Personal Branding Weekly Online and Offline Word of Mouth - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Personal Branding Weekly Online and Offline Word of Mouth - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Personal branding weekly As editor, of the Personal Branding Blog, I’m grateful and proud of the caliber of authors we having sharing a wealth of insights.   Yet, I know how fast-paced this blog can be with new content posting daily and often several times a day. You may have missed these great posts: • Are You Out of Your Right Mind â€" by Nance Rosen • Handling a Personal Branding Mistake, Inspired by Nicholas Cage â€" by Heather Huhman • Transitioning from Roadblock to Success â€" by Elinor Stutz • Penelope Trunk’s Journey from Trade Publishing to Self Publishing â€" by Roger Parker • Accessories Matter in Personal Branding â€" by Katie Konrath • Beware the Negative Blow-back from a Resume Blast â€" by Skip Freeman • How to Choose Where to Guest Post by â€" Jacob Share • The New Twitter Ostriches   by Oscar del Santo • Video Tips and Ideas for Small Businesses and Brands â€" by Manoush Zomorodi • Some Hiring Managers are Doing it Wrong â€" by Erik Deckers • 13 Branding Experts to Follow on Twitter â€" by the YEC • Job Seekers: Branding Yourself As A Generalist Doesn’t Work â€" by Phil Liebman Upcoming this week on the Personal Branding Blog This week look forward to our covering: • The color of your brand • Do business people really suck at technology startups? • Common resume mistakes that will cost your personal brand • An interview with Ryan Holiday, the author of Trust Me I’m Lying • How to choose your perfect avatar that will take your brand to the next level • The importance and the value that entrepreneurship plays to your career • Is your LinkedIn headline killing your brand? • And, much more! Online and Offline Word of Mouth How often have you met with someone or looked at a person or business because someone suggested/recommended that you do so? Without realizing it, word of mouth marketing has just worked its magic on you. Word of Mouth marketing is powerful. It’s a double edged sword that can bring great positive recommendations or a landslide of negative comments. It can easily make or break a reputation.  And, these days third party feedback and comments can flow from online to offline and online again. First, understand that word of mouth can not only be encouraged but also facilitated. This means that you can control the information you want to put out there to generate enough interest to keep people talking. This takes a lot of thought and planning so that you can get the right message across. It’s important to be brief and be careful about using anything that can carry a negative meaning. Second, keep the conversations going by posting regular updates. The lifespan of a post or update is short â€" so listen and connect with your contacts daily. Third, and most important, is to listen.   When you see people at networking events, mixers or conferences, there’s nothing more valuable than your ability to make someone else feel valued and remembered.   If you can ask a question about an update that they did regarding job, family, a challenge or a trip, you sound much more like someone who “cares” than just someone connecting and playing the numbers game to gather the most connections. For this week, try this: • Identify three people that you’ll listen to more closely and review their updates. • Interact with their updates online with feedback or sharing their information if it’s appropriate and helpful to them. • Connect with them in an offline way â€" either via email, snail mail, or phone call that covers addresses a need or update they shared. For example, a contact of mine voiced that she was struggling with finding the perfect baby shower invite for her sister’s baby shower she was hosting.   I commented on her page on some ideas of where she can shop. Then, I emailed her a link and some specifics of a friend who provides that type of service.  She emailed back to let me know that even though she didn’t order any invites for this occasion from the source I shared with her that she had another event she was planning that she was going to shop them first for.   She also shared that the baby shower was a complete success.   I sent her an actual greeting card saying “congrats” on hosting a great event for her sister. By the way, when her business manager said they needed to review outside sources for social marketing â€" who do you think she recommended? Author: Maria Elena Duron, is managing editor of the Personal Branding Blog, CEO (chief engagement officer) of  buzz2bucks.com  â€"  a word of mouth marketing firm.   She helps create conversation, connection, credibility, community and commerce around your brand.   Maria Duron is co-founder   and moderator of  #brandchat   a weekly Twitter chat focused on every aspect of branding that is recognized by Mashable as one the 15 Essential Twitter Chats for Social Media Marketers.