I read with interest the results from a recent survey that asked CMOs and senior marketing professionals about the top 10 qualities that these leaders sought from their marketing and advertising agencies. All of the top 10 offer insight into marketers' plans for the upcoming year, but I was struck in particular by this one:
"Agency executives using the technology they are recommending. Ninety-two percent of respondents said it was ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ important that agency employees use the technologies that they are recommending. For example, it is important that agency executives regularly use Facebook, Flickr, wikis, blogs, etc. in their personal social media mix."
Reading this resulted in violent agreement and head-nodding. "Of course!" I thought. "At the very least, why wouldn't these agency execs have a LinkedIn profile or a Plaxo Pulse profile? Some place they could own their image on the web. Sure, not everyone is going to blog, but a professional profile, of course!"
You can imagine my surprise, a few days later when I was editing a wrap-up post about conference speakers, that out of the six high-profile marketers I wanted to create links to, only 50% of them had protected their personal brand and created a professional space on the web. For a couple of them, I only found mentions in magazine articles and for one, I couldn't even link to his profile on his company's website (he's the president of a large international web development shop) because their site is entirely in flash and doesn't have direct urls.
This is what CMOs are talking about in the survey - how can you recommend that a brand or a product have a profile or a "fan page" on Facebook, MySpace or some other social network when you don't even have a profile for your OWN brand?
Showcase What YOU Want People to See
It's so easy to set up an account on LinkedIn or Plaxo. Only professional information - you don't have to post pictures of your kids, your beach house or your dog. A simple professional profile that you can refer people to and use to network with others (because I've heard that this social networking thing is kinda cool). Also, in these uncertain economic times, it can't hurt to have an up-to-date professional profile.
One of the best things about LinkedIn or Plaxo is that your profile URL can actually contain your name, not just random letters or numbers - very important from an SEO-perspective. So when someone searches for your name, instead of finding a less-than-favourable article about your company or a blog post complaining about a received cease-and-desist letter, you'll be able to put your best foot forward and highlight what you want people to know about you.
Own Your Own Name
Have you registered your name as a domain? For less than the cost of two venti chai lattes - extra foam, you can register a domain (preferably the dot com) and simply point it at your LinkedIn or Plaxo profile. And isn't protecting your personal brand worth a couple of cups of joe?
Taking It to the Next Level
Finally, if you've got your personal brand managed online, it's time to really start to connect with your network and improve your own productivity. This video from CommonCraft walks you through how to use LinkedIn beyond simply having a professional profile.
Do you have any success stories from having a LinkedIn profile and using it for networking? Share them here!
