Facebook, MySpace, Twitter-social networking sites, yes, but personal branding sites, too. You become one the second you create any kind of Internet account that puts you in the public eye. You may not have started your business yet, but there’s a good chance you’ve already created a personal brand without even realizing it. It’s mind-blowing, and every day more and more tools are being created to carry your personal brand further. Now, how long did it take you, the Siamese cat breeder, to reach thousands upon thousands of potential blog readers and customers this way, for free no less? Ten minutes, give or take. If they like you, many will turn right around and repost your reader’s comment to all of the people following them. And like in a brick-and-mortar business, half the battle is getting them in the door. And since those aren’t just five thousand random people, they’re five thousand people who have deliberately told your Twitter reader they want to hear what she thinks, chances are superb that a good percentage of them are going to be curious enough to check out your blog for themselves. Now, if she’s got a Twitter account, she can tell five thousand people that she just read your hilarious blog post about breeding Siamese cats. The consumer is no longer limited to talking about her experience with your personal brand to the people in her immediate circle or even in random encounters during her day.
Now, though, the Internet and social networks-and the instant access to online communities (and the millions of people who will eventually join them) they provide-have pumped word of mouth up like it was on steroids. But there have always been a finite number of people their customers and friends, family, or colleagues could talk to about their experience with their products or services.
Since the first six handfuls of grain were handed over in exchange for a new ox, business owners have always known that what their customers and their friends, family, or colleagues think about their restaurant or car or vacation spot or cleaning service or design firm has always mattered more than any billboard or radio ad they could buy. Leveraging social networking platforms into effective conduits for your personal brand is all about building word of mouth. And getting people to talk is the whole point. Believe me, if you’re that good, people are going to find you, and they’re going to follow you, and they’re going to talk. Embrace your DNA, be yourself, put out awesome content, and people will be interested in what you have to say.
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