Guest post from Ben Johnson of LogoInn, custom logo design.

Personal branding is gaining popularity as it is opening doors to everyone who wants to benefit out of it in one way or the other. Recession is knocking everywhere and there are a lot of layoffs in many companies including the big ones as well. No one feels protected and there is no job security for anyone. Under such circumstances, I don’t need to wonder why people are putting their efforts in creating personal profiles online.

Personal branding has become very essential, you need to differentiate your brand in terms of your expertise/ knowledge, and social media provide that platform and power to reach out to people online and create a powerful and long lasting personal brand. Why it has become so important is because of the fact that you can portray your talents and goals to people who are pertinent to catering your purpose of personal branding.

There are countless ways you can create, communicate and maintain your personal brand. Doing so would help you out if you are in process of job switch, or if you are a recruiter of any company. Here are some golden ways to start off with:

Create a Blog

Blogging is a good way of creating your brand online. There are numerous blogging platforms where you can sign up. You can quick start by:

• Buying a domain name
• Creating a theme
• Compiling content
• Constructing your ‘About Us’ page

Make sure your blog domain is easy to remember and your theme should be according to what you are going to put up on your blog. For instance, if your interests and expertise are in the field of logo designing, your theme should be creative and has to have colors and designs incorporated in it. Moreover, assemble content relevant to your theme. Your content should be original, bold and should offer something unique in order to increase your readers. It is the most essential thing that has to be kept in mind while blogging, you can only stand out through your content. Be sure, whatever you write has to be authentic. And yes, don’t forget to include ‘Comment’ section and ‘RSS’ to your blog. Create an ‘About Us’ page in which you can give a brief description of yourself, your interests, your hobbies etc. Make sure your blog is well-defined for the search engines.

Once you’ve started blogging, you need increase the number of readers on your blog. You can successfully do so by updating your content regularly with quality and relevant content. Your knowledge and awareness in the area of your interest would be the gauging factor of how successful you are as a brand.
Enhance your online presence

Your job is not done here. Your efforts would be wasted even if you’re successful in creating a wonderful blog for yourself, unless you register your blog with the available blogs and web directories, claim with Technorati.com, and use Google Reader to store your searches. You need to increase your online presence. Hence, it is a good practice to get your blog easily indexed in different search engines. Check regularly who is linking back to you through Yahoo! Site Explorer. Also, building connections with the experts by commenting on other blogs within your area of expertise would certainly be of great help.

Do successful branding on social networking websites

Besides blogging you can sign up to various social networking websites. The most popular ones are:
• Twitter.com which connects you to other social media practitioners
• Facebook which connects you to other social media practitioners
• MySpace which could be used for outpost and to stay in touch with friends; find new ones
• LinkedIn for professional networking which helps in exploring business opportunities and getting advices from experts no matter where you are
• Flickr for photo sharing
• YouTube for video sharing
• Digg for voting on articles, pictures, audio, video etc.
• StumbleUpon for voting on articles, pictures, audio, video etc.
• Upcoming.org for events updates
• Gmail for docs, readers and more.

Creating accounts on all these would certainly give you instant recognition on social media. On top of it, creating groups on social networking platforms would give you an easy mechanism for communicating with lots of people in one go.

Networking should be aggressive

Once you are on all the networking platforms, start interacting with relevant people. People who have similar interests and expertise. Gain knowledge from them and share yours. Allow them to reach you easily and make your availability most of the time. Interacting with them would make your network feel that you are active online and this would help you increase your brand’s credibility. Plus, your healthy participation would expand your networks.

I have shared my knowledge regarding how to create your personal brand through social media. Share in the comments section, if you have more to add to it.

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• Using social media to network (specialdee.wordpress.com)
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• What’s In Your Social Media Toolkit? (socialmediatoday.com)

Post from: Eric Friedman
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Great Ways to become a Personal Brand Online

My isssue;

I have been using online bill pay for years to pay my Chase card. This month I used the same online bill pay service, and an error somewhere along the way created a situation where “Chase was told by my bank that my account could not be located”. Payment was not rendered and I suffered a late charge. Since the “error” was not on the Chase side they declined to refund my late charge. I explained that my bank account was still active, I have made multiple payments before, never been late, etc… all to a indifferent supervisor reading from a script… At the end of the call I asked to cancel my card – to which the supervisor had no problem doing. Although I should not complain at the ease at which he canceled, there was not a hint of customer retention other than scripted “thanks for being a customer” lines. Since I feel the need to share my disdain I even went so far as to explain to the supervisor that my impression of Chase was ruined and I could not believe the lack of service. He was again indifferent as his script did not have a flowchart for him to work with.

Why share my story? (or why you may think it is silly to blog about this)

I wanted to share my story here to highlight a growing trend of indifference of customer service agents and the discontent I have heard from others (and as promised want to share here) I have found a larger number of companies and customer service agents unwilling to break from scripts and flow charts of problem solving to really understand the needs of customers. This year especially I have been exposed to a higher number of customer service lines due to a number of factors and consider myself an expert at getting things done. Whether it is a wireless company, local utility, mortgage company, service provider, or your average credit card – I have talked to them all. I wonder if the parent companies are at fault, the training facilities, or just the lack of leadership at the call center. Regardless of who is to blame, this is a growing problem.

Since the problem is growing and we continue to enter a period of economic slowdown – I wonder what trends we will see come out of this. The toleration for poor service continues to decline, while the expectation for immediate service is on the rise. Many people share my feelings (another reason to share all this here) and there is no end in site. As a platform for my thoughts this writing served its purpose. The sad part is that I am not looking to gain anything from this post, as my card is in fact canceled, but hopefully this is a warning to others.

Post from: Eric Friedman
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Chase (or the decline of customer service)

Will we be seeing more of these soon?

As SEM continues to be a dominate player – what does this mean for the future of TV and Print budgets? No one may have the answer but I am hoping to simply generate some discussion around the advertising market.

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Online Advertising – Boon or Bust?

Customer Relations
American Airlines

To clarify, my suggestions in this letter were:

1) Improve customer service by offering online surveys as well as email support. I told them to take a page out of the Jet Blue book: be pro-active. use technology to provide more efficient customer service.

2) I asked American Airlines for some form of compensation for the cancellation of my 3 business meetings and I suggested that I will never use the airline again. As a result, they sent me a $50 voucher which is a joke!

I understand that this airline is struggling and will most likely go bankrupt soon. I appreciate their response but it was hardly timely. If they’re going to email me a response, why did I have to mail a letter to Texas? Moreover, a $50 voucher is a joke and it’s hardly enough to get me to book another flight with this sub-par organization. Once again, I think American Airlines should ditch their stupid in flight magazine and focus on a 21st century website. Look at your competition!

Post from: Eric Friedman
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Best & Worst Airlines: Follow-Up

I’ve been travelling a fair amount lately and I’m beginning to get a little too familiar with the different airlines, airports and even gates. I am now starting to base my travel decisions on which airport and airline has the fastest and most comfortable security and boarding process.

Most Comfortable Experience

Delta at La Guardia is my preffered airline for business travel. The airline have adequate security lines, a comfortable modern terminal, and much bigger, newer planes. If only they had live Direct TV and a better online booking experience, I might call them my favorite.

Best All Around Airline

Personally, I think JetBlue has done the best job overall. They have managed to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack while creating a very desirable brand. Some of the highlights include: newer planes, better service, cheaper flights, live TV, more legroom, and best of all, you can book one-way or return from a different airport without a surcharge. The also have the most customer friendly, intuitive website which should be a prerequisite for all airlines these days.

Not too long ago, I was delayed on the runway with JetBlue for 3 hours at JFK (as were all planes). Before I could even think about calling customer service, there was a $100 voucher in my email. Instead of leaving a bad taste in my mouth, JetBlue won me over

The only problem with JetBlue these days is that their JFK terminal is overcapacity. There are seriously long security lines. The good news is that there will be another new terminal expansion before the end of the year.

Lastly, from a marketing perspective I believe that JetBlue has done the best job of creating a fantastic desirable brand remarkably, without wasting a fortune on traditional advertising. JetBlue has mastered the e-marketing – from its well-timed promotional emails and refined mobile site to its easy-to-use online booking function. I would love to read a marketing case study on JetBlue.

The Worst Airline

I try to stay away from American Airlines as much as possible – I’m not really sure how or why they are still in business (must be the name). This airline takes the cake in all categories: they have the worst lines at the airport, the oldest rundown planes, horrendous customer service, a website from 1998 and the worst in-flight routine. There’s nothing like looking out the window and seeing paint peeling off the wing.
I recently showed up to La Guardia airport for a business trip to Atlanta. After a 45 minute security line, I found out my flight was cancelled. The re-routed me through Chicago and I had to cancel all my meetings for the day. When I asked what my other options were, the gate agent told me to call the 1-800 number (which had a 32 minute wait at 7:45 am) thus ensuring that I will NEVER fly American Airlines again unless I absolutely must. A simple email this morning teling me that my flight was cancelled and what my options were would have gone a long way.

In the ultra competitive air travel market, I really don’t understand how American Airlines could be so poor.

Other Airlines

I hear great things about Southwest and Virgin America. I would love to try them some day.

On another note, Thai Airways has the best food I’ve ever had on an airline. Believe it or not, their pad thai, green curry, and red curry rivals that of many well known Thai restaurants in New York!

Post from: Eric Friedman
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The Best & The Worst Airlines 2008

December ’07 Update:

Google Maps 2.0 – If you already have Google Maps for your mobile device, it’s time to upgrade! Google has a great new feature which pinpoints your location (based on cell-tower triangulation). There is no need for GPS if you have this function because it’s surprisingly accurate! Note: it works fine on the blackberry but couldn’t get it to work on Windows Mobile (it figures).

Navizon – here is another wireless positioning app that Eric recommends

September ’07 Update:

YouTube Mobile – Unfotunately I couldn’t get this to work on my Motorola Q but it may work with other Windows Mobile devices.

Google Reader – mobile RSS. I currently prefer bloglines’ mobile product but this one isn’t bad.

February 2007 Update:

Google Home Page: Do you have a customized Google home page with weather, stocks, gmail, and rss feeds? If not, you can now have one on your phone, pda or blackberry. It’s pretty nice actually – I just made it my home page.

January 2007 Update:

Google’s Mobile Applications: Google offers free and trustworthy applications for pda’s, blackberry’s and mobile phones. Many of the mobile apps that I’ve downloaded for the blackberry do not function very well but the below google apps function reliably:

Gmail - This flash-based mobile application is like having an exchange server for your gmail (well almost). The program enables almost all of the same great gmail features on your blackberry, pda and most mobile phones – you can: search your entire archive of mail and sent mail; it memorizes all contacts and anticipates email address in the “to” field; it functions much quicker than one would imagine. Beware of steep data fees from your phone company (but it could be good to have on your phone in case of emergency…). I highly recommend it. Click this on your mobile browser: gmail.com/app.

Google Maps – Google Maps allows you to search for businesses, plot map directions, view cross streets, or view satellite imagery of a specific location. This program works much better if you have an EVDO or EDGE data network.

Google Talk – (blackberry only) Chat with gmail friends in an IM format. Hopefully Google will collaborate with AOL Instant Messenger someday. In the meantime, RambleIM (free) works decently well on blackberries for AOL Instant Messenger.

11/14 Update:

Bitty Browser: m.bitty.com offers a collection of mobile friendly websites and if you go to bitty.com, you can create your own condensed version of your favorite sites. Hit tip to Micropursuasion for putting me on to the site.

Skweezer.net: Skweezer continues to be a favorite tool for “skweezing” websites for the mobile screen. This is much easier to use when you’re on the go than bitty.com. To learn more about it, tune into our interview with Kevin Perkins, CEO of Skweezer on marketing.fm podcast #3.

Helpful Blackberry Websites: This collection is provided by RIM and can be accessed from the Blackberry help link in the browser. Most of these sites are terrible! Some of the recommended sites are completely dysfunctional too. I can’t believe that RIM doesn’t have a better reference.

10/3/06 Update:

Mobile Newsweek – this site is limited to headlines. Maybe it will prove to be an effective marketing tool or a purchase inspiration for those on-the-go. I would personally prefer more inclusive content and at least a few full articles. Mobile marketers, especially in the News industry, should look to the NYTimes and BBC Mobile sites for inspiration.

–

Time Magazine - I enjoy any mobile access to news however, I don’t necessarily like to read long articles. This site is good for reading headlines and cover stories but I prefer the BBC and NYTimes for breaking news throughout the day.

Digg.com – Digg is a great resource for the hottest developments on the web (primarlily tech news and blog coverage). I love having access to these stories on the go.

The New York Times

TechCrunch – Thanks to Dave Weiner for making this possible. TechCrunch is one of my favorite sites and I am happy to have a mobile version.

Marketing.FM – the mobile version

Yomoblog – enables mobile blog posting via mobile browser (Free registration required).

Amazon Anywhere – Access the entire Amazon.com library of books, movies, reviews etc. You can even buy from the road.

Ebay Mobile – Check on your bids or items for sale from your mobile phone or blackberry.

IMDB (Internet Movie Database) – Find out exactly who was in that movie on the tip of your tongue.

AdAge Mobile Edition – AdAge Headlines Condensed

NYTimes.com Mobile – This site is very new. I still prefer the older avant go version.

CNet Mobile Edition – The complete website is condensed for mobile pleasure.

NY Post Mobile Edition – Access NYC News, Gossip, and Sports

ebbogie.com – This Site provides a number of decent mobile website links worth checking out.

BBC World News Mobile

MoviePhone.com Mobile – Find a theatre or movie by zip code. This site could be a lot better than it is.

Google Mobile – Search the web, images, or access a mobile version of Gmail. This is a particularly well designed mobile website (what do you expect?)

Variety Mobile Edition

Technorati Mobile

Marketing.FM

Bloglines Mobile – Great for reading your feeds on the go.

Mobile Friendly Websites

Mobile Friendly Websites Update: February 8th

Technorati Tags: google, mobile apps, gmail, google maps, ramble im, google talk, pda friendly websites, mobile friendly websites, google home page, mobile websites, blackberry websites, mobile, marketing.fm, amazon anywhere, New York Times mobile, Time, pda, blackberry, picassa, youtube, google reader, skweezer, bitty

Post from: Eric Friedman
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Mobile Friendly Websites: December’07 Update

Sadly, that’s not the case with Dell. Here is what happened to me…

1) 3 weeks ago I ordered a new computer from Dell because they offered the best pricing and I thought their XPS model looked pretty decent. I began the order process online but then “clicked-to-call” in order to ask a few questions to a sales rep.

2) After a 45 minute conversation where they tried to upsell me on low-jack, a credit card, and 50 other useless money-makers, I completed my order. I was supposed to receive the computer in 7 business days.

3) I never received a confirmation email and after 2 weeks, I noticed that my credit card had been charged for the computer. I called the customer service line but received an automated loop-around system where I learned NOTHING.

4) I called the sales line again in order to speak with a human. They informed me that my email address, billing address, and shipping address were all incorrect in their system. They assured me it would be changed. They apologized.

5) The next day I called again and guess what, my address was still not updated.

6) I finally received a call from a Customer Care representative who might have been the dumbest, useless individual I’ve ever come across in my life. She didn’t have my correct addresses but she gave me a tracking code for DHL because apparently the computer was shipped. I gave her my correct info.

7) I get a call the next day from the same customer care rep to confirm my address. STILL WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unbelievable!
Last night DHL called me – they don’t have my shipping address. I gave them the correct info – the address they had was simply my name, phone number and the wrong zip code – no street address at all.

I still haven’t received my computer from Dell and guess what? I WILL NEVER ORDER FROM DELL AGAIN!

In this competitive world, companies cannot afford such incompetence.

Technorati Tags: dell, hell, dell hell, dell computers, terrible customer service

Post from: Eric Friedman
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My Own Dell Hell

To promote the upcoming Simpsons movie, select 7-Elevens will be disguised as Kwik-E Marts in New York, LA, and San Francisco. I love this idea. Fans of the Simpsons are likely to appreciate the creativity and brilliance in this unconventional marketing idea. Moreover, those who are unfamiliar with the inside joke will inevitably seek an explanation for the name change!

Technorati Tags: simpsons movie, 7-Eleven, marketing, marketing.fm, entertainment marketing, movies, kwik-e mart,

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7-Elevens Converted to Kwik-E Marts for Simpsons Movie

As I have said before inoutbound marketing, Yahoo does follow the protocol of simply “thinking twice”.

What I am left wondering is, do you think they pro actively did not setup migration to Picasa? What about the new Live Photos? (ok, it might be a bit early for this one.)

Those who know me, know I push Google products – so I would gladly have switched my old Yahoo photos to the Google – oh well.

Full email text below:

For some time now, we’ve supported two great photo sharing services: Yahoo! Photos and Flickr. But even good things come to an end, and we’ve decided to close Yahoo! Photos to focus all our efforts on Flickr — the award-winning photo sharing community that TIME Magazine has called “completely addictive.”

We will officially close Yahoo! Photos on Thursday, September 20, 2007, at 9 p.m. PDT. Until then, we are offering you the opportunity to move to another photo sharing service (Flickr, KODAK Gallery, Shutterfly, Snapfish, or Photobucket), download your original-resolution photos back to your computer, or buy an archive CD from our featured partner (for users of the New Yahoo! Photos only). All you need to do is tell us what to do with your photos before we close, after which any photos remaining on Yahoo! Photos will be deleted and no longer accessible.

Of course, we hope you’ll join us at Flickr (you can even use your Yahoo! ID), but we also realize that Flickr may not be for everyone. In the end, we want you to find the service that’s right for you, and we hope you take some time to learn more about your options before making this important decision.

Please give us your decision by Thursday, September 20, 2007, at 9 p.m. PDT. After that time, any photos remaining in Yahoo! Photos will be deleted. Click here to make your decision, or review a list of our frequently asked questions.

Thanks for being a part of the Web’s largest photo sharing service — we hope to see you over at Flickr!

The Yahoo! Photos team

Technorati Tags: Picasa, Photobucket, Yahoo Photos, Flickr, Marketing.fm

Post from: Eric Friedman
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Yahoo Photos to Shutdown – Decide your photos fate by Sept. 20, 2007

Please let us know what you think:

Technorati Tags: environomic, eco-friendly, environmental, branding, taglines, polls, marketing.fm, marketing

Post from: Eric Friedman
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Eco-Friendly Branding Poll – PLEASE VOTE!