In this video, I will show you how to quickly add your email and contact information to your LinkedIn profile so that recruiters will be able to reach out to you when they are interested in making a job offer.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5YkSmNVxAE

Endorsements are testimonials that are written by individuals who approve your work or service. It is nothing more than a brief recommendation letter given by someone who has experienced working with you or for you. These recommendations help future employers or clients decide if you are worthy enough to form a business relationship with.

Recently, I was giving a presentation to a group of students at Georgia State University. In that class I gave an example of how the endorsements on my LinkedIn profile helped me satisfy the questions of a prospective client who was considering me for a paid speaking engagement with their professional organization.

See the video below as I explain the proper way to ask for and receive endorsements.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnbKxViflgg

My boss wants to be my FB friend!?!?! I can’t even pose this as a question on my page! What’s the protocol? I can’t believe she did that? I’m feeling kinda pressured now -- but we sit right next to each other (ugh) and I feel it would be awkward if I don’t accept. What should I do?!?!

I often write blog posts about the positive aspects of having social media profiles. However, in this case, my friend has found himself in an awkward position. Does he ignore his boss’ request and feel awkward when he comes in to work or does he accept the request and feel like he has to watch everything that he posts on his account?

Don’t get me wrong, you should NEVER post anything online that you would not want your mother to read. However, many people use Facebook as a place to let their hair down and connect with friends. Oftentimes, we have friends who are are really fun to hang out with on the weekends, but not the type of friends that we would invite to the office party.

How do you keep your professional friends separate from your weekend friends on Facebook?

The video below is the solution I suggested to my friend’s dilemma.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=04X3M1t4qxY

What is an email signature line?

An email signature line is the few lines of information that is automatically added at the end of your outgoing email message. This message tells people who you are, what you do, and how to contact you.

Email signatures, which are also referred to as “sig lines”, are one the most under utilized marketing tool despite their amazingly powerful high return on investment. Email signatures should be thought of it as virtual business cards or online ads. Unfortunately, most people do not use email signature lines and this low cost strategy becomes a missed branding opportunity to drive readers to your website.

Consider this, if you average 5 emails sent per day, that would be a total of 1825 emails personally sent in one year. By not having a email signature line, you miss out on distributing your electronic business card or email ad to these potential buyers of your product or service.

One might argue that the people who they email already know who they are and what they do. This could only be further from the truth. I have been dating a young lady for a few years now and if you were to ask me to explain what she did at work, I would not be able to give you a good solid answer. Oh sure, I have somewhat of an idea, but not so much that I could confidently refer potential business her way.

Most of your friends can not explain well what it is that you do for a living. Your signature line offers them the opportunity to visit your personal branding page where they can read more about who you are and your expertise.

The basic components of a signature line

Before creating your signature line you should know that the general rule of thumb for the appropriate length of a signature line is four to six lines in length. Eight is the maximum that you should ever use.

Your signature line must include:

• Name
• Job Title
• Organization name
• Phone number
• Web address

Optional elements of a signature line can include:

• Tag line – see how to create a catchy tag line.
• Links to other social networks

Remember, your signature line is your opportunity to entice readers to visit your web site and learn more about who you are professionally. It’s also an opportunity to establish yourself as a recognized expert in your field of industry.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Llm5qtQFZZk

Would you like to know what tweak I made?

I customized my Professional Headline.

LinkedIn defaults your professional headline with your current job title and company name. However, there is an option that allows you to change your headline and customize it with something more interesting about you or your expertise.

If you want to have more click throughs to your profile, customize your Professional Headline with something that is interesting and compelling.

Watch the video below to see how it is done.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkKwtYX2V6w

In his video, Bret explained how blogging allows you to document and articulate how you can help others with things that matter to them most. He stresses that as an owner of a blog, you are not trying to become a professional blogger but rather showcase the value that you bring to your viewers. Blogging helps you become a recognized expert in your field of industry.

Here are a few tips that Bret offers:

1. Don’t quit blogging
2. Follow other people’s blog in your industry
3. Read blogs outside of your field of interest
4. Continue to improve what you are doing

Watch Brit’s video for yourself:

Bret L Simmons: Personal Branding: Three tips for the new blogger from Bret Simmons on Vimeo.

Employment Law

Today, I read a very colorful post from my friend, Jim Stroud. In his post, Jim interviewed Dr. Lisa  Harpe who is a Industrial Psychologist and Senior Consultant at Peopleclick Authoria Research Institute. Dr. Harpe’s expertise is  in developing and evaluating employment systems.

She currently works in the employment discrimination arena where she conducts statistical analysis of employment data to evaluate HR systems for evidence of employment discrimination. She advises companies on policies and procedures that may assist them in their efforts to comply with anti-discrimination regulations. In additon, Dr. Harpe is also the author of, “Social Networks and Employment Law: Are you putting your Organization at Risk?”

In short, Dr. Harpe was a very reputable guest for Jim Stroud’s interview on the topic of whether companies should use social media to find and recruit talent. As someone with a recruiting background, I found this interview to be quite interesting as Jim probed whether or not companies could face legal trouble using Facebook to recruit because of the potential discrimination threats it poses.

As someone who is building and managing your personal brand online using social media sites, you should take a moment to read the interview notes from Mr. Stroud at: Can I Get Into Legal Trouble for Recruiting On Facebook?

A few months ago, I was listening to the local DJ personality on the radio. He mentioned that someone, whose name was the same as his, had recently uploaded a controversial blog comment. I don’t remember the exact details of the blog comment, but I do remember thinking to myself… Wow, he’s monitoring his personal brand and knows when anything is posted that mentions his name.

This led me to wondering if others actually monitored their personal brand. How many people even know how to set up a system to monitor their personal brand? The good news is that I know how to set a monitoring strategy and it only takes one minute to set up.

Google is the most popular search engine on the web today. While there are many search engines online, such as Bing, Yahoo and AOL; Google seems to be the lead dog in the search engine world. The strategy I will teach you uses a special Google tool called Google Alerts.

Google Alerts is a free content monitoring system that automatically notifies users when new content from news, web, blogs, video and/or discussion groups match a set of search terms selected by the user and stored by the Google Alerts service. Notifications can be sent by email, as a web feed or displayed on the users iGoogle page. Gmail accounts are not required in order to take advantage of Google Alerts. Notifications can be sent to any email address.

While Google Alerts only provides content from Google’s own search engine; Google has the largest global average usage share and is the most popular search engine on the planet. Using Google as your alert system gives you the greatest amount of monitoring coverage offered from one search engine.

Users can determine the frequency of checks that are done for new results. Three options are available: “once a day”, “once a week”, or “as it happens”. These options set the maximum frequency of alerts and do not necessarily control how often they will receive alerts. Alerts are sent only if new content matches the user-selected search terms.

Google Alerts (www.google.com/alerts)

Setting Up Your Personal Branding Search

1. Visit www.google.com/alerts.
2. Type your name in search terms box. (Use quotations around your name so that Google returns the exact phrase)
3. Select comprehensive as type. (You want Google to search all content match alerts)
4. Select how often you want to be notified if something is found (Suggested – once a day)
5. Email length – (optional)
6. Enter the email address you wish the alerts to be sent to
7. If you signed up to receive Google Alerts to an outside email address other than Gmail, you will receive an email asking you to confirm your request.  Click the confirmation link.
8. Once you have confirmed, Google Alerts will monitor the web and email you sites that mention your name.

View video tutorial below:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYM5UorwTRA

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrI6BOU8huE

The first place you can start branding yourself is through your name. Think about it for a moment, your name is one of the most consistent brands that you posses. Unless you are a woman who marries and changes her maiden name, you will more than likely have the same name for the rest of your life.

Purchasing your own name as a domain name is something that is highly recommended for personal branding. Even if you are not ready to host your own website, blog, or career portfolio, you should consider purchasing your personal domain name as a commodity that will have future value.

There are billions of people on the planet and chances are there is someone else who shares the same name as you. If you are lucky to find that your name is still available as a domain, I would recommend that you purchase it immediately before someone else does.

The first thing you should do is conduct a domain search for your name. If your name is common, there will be a great chance that your name is already taken. The returned search results will determine the strategy that you will use in branding your name.

The easiest and simplest way to conduct a domain search is by visiting the popular domain registrar, GoDaddy. On the front page of GoDaddy you will find a search box labeled, “Start a Domain Name search”. In the search box, enter your full name without any spaces. The search function is already set up to search the .com extension. Click the Go button and the system will let you know if your name is already taken as a domain.

If the .com extension is taken, you will have to brainstorm some alternative ideas about what combination of your name you will be able to register. You could check to see if other domain extensions are available such as .net or .info. GoDaddy will show you if other extensions (.net, .info, .org, .me, .tv, .mobi) of your name are available.

Another option is to add your middle name in your domain or add something onto the beginning or end of your name. An example might be www.bobhenryjohnson.com or www.bobjohnsononline.com. Whatever your choice, consider it carefully as this will be the brand name that you will build consistency with.