Carissa's Social Media Branding Strategy:
YOU are your brand as much as your website, logo/photo and/or username!
Most of us 'regular' users/moms/bloggers are online for communication and friendship. We are more responsive to a real person vs. a brand (or even a logo.) I suggest you use your real name or a variation of your real name in your profile/bio on your Twitter account, your Ning accounts, etc. In other words, where ever people will click to see more about you: use your real name.
Remember your brand is really as many as four things:
• YOU (as in your real name)
• Your business name/website/logo
• Your username (if you don’t use your real name or your business name)
• The photo you use on all your social media haunts
Mine are: Carissa (CarissaRogers on twitter), GoodNCrazy and my twitter picture.
Best Practices for Using your 'brand' in Social Media:
1. TWITTER:
Keep your current twitter username if it is one of the above 3 things: Your NAME, Your SITE/business, or the USERNAME you use in a lot of places. If it is not one of those three, consider changing it. This is easy and you won’t lose any followers. Then in your twitter profile give your real name, this will allow people to talk to you like a real person if they choose. It will show up in the DM form. We don't want to call you 'fancypants' when we’re talking directly to you! If it freaks you out to use your real name, use a variation, if your name is Jennifer, try Jen?
2. NINGS/STUMBLEUPON etc.:
Anywhere you need to create a username, USE THE SAME ONE each time and use the same picture too. That avatar FOR SURE is part of your brand, so if you change it, change it EVERYwhere!
If at all possible use your real face. If you want to get your brand/logo in there, simply hold up a product, or stand next to it, or stamp your logo on there below your face. I promise real faces get more response than logos or products. (And IMHO be sure you are wearing regular clothing, often those tiny avatars get cropped in and people look like they are naked, when in fact they are wearing spaghetti straps…causing them to look like a porn queen!)
Take a look at my profile page on MomBloggersClub: Carissa Rogers. I use "Carissa AKA (GoodNCrazy)" in the top 'Title' of the page, and I use my real name as my username. I'm lucky though and often Carissa isn't taken, unlike twitter where I had to use my whole name. (BTW: On facebook it's basically frowned upon to create an account that is anything but your own real name.)
3. COMMENTING ON BLOGS:
For blogger blogs: Create a blogger/google account and in the profile section add your email address and website. Click to allow people to see your email address. (Create a public email address if you are worried about publishing your account.) Then in the name field use your real name followed by username/business like this: Carissa{GoodNCrazy} —PS: Stay away from the '&', because websites hate it! This way your real name is linked with your blog/brand.
When I am commenting on blogs that have a regular sign in form, I use Carissa, give my public email address, and my website. Another way is to leave your username in the name field and then literally sign your comment with your real name. I often sign a blog comment with my twitter username.
The whole point of social media is social first, business second.
Create a conversation with people keeping it genuine and about them. Let them know you are a real person. Be engaging. Ask questions. If you notice someone asking a question, answer if you know the answer. Even better, connect them with someone who DOES know the answer. You'll have made two friends out of one!
Can you talk about your own business on twitter/facebook/nings?
The answer is: YES. Remember to keep the 80/20 rule. 80% about other people (tweet out their website, link to a terrific blog post on your facebook stream, STUMBLE stuff you love!), and then go ahead and share your own brand/products/writing 20% of the time.
Was this useful? Would you like to hear more?
Possible Upcoming GoodNCrazy strategies:
• What’s the best way to use Twitter/Facebook/Nings? And who should I follow/friend back on these networks?
• How can I entice additional followers?
• Why should I use Facebook for more than just friends and family?
• Should I use FriendFeed?
• How do I use StumbleUpon? And why? (and what about other social bookmarking sites?)
• Do I get anything out of Flickr, Photobucket, or Twitpic.com?
• Should I care about my website’s Alexa or Technorati rating, or any of those ‘rating’ sites?
More Blogger Tips
