This document summarizes Robin Frank's presentation on creating a personal brand and networking for career success. The presentation covers developing a unique personal brand with a clear message, passion, and goals. It discusses the importance of an engaging online presence on LinkedIn and social media to establish expertise and be memorable. Specific tips are provided for crafting an effective personal profile, building connections, and using LinkedIn to find referrals and opportunities through strategic networking.
Driving AI Competency - Key Considerations for B2B Marketers - Rosemary Brisco
Creating a Compelling Personal Brand, and using Networking and LinkedIn for Career Success
1. Creating your Personal Brand and
Networking for Career Success
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
presented by Robin Frank
2. Yours Truly
Social Media
I work with
companies large and
small to help them
build and tune-up
an engaging online
presence.
I’m known as a
dynamic speaker
and speak regularly
at national
conferences,
companies, and
events.
Personal Branding
I help individuals in
many fields create
powerful personal
brands.
My personal branding
strategy is featured in
the recent book
“Digital Marketing”
written by Larry Weber
and endorsed by Reid
Hoffman (Chairman,
Founder/LinkedIn) and
John Donahoe
(CEO/eBay).
Reboot Camp
Innovative program to
help Moms confidently
re-enter the workforce
after a break.
Six inspiring and
pragmatic sessions
cover topics from
networking and
interview skills to social
media and personal
branding, plus two
hours of one-on-one
coaching.
Mom
Twin 8 Yr old boys
Live in Mill Valley
6. BUT…No One
Connects the Dots
• Branding
• Psychology
• Social Media/LinkedIn
• Networking
• Online Marketing
• Content Strategy
7. Today’s Workshop
• How to create a unique personal brand and
online persona
• Easy strategies for being memorable when
you interact with others online and offline
• Networking to get the meetings you want
• Putting LinkedIn to work for you
10. Developing Your Brand Will Help YOU
• With your current job
• Your next job
• Find partnerships
• Build relationships
• Network and unlock opportunities
• Get more clients
11. Transparency is Sexy
• Your brand is your character in action
▫ Not a slogan/ad campaign, but a living thing
▫ Driving force - what you stand for, what sets you apart
• Tell people clearly and memorably what you do
▫ So they can spread the word
• Get clear on your attributes
▫ Not contriving an image you think will be accepted
▫ Which are vital to your success? What do you offer the world?
▫ You will always be too much of something for someone
12. The High Cost of Being Forgotten
• The best opportunities come when a friend refers you to
another friend: Word Of Mouth
• How do you make it easy for people to remember you?
• How do you not blend in?
15. What Makes a Personal Brand Compelling?
WHO YOU ARE
Short mantra – what you want the listener to remember most about you
WHAT
Tag line – how you add value + your unique benefits, how what you do is
different
WHY
Passion - why you do what you do
GOAL
What you want – customized for different audiences so the listener knows
what you are asking
16. Who: The Art of Pitchcraft
• Whether you are trying to raise capital, promote
your company, or promote yourself – an Elevator
Pitch is essential
17. What: A Great Pitch Includes
a Powerful Brand Mantra
• Quick, punchy, memorable
statement
▫ Communicate your message
clearly to someone who
doesn’t know you
• Practice & Planning
▫ Deliver it on the spot under
pressure
• One minute to say it all
18. What
• How do you add value?
• What are your distinctive benefits?
• How is what you do different from what others like you do
– brand value proposition
• “I help people imagine and create their brand online
quickly and efficiently.”
19. Why: Get at the Passion Behind What You
Do
•Psychology - People don’t buy what you do; they buy WHY you do it
▫The WHY talks to an area of the brain that controls behavior and decision-making
▫Your enthusiasm shines through - people biologically more apt to agree with you
•Example: Apple (Simon Sinek)
We make great computers –they are beautifully designed, perform well and are easy
to use, want to buy one?
Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo, thinking differently. The
way we do this is by making products that are beautifully designed, simple to use,
and user-friendly, and they happen to be great computers -want to buy one?
20. The WHY is Powerful
• What grabs people’s attention
and makes us memorable is not
what we do, but why we do it
• Why you do what you do - this
reflects your passion
• Most people skip their why –
they see it as less significant
• This is where our personal
values, our vision, and our
enthusiasm comes through
21. Goals
• What do you want?
• What are you trying to accomplish?
• This determines how and where to focus your personal
branding efforts including what type of a digital presence
makes sense
22. The Royal We
• WHO: I am a navigator – I help people find their way
• WHAT: I help people imagine and create their brand online quickly and
efficiently
• WHY: I love helping small businesses and entrepreneurs create a
compelling persona that conveys their passion and expertise – getting
them where they want to go personally and professionally
• GOAL: I’m looking for 1-2 more clients. Do you know anyone who who
would benefit from a compelling personal brand and solid online
presence to get to the next step in their career or business?
23. The Rest is Accurate,
Consistent Packaging
• However you define your personal
brand, it must be authentic - it
should ring true to who you are and
how you live
• Your brand should be consistent
both online and offline,
manifesting itself in how you
answer your phone, introduce
yourself, what you retweet, and
even the community organizations
with which you engage
24. Master Your Universe
• Own YOU.com
▫ Make it professional
▫ Wordpress/Divi
• Google Alerts
▫ Know what is being said about
you
• Google Search
▫ Aim to control the first full page
of Google search results
(pictures too)
• Engage in social networks
▫ Smartly, strategically
26. • We are visual creatures and
make snap judgments about
people, places, and things
based on a glance
• Get great head shots and
action shots of you in your
element
• Pay attention to colors,
logos and fonts
Create Your Look and Feel
28. Getting a Job is 60% Networking
• 20% - Applying directly to a job
• 20% - Great resume, online brand, LinkedIn, social
• 60% - Networking
29. How to Get a Meeting with Someone You
Don’t Know
• Networking - forwards and backwards
• Maximizing your use of LinkedIn
30. Networking: Quality not Quantity
• Deepen your connection
▫ People you have just met or may have known your whole life
▫ People in our networks serve a variety of purposes – they can
stimulate our thinking, expand our options, help us make better
decisions, provide insight into our careers
• Be a people hub
▫ One of the most valuable things you can do for someone is
connect them with the right person
▫ Facilitate a mutually beneficial connection
32. Weak Links are More Powerful
• Account for most of the structure of social networks in society
as well as the transmission of information through these
networks
• More novel information flows to individuals through weak rather
than strong ties
• Our close friends tend to move in the same circles that we do –
and the information they receive overlaps considerably with
what we already know
33. Network is a Verb Not a Noun
• Care and feeding of your network
▫ Give something of value in every interaction
▫ Send a message with an update or article or
interesting event
34. Why Don’t We Follow Up?
• You’re one connection away from getting the job of your dreams
• Sometimes you MEET that one connection. You know it’s right
for you. And you know it’s right for them. But for some reason,
you NEVER follow up. Why?
▫ We forget
▫ Negative thoughts prevent you from taking action
▫ Networking can feel forced, unnatural, and sleazy
35. The Key to the Successful Follow-Up
• Calendar reminder 5-10 days away - email
• How to make sure they read it?
▫ Say: I’ll email you in a week or two
Email content: offer a potential solution, data, research you
think they would be interested in and/or ask a question that
demonstrates some knowledge - Are you going to XYZ event
or do you think competitor ABC's new launch/positioning
will be impactful?
36.
37.
38. Getting Referrals and Introductions
• Increase your chances of being interviewed and getting a
better job by 5-10X over applying directly
• Some connections you make along the way will surprise
you, and put you on a path you never even considered
39. Networking Forwards with LinkedIn
• Target 10 people who can vouch for your past performance and
future potential (goal is 4)
▫ Professors, advisors, or social connections
• Reach out - ask if they would be comfortable recommending you to
connections in companies or industries of interest to you
▫ Get the names of 4 people and an intro
▫ Look at their LinkedIn - have specific people in mind
▫ Track everything in a spreadsheet
40. LinkedIn Introductions - Trusted
Connections
• Look at a job/company you are interested in
• Find who you're connected to (1st Degree) who knows someone
in the company (2nd Degree) and ask to be referred/introduced
42. InMail – When You Have No Connections
• You can send an inMail to
anyone
• For pay (avoids spam)
• If you don’t receive a
reply, LinkedIn will refund
your credit automatically
43. Talking to Strangers
• Lead with something in common
▫ Contextualize the conversation - mention how you found them
• Get to your point fast
• Reassure the person that you’re not asking for a favor
▫ Be firm that you are just looking for a meeting
• Talk about what makes you qualified - your brand pitch here!
• End with a strong call to action with a time limit
▫ Mention that you need only 15 minutes of their time.
• Be respectful = Show appreciation for their time
44. The (Almost)Perfect Meeting Request
Dear [name],
I found your profile through the [name the common LinkedIn Group or
network] on LinkedIn. I have been working as a [name last position] at [name
last company], and I am in the process of making a career transition.
It would be helpful for me to find out about your experiences as a [name
role] for [target company]. I promise not to take more than 15 minutes of
your time.
I am not expecting to discuss a particular job opening, but I would appreciate
being able to talk with you on an informational basis.
What is the best way to reach you this week? Do you have any availability
this coming Thursday or Friday? I thank you in advance.
Regards,
[your name]
45. Change the Game
• Offer value before you ask for anything
▫ How can I help this person?
▫ Do not discount yourself just because you’re young. Offer what
you have based on what people need
▫ Add value - Offer to create a website, a video, or?
• Do your research
▫ Know the basics - take time to check Google, Twitter, LinkedIn,
Facebook, etc. so you understand what the person is all about
▫ Find the details - look for common hobbies or a hook - one of my
mentors is someone I connected with because I reached out and
mentioned we both like to dive
47. • Update your profile
▫ Whether you are job
hunting or not!
▫ Keeps you top of mind
with your friends and
connections
▫ Particularly if you post
updates as well
It’s a No-Brainer
48. Customize Your Profile URL
• While on your LinkedIn profile page, your URL has some strange
characters and looks funny - this is not the URL you want to share
• Click the Edit icon next to the URL link under your profile photo
• First come/first serve
• Use it below your email signature, blog, business card, etc.
49. Use a Good Image
• Your photo sends a strong
message of who you are
• Use a head shot with a clean
background, a smile and a clear
view of your eyes
• Best photo is a smiling face and
a little bit of your shoulders
• Make sure it isn’t blurry, or
grainy
50. Optimize/Sass up your headline
• Most people only look at your picture and headline
• Craft a compelling headline, even if you are not employed
• You have 120 characters to play with – maximize it
▫ Keywords used by ideal clients to search for what you offer
Create a word cloud of your job description
3 keywords that represent your job history and ideal job
▫ Use "Show examples" and "See what others in your industry are using"
• Watch “Who’s viewed my profile” to see if changes have an impact on
views
51.
52. Skills/expertise
• Others endorse you for skills - and it shows up below
your work experience on your profile
• You can add, remove,and reorganize skills
53. Beef up your summary section
• Contact info first
• Use first tense - I was….
• 3-5 paragraphs - bullets in the middle
• Walk through your work passions, key
skills, unique qualifications, and industries
• Template
▫ What you do - what problem do
you solve and how?
How you are different?
Why you do what you do?
How did you get where you are today?
Explain concisely in a way that makes
you look interesting and motivated.
What do others say - credibility
• End with a call to action
54.
55. Don’t Just Say It, Display It
• Portfolio feature - you can add photos, videos, documents, linked
articles with images, screenshots, audio recordings, and SlideShare
presentations
• Highlight work samples, client work, launches, special projects, press,
and tweets from speaking engagements.
• Not many are using this yet
56.
57. 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual,
and visuals are processed 60,000X faster in the brain
than text
58. Update your relevant experience
• Option 1: Timeline of your professional growth
▫ Include a little about each company plus your
responsibilities and accomplishments
• Option 2: Order your content your way
▫ This enables you to emphasize what’s important and
focus on the strengths of your experience
▫ List at least 3 projects related to your desired
business and 2 videos/presos/articles/podcasts on
topics that demonstrate your expertise and insights
into industry/client problem
59. Volunteering Can Be Just as Powerful as
Work Experience
• Include organizations support and projects you have
worked on as well
60. recommendations
• 10 increase your ranking
• Add a personal message when you
ask for a recommendation
• Offer to write it for their review
• Find people similar to you and look
for recommendations you find
compelling
• Be strategic - your recs should
emphasize different talents and
aspects of your skills
• You can choose to hide/display any
recommendation
Recommendations
61. The Brand of You -It’s a Big
Deal
• Personal Branding - make it shine
• Get it out there - both online/offline
• Effective and productive networking
• Maximizing LinkedIn
62.
63. Need Help?
Hire an Expert
• Personal Branding
• Social Media
• Content Strategy
• Website Optimization
• Speaking
• Reboot/Return to
Work
robeenf@gmail.com
robeenf.com
GoRebootCamp.com
Notas del editor
Unique Approach to Creating and Managing Personal Brand Online
When it Comes to Online: No One Connects the Dots
Maybe add few words – pscyh of memory and connection
Social media hacks
Promotion – connect w peopl
Marketing –
Content hacks for engaging, sharing
Social Media hacks for reducing time sink
Marekting + Psychology hacks to make you memorable and build traffic/awareness
Promotion hacks to get you in front of the right people
e secret to getting the job you want boils down to smart networking and a compelling personal brand - this is the special sauce that makes you stand out in a sea of qualified candidates. In the first part of this session, you will create a personal brand that tells your story and conveys your value. Plus, you'll get guidance on the tricky issue of how best to describe your time off as part of your story, and how to showcase your brand in all your online and offline activities. You will master techniques for making yourself memorable in conversation as well as learn the best way to connect online, ask for a meeting, and talk to strangers at a networking event. Part two of this session will provide you with strategies to create a stellar LinkedIn profile so that your experience shines and gets the attention of recruiters and hiring managers. LinkedIn is a powerful networking platform and you will learn tips for using it like a pro to get the introductions, referrals, and meetings you want, even with people you don't know. Finally, since it is important to keep yourself motivated throughout the uncertainty of a job search, this session will teach you how to create a job search roadmap and track your success.
offers a four-part framework to assist people in articulating their brands and developing a personal branding statement.
describe who we are, what we most want people to remember about us. This is a short, hopefully catchy statement, what some may call an elevator pitch that prompts people to say, “I get this person.” Frank would describe her “who statement” as: I am a navigator. I help people find their way.
Profoundly changed my view on how the world worked – great leaders think, act communicate the exact same way How Successful People Sell Themselves (Simon Sinek)
I love helping others achieve their goals. I work with people to create a compelling persona that conveys their passion and expertise – getting them where they want to go personally and professionally
We are constantly sending a signal to the world
Voicemail
Signature line
Social media: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest…
Website
Blog
Podcast
How you introduce yourself and describe what you do
Events
Why is it important for us to be active in social media? These social networks and communities offer a vehicle for us to nurture our relationships, tap the wisdom of our networks, monitor the latest developments in our fields, share our experience, and contribute to the conversation. It is also where the action is. According to a recent study conducted by Forrester Research, a staggering 100 percent of business decision-makers surveyed use social media for work purposes. Almost all (98 percent) read blogs, watch videos, and listen to podcasts); two-thirds comment on blogs and post ratings and reviews, and 79 percent of those maintain a profile on social networking sites “all in the context of their business activities.”
Packaging is important
Personal branding is the foundation, but our careers and social endeavors are greatly enriched and impacted by the ecosystem of resources and support that surrounds us.
A good place to begin to build our networks is by taking a simple inventory. Start with our closest relationships, the people we know, our friends and family. Add on school friends, parents of our children’s friends if applicable and relevant, and people that we worked with or volunteered with in the past. Think of people we may have met while traveling, or in a cycling group, or with whom we may attend church or temple. Do not forget former bosses, friends with whom we may have gone to camp, or fraternity brothers or sorority sisters. Add colleagues from work and clients—even competitors.
Some people find it useful to map these contacts visually. Placing ourselves in the center, and as the figure below suggests, we develop categories to classify our relationships. From there we add names to each section. We have found it fruitful to return to this exercise multiple times to see if the process has further jogged our memories.
Continue to add new contacts as appropriate: the people throughout our organizations with whom we interact and those that we connect with at meetings or conferences. Seek out diversity. While our close-knit group of friends and colleagues may always be there for us, they may not be the most effective in helping us stay on the cutting edge of what is happening in the marketing world. The reason is that we probably see the world similarly.
Research shows that these “weaker ties” are more likely to provide information about jobs that led to employment than closer friends, because they have access to a different pool of resources, as Figure XX illustrates. On a broader scale, societies in which people have many weak ties in addition to their strong ties have been found to be more innovative.
Our networks are verbs, not nouns; we don’t own them, we interact with them.
To be mutually beneficial, we must try and give something of value in every interaction—not gifts, but information or a useful introduction
Used by 300 Million people around the world/100 million US
40% of users check it daily
More popular than Twitter among US adults
LinkedIn drives 64% of all visits generated by social media channels to corporate websites
Ask that person to help you gather information about the company, and try to get some insights into company priorities and culture
Also see what you can learn about the company’s top motivation in hiring decisions — what priorities or issues the company considers
Be direct and be proactive. Prepare to ask about specific people they know, and about specific jobs at their companies.
Finely tune your searches when you filter by years of experience, seniority level, job function, company size, groups, and more. Premium members get up to 8 additional search filters.
First, find the Advanced link to the right of the search box at the top of any page. Once you’ve clicked through, all of your Premium filters have a gold LinkedIn logo next to them.
Whether you’re selling, job-hunting, recruiting, or building your business, you’ve likely got an ideal target in mind.
Premium filters let you focus on reaching exactly who you need to find, whether they be experience executives, people who work at SMBs, or any other specific segment.
ou can filter by relationship, groups, location and industry, and the Save Search function even allows you to store effective criteria.
In an effort to manage spam, LinkedIn requires members to pay to send InMail. InMail is most useful for members who want to contact a wide variety of people, such as recruiters or individuals using LinkedIn for business development.
There is one exception in which you can send InMail for free, even if you don’t have a premium account: You can send InMail at no charge to members who participate in the OpenLink Network. LinkedIn identifies these members with the OpenLink icon on their profiles or in search results. To enable other members to send you free InMail, you must specify that you want to participate in the OpenLink Network when you sign up for a premium account.
LinkedIn premium accounts, including Job Seeker premium accounts, enable you to send a fixed number of InMail messages per month. To learn more about LinkedIn premium accounts and InMail, click the Upgrade link on the navigation menu.
You can also purchase individual InMails at $10 each by pausing over your photo in the upper-right corner of the screen and selecting Review. Then click the Purchase link below the InMails field on the Account & Settings page. This is cost-efficient only if you want to contact just a few people by InMail.
What does a successful InMail/Request for Informational Interview Look Like Reassure the person that you’re not asking for a favor
No one likes being put on the spot. If people suspect that you’re going to ask them for a job, they may anticipate having to turn you down. Saying no isn’t fun and most people try to avoid it. Be firm that you are just looking for a meeting
Talk about what makes you qualified
Show your contact that you are uniquely qualified based on your skills and background
End with a strong call to action with a time limit
Mention that you need only 15 minutes of their time. Make sure you end with a clear next step. Are you asking for a phone number? Are you asking to pick a time next week?
Be respectful = Show appreciation for their time
Professional appreciation can go a long way and help you look more assertive “I’d really appreciate it if you would…”
If someone doesn’t get back to you within a week, you can try sending another request. Assume that this person is simply busy. After the second try, however, assume the answer is no, and stop pursuing this contact. The last thing you want to be is a pest.
The single biggest tip I can give any marketer on LinkedIn is this: Stop treating LinkedIn like an online version of your résumé (“I went to college here, I work at this company, I do this for a job”) and instead make your entire profile what I call client-facing.
For instance, use the template below (including the ALL CAPS areas!) for your LinkedIn profile’s summary text:
WHAT I DO: I help [My Target Audience] achieve [Their Desired Outcome] by providing [My product, skill or service offering].
WHY I’M DIFFERENT: [My USP: What makes me different/better/unique than others who offer similar skills, products or services.]
WHAT OTHERS SAY: [Insert text from a happy client singing your praises in a specific way that will appeal to your target market.]
“Ideally, your summary should be around 3–5 short paragraphs long, preferably with a bulleted section in the middle. It should walk the reader through your work passions, key skills, unique qualifications, and a list of the various industries you’ve had exposure to over the years.”
Cant reorder, only visible to connections, preview not so great
When you add a link to your Professional Portfolio, the image, title and description will autopopulate, which means that the image drawn from a multi-image article may not be the one you want.
One way to retain control over images is to upload an image and then enter the information manually. However, you don’t get the benefit of the link being clickable or hyperlinked. It all depends on your priority between clickable links vs. having some control over the image that’s populated.
The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island Resort hosts the real deal! Situated in the tropical gardens on Rangalifinolhu Island, access to the resort is only by seaplane and while it may sound like any other exclusive get away, the Conrad Rangali will have you dining with stingrays and on special occasions, sleeping with the sharks
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Turns out, recommendations may have more benefit than just making you look likeable to potential employers. Stormphorst believes 10 or more recommendations will elevate your profile’s search ranking.
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