many online tools available, it’s time
to do a final check for consistency. Open your Twitter
page, blog, website, and Facebook and LinkedIn pro-
files, along with anywhere else you call home on the
Web. Although the language might differ slightly
Be Googled
CHAPTER 2
depending on the platform, there should be a common
You Will
thread in your personal summaries, experience, and
interests. Yes, the dates and titles should be consistent,
but that’s not all: Does every piece of information com-
municate the few words you want others to associate
you with? It should.
If you pull all of these pieces together, you’ll start
Get Linked
to realize the power of a strong personal brand, ooz-
CHAPTER 3
ing with the qualities that define you as a professional.
Consistency across platforms will not only act as a wel-
come mat for new opportunities and build an inspir-
ing reputation among colleagues, it can also be used to
Expand Your Brand
evolve your particular brand into something new.
Cross-referencing
CHAPTER 4
Another all-important step to creating a cohesive online
brand is to connect the dots for your audience—show
them the many tools you’ve decided to use, making
sure nothing gets lost. Make sure the various URLs that
lead to your pages and profiles are visible on all of your
materials and use each tool in your repertoire to pro-
mote the others. Post Facebook status updates that drive
Your Assets
Advertising
traffic to your blog and tweet about a book review you
CHAPTER 5
posted on LinkedIn. Save time by using an aggregator,
such as HootSuite, to post to various platforms simul-
taneously.
Assemble Your
Marketing Materials
There are plenty of strategies to improve your placement
REFERENCE
CHAPTER 6
in search results, but some of the most effective ways
FOR YOUR
to market your brand are also the simplest. Add your
34 W E T F E E T I N S I D ER GUID E
LinkedIn address and other URLs to your email signa-
ture and business card. You might also want to create
a personal business card so you can promote yourself,
rather than your employer, and feature your personal
mail, your skills, and your online branding tools.
When it comes to creating materials such as busi-
ness cards, don’t settle for Microsoft Word templates;
do some research first. Consider the vibe you want to
give off and what you’d like to communicate with the
card—beyond the text you’ll include—and look for
some examples online. A quick Google search for busi-
ness card templates will bring you to several sites that
offer free templates, or templates that might inspire
you to create your own card using Photoshop. As with
a website or portfolio, the more creative your desired
career, the more focus you should put on the design of
your materials.
Your email signature is a bit more straightforward.
Steer away from graphics that will show up as attach-
ments in recipients’ inboxes, and keep it simple. And,
keep it concise: If your email signature gets bogged
down with too much information, it could be off-
putting and make you look self-important. Include the
following: name, title, phone number, LinkedIn profile
URL, and a line with your blog and Twitter addresses.
Branding
Case Study:
International
Aspirations
› Personal-branding guru William
Arruda tells the story of a woman who realized the
brand she created for herself wasn’t aligned with her
career goals. While working as an attorney for a big
retail company, she harbored the desire to be involved
in the company’s international business. Concerned
that she was seen strictly as an attorney—rather than
someone capable of running international operations—

she decided to use 360° Reach to get feedback from
her coworkers. Not one respondent associated her with
anything international, which meant it was time for her
to bring her strengths and interests to the surface.
The attorney bought a set of international clocks
from Ikea, switched her subscription to an Italian news-
paper from home to the office, and started to volunteer
for projects outside the legal department that were more
focused on overseas business. The decision to take these
seemingly simple steps to strengthen her brand paid off
when the attorney was evaluated for a senior interna-
tional operations position.
There are a couple key elements to this particular job
seeker’s success: First, when she decided it was time to
change her personal brand, she dove into the new brand
fully. Second, she made sure her new brand was authen-
tic by aligning her interests and personal brand; the new
brand she communicated in order to be taken seriously
for her dream job was authentic.
The Elevator Pitch
› Now that you’ve developed a strong, cohesive
personal brand, you need to be able to spread your
brand message. It’s time to master your elevator pitch.
Imagine you are on an elevator with the president of
your dream company. You have her undivided attention
for about the next 15 seconds, before she steps off at her
floor. Your pitch has to be short and convincing. The
key elements here are to convey past accomplishments
clearly, succinctly, and in a way that emphasizes the
unique reasons why you would be the perfect candidate
for the job.
The elevator pitch also serves as essential brand-
strengthening tool in more casual encounters, such as a
networking event or random introduction to someone
in your field at a party. In this case, you should also take
only 15 seconds, but use them not to talk about why
you fit with a particular company, but about your pro-
fessional goals, interests, experience, and the value you
bring to any organization.
Introduction
To master an elevator pitch, write it down and
practice it over and over in front of a mirror or friend.
CHAPTER 1
Your pitch should include information about who you
are, such as where you studied, where you work, your
area of expertise; major accomplishments, passions, and
unique skills; and where you envision your career path
leading you next and in the future.
An elevator pitch isn’t a long list of personal victories
and shouldn’t come off as a performance. While prac-
Be Googled
CHAPTER 2
ticing your pitch, you should be able to reassemble the
You Will
parts of the pitch to fit the situation or conversation—
so stop to listen to the other person. The more rehearsed
it seems, the less the person on the receiving end will
see it as genuine. And remember: Nonverbal commu-
nication has a huge impact on the way your message
is received, so pay special attention to body language.
Get Linked
Make eye contact. Stand up straight. Don’t cross your
CHAPTER 3
arms. Exude confidence, not arrogance. When leaving
the conversation, says Lizandra Vega, author of The
Image of Success, avoid using the “cocky strut.”
Expand Your Brand
That Reminds Me...
› Exuding confidence in your face-to-face
CHAPTER 4
and online interaction is essential to building a strong
brand. During interactions, don’t be afraid to mention
a relevant blog post or tweet, or a project you worked
on. It gives others something to remember you by and
an excuse for you to follow up and continue the dia-
logue.
Making relevant connections is also an easy way
Your Assets
Advertising
to make the conversation more personal, which will
CHAPTER 5
leave a stronger impression on others. Still, the balance
between the perception of humble self-promotion and
arrogance is a delicate one, so be self-aware and go with
the flow of personal exchange.
REFERENCE
CHAPTER 6
FOR YOUR
WET F EET IN S IDER GUIDE 35
For Your Reference

6
Online Resources........................ 38

Blogs & Twitter.......................... 38

Books.......................................... 39

Articles........................................ 39
 Brand Thyself!

ONLINE RESOURCES
Introduction

BloggerLinkUp
www.bloggerlinkup.com
CHAPTER 1

PWC’s Personal Brand Week E-Book An online network of bloggers and experts that can be
http://tinyurl.com/yb5zs8e used to gain recognition and build the network neces-
An e-book created for PWC’s Personal Brand Week sary to making your blog a success.
that covers the importance and basics of developing a
strong personal brand and is available to the general Brand-Yourself
public. www.brand-yourself.com
This site, founded by two recent grads, offers tools and
Be Googled
CHAPTER 2

Personal Branding TV advice to help you strengthen your personal brand

You Will

www.personalbranding.tv using social media.

A site maintained by personal branding expert William
Arruda, with videos of other experts and HR profes-
sional discussing topics related to branding.
BLOGS & TWITTER
The Personal Branding Blog
360° Reach www.thepersonalbrandingblog.com
Get Linked

www.reachcc.com/360reach Personal branding guru William Arruda’s blog, with a

CHAPTER 3

Recommended software for getting anonymous feed-
back from your peers, coworkers, ex-coworkers, and
family.
Expand Your Brand
mix of inspiration and practical information.
Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Blog
www.personalbrandingblog.com

Rypple Schawbel is known as a guru on the topic, and he’s

www.rypple.com recruited a number of expert contributors for this very
An alternative to 360° Reach that’s especially useful in a active site.
CHAPTER 4

group or office setting, because it allows respondents to

answer and discuss questions you pose.
Meyers Briggs Personality Test
www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html
A test used by many organizations, including employ-
ers and universities, to help respondents get a handle
Your Assets
Advertising
Student Branding Blog
www.studentbranding.com
Career counselors and recent grads dish out personal
branding guidance for high school, undergrad, and grad
school students that helps prepare them for life after
school.

on who they are and what kinds of careers best fit their
CHAPTER 5

personalities. Twitter.com/lindseypollack
Author and consultant on career trends, especially for
Live Career recent graduates and millennials.
www.livecareer.com
A site offering a career interest test that matches you Twitter.com/reachbranding
with the careers and job qualities that would bring you Interviews and expert opinions from personal branding
the most satisfaction based on your skills and interests. guru William Arruda.
REFERENCE
CHAPTER 6
FOR YOUR

38 W E T F E E T I N S I D ER GUID E
 Introduction
Twitter.com/danschawbel What Color is Your Parachute?
An especially active feed with links to events, articles By Richard Bolles

CHAPTER 1
and media appearances. A classic bestseller that helps readers figure out how to
change careers or reach their full potential.
Twitter.com/WetFeet_Career (Ten Speed Press, 2010)
A mix of career insight and humor, courtesy of the
WetFeet editorial team. Starring in Your Own Life: Reveal Your
Hidden Star Quality and Make Your
BOOKS Life a Blockbuster Hit

Be Googled

CHAPTER 2
You Will
By Lena Nozizwe
The Brand You 50: Or: Fifty Ways to The author’s dream was to become an actress, but her
Transform Yourself from an ‘Employee’ process could be used by anyone wanting to build a
into a Brand That Shouts Distinction, strong personal brand and reach career goals.
Commitment, and Passion! (Fireside, 2001)
By Tom Peters
Almost like a motivational speech in book form, Peters
ARTICLES

Get Linked
delivers practical advice in lists and short, dynamic bursts.

CHAPTER 3
(Knopf, 1999) “A Brand Called You”
This Fast Company article came out in 1997, when the
Career Distinction concept of a personal brand was new. It’s still really
By William Arruda and Kristen Dixson interesting for anyone trying to understand what it

Expand Your Brand

In addition to showing the steps toward building cred- means.
ibility and visibility, this guide also offers case studies of http://tinyurl.com/yu6nqw
successful branding efforts by other professionals.

CHAPTER 4
(Wiley, 2007) “Five Must-Have Apps for Your Personal
Brand,” from Personal Branding Blog.
Me 2.0 http://tinyurl.com/3zy932u
By Dan Schawbel
This book on personal branding delves into recent “Establish Brand Image in Online Media”
branding trends for Millennials: social networking, from The Wall Street Journal.
blogs, podcasts, wikis, and more. http://tinyurl.com/yhdu8e2

Your Assets
Advertising
(Kaplan, 2009)

CHAPTER 5
Savvy Gal’s Guide to Online Networking
(Or What Would Jane Austen Do?)
By Lindsey Pollack and Diane Danielson
A guide to “the nuts, bolts and savvy secrets that busi-
nesswomen need in order to use technology to build
professional relationships.” Especially useful to students
REFERENCE

CHAPTER 6

making the transition from college to career.

FOR YOUR

(Booklocker.com, 2007)

WET F EET IN S IDER GUIDE 39

Notes
>> The WetFeet Story
WetFeet was founded in 1994 by Stanford MBAs Gary Alpert and Steve Pollock. While exploring their
next career moves, they needed products like the WetFeet Insider Guides to guide them through their
research and interviews. But these resources didn’t exist yet—so they started writing! Since then,
millions of job seekers have used the WetFeet Insider Guides and WetFeet.com to research their next
career move.

In 2007 WetFeet became part of Universum Communications, the global leader in employer branding.
Thanks to the integration of WetFeet into the Universum group, WetFeet products are now used by
job seekers all over the world. In addition to our Insider Guides and WetFeet.com, we produce WetFeet
magazine, which features career advice tailored to undergraduate students.

>> The WetFeet Name

The inspiration for our name comes from a popular business school case study about L.L. Bean, the
successful mail-order company. Leon Leonwood Bean got his start because he literally got his feet wet:
Every time he went hunting in the Maine woods, his shoes leaked. One day he set out to make a better
hunting shoe, doing such a good job that his friends lined up to buy pairs of the boots. And so L.L. Bean
was born.

The lesson we took from the Bean case? Well, it shows that getting your feet wet is the first step toward
achieving success. And that’s what WetFeet is here for: To help you get your feet wet and take the right
steps toward ever-greater career goals, whatever they may be.
 >> The job market is as crowded as the supermarket
shelves. With an overwhelming number of options for employers to
choose from, it’s easy to be overlooked. But a strong personal brand
can help you rise above the cookie-cutter competition. By consistently
emphasizing the value you offer an employer and what defines you
as a person and professional—your unique strengths, skills, and
interests—you can build a brand that resonates with recruiters. In this
Insider Guide, we’ll help you discover, define, and promote your personal
brand. And since so much networking, job hunting, and socializing takes
place online, we’ll pay special attention to using social media, such as
LinkedIn, Twitter, and blogs, to shape your brand.

TURN TO THIS WETFEET

INSIDER GUIDE TO EXPLORE
★ HOW TO DEFINE YOUR BRAND AND DRAFT
A BRAND MANIFESTO
★ HOW TO GET RID OF YOUR DIGITAL DIRT
★ THE BASICS OF BUILDING A PERSONAL WEBSITE
★ WHAT MAKES A STRONG 15-SECOND
ELEVATOR PITCH

★ WHAT YOU SHOULD—AND SHOULDN’T—BE ★ BOOKS, BLOGS, AND ONLINE RESOURCES

TWEETING THAT WILL KEEP YOU UP-TO-DATE ON
PERSONAL BRANDING
★ HOW TO LURE RECRUITERS ON LINKEDIN

WetFeet has earned a strong reputation among college

graduates and career professionals for its series of highly
credible, no-holds-barred Insider Guides. WetFeet’s investi-
ISBN 978-1-58207-921-9 gative writers get behind the annual reports and corporate
PR to tell the real story of what it’s like to work at specific
$ 21.95 U.S. companies and in different industries. www.WetFeet.com