Web Savvy PR & Social Branding Tip #1:

Original Twitter.com post: #WebSavvyPRTip 1- To build online brand & extend influence, use same username/ profile 4 all social Media sites http://websavvypr.com 4 more

To build an online audience, expand your brand, and create repeat visitors, try using the same or similar usernames, and similar profile wording for each social media / social networking / social bookmarking site you join. If you already have a long-time presence on several sites, consider ways you can update them to build a more consistent presence; it may also help boost your organic search engine ranking. Work keywords for your area of expertise and interests into your profile.

More detail on Social Branding:

I try and sign up with my first, or my first and last name, followed by my blog/website handle (I sometimes use web handle as a part of either my first or last name). So on Twitter I am CathyWebSavvyPR (It looked too long with Larkin, so I left it off (maybe rightly, maybe wrongly). I noticed someone else doing it on LinkedIn (but just with company name – not personal name), I think it was “The Publicity Hound,” and when she answered a question, her “handle” intrigued me enough to check out her website. I know there are many opinions out there on this already.

You don’t have to use your real name in your username, but don’t forget to add it to your profile. For my online and traditional PR business, I feel it is necessary. Especially since there are a couple of folks out there online with the same first and last name as I have. This will, over time, help folks to distinguish us from each other.

Many folks in the social media landscape are using their full names as their usernames.  This has advantages for building your personal brand, and some disadvantages.  www.chrisbrogan.com for example. Some people with common names may find theirs is already taken, or snagged by a domain reseller, both of which complicate things.

Pros – If your info is good, if you provide value to your readers, your name and authority will grow.

Cons – however, it may take you longer to get established. A username that includes something about what you have to offer (as long as you back it up with good content) can help your influence gow by leaps and bounds.

Cons – if you are one of those planning to build and sell a business – you can’t sell your name – but a website URL and social media handles along with it – that can work. But i is chancey – As we know Social media is based on reputation – that empire you built may cruble after the sale, if the new owners don’t follow though. Result – lots of upset subscribers.

With social networking and bookmarking sites in general, be sure to fill out the part of the profile that includes the link to your blog/website, or to your LinkedIn or Facebook accounts, so if someone likes what they read on whichever social media site you are on, find and check the rest of your info out. Of course some sites only let you use your full name. In that case note your username/handle in your profile write up.  Also use widgets and apps (simple tools sites provide) to link your various networks together.

Social Branding Questions for You:

What about just company names with a logo, no photo and no person’s name on the account. I find I am less inclined to subscribe, follow or friend them – unless they really provide value, or if I already really like the company, and they provide value.  What’s your reaction?

Is the practice of a business name and first name too in your face? or is it a happy medium?

Does this annoy you when you see it done?

Or does it help you:

A) have a clue about what someone does/who they are? Or help clue you in about their expertise?

B) Help you recognize and connect with folks you may have seen on other sites?

Transparency and authenticity are crucial in social media, social networking arena. Don’t hide behind a company, or a profile name.  We all make mistakes, but that one can be a killer. As a PR professional, I always disclose if I an talking about a client.  Sometimes that can be challenging – especially on sites like Twitter.com, where posts are limited to 140 characters and spaces.

Agree or disagree with this – you tell me?

P.S. I’m putting short versions of these on Twitter and expanding on them here on my blog – for the Web Savvy PR Intro go to http://websavvypr.com/cathy-larkin-web-savvy-pr-tips-series/pr-tips/admin/2008/12/

Or check out the conversation on twitter as the series grows – http://search.twitter.com/ Then you’ll have to copy and paste or type in the # sign like so:  #websavvyprtip to see the series and any conversations around the posts on that service, as the series grows.

About Cathy Larkin:

In her Web Savvy PR business, Cathy Larkin acts as a Social Media Guide using her 18 + years of PR experience, combined with an intense study of social media, to assist small businesses, non-profits, authors, bloggers, consltants, and speakers get online and use the tools that are right for them, to help expand their brands, build their businesses and have a blast while doing so. Also check http://www.linkedin.com/in/cathylarkin for more on her background. Check out her short posts on the micro blogging service Twitter too http://twitter.com/CathyWebSavvyPR.

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I’m posting a series of Web Savvy PR tips for small business, entrepreneurs, bloggers, speakers, authors, consultants, and non-profits to help folks share ways to use the social media and Online PR tools and to generate a conversation. My favorite quote is: “The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own.” Benjamin Disraeli. I’m sharing my riches here, to engage my readers in revealing their own knowledge and skills.

I’m putting short versions of these Web Savvy PR Tips on my Twitter page: http://twitter.com/CathyWebSavvyPR and then expanding the tips - on using Public Relations and social media to help expand your brand and reach – here on my blog. I will also be asking questions here on what you think of these tips - have they worked for you; do you have a better tip; does this particular tip annoy you when you see it used?

When I can, I will try to credit the source of the tip. If you know the source, or someone who has a similar idea, let me know. Some tips will be straight from others, most will have my perspective or take on them, some will be all mine, and some may be combinations that I’ve created from more than one idea.

Also – let me know what Traditional and Online Public Relations / Social Media questions you have; or topics you want to discuss and I’ll work it in. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll research it, interview someone or get another expert to guest post.

I got this twitter “tip idea” from renaissancedoc on Twitter. He was putting disaster prep tips on twitter and his blog during Hurricane Gustav in Sept. 2008.

You can access the series here on my blog for more detailed discussions than the short note on twitter, or find the short briefs and comment there too by going to http://search.twitter.com then put in #websavvypr tip and they will all come up.

In her Web Savvy PR business, Cathy Larkin acts as a Social Media Guide using her 18 + years of PR experience, combined with an intense study of social media, to assist small business, non-profits, consultants, authors, bloggers and speakers to get online and really use the tools that are right for them, to help expand their brands, build their businesses and have a bast while doing so. Also check http://www.linkedin.com/in/cathylarkin for more on her background.

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I just had an initial phone meeting with a prospective new client, and I am excited. It allowed me to articulate several aspects of the PR / social networking niche I am filling: Social media strategist, or Social Media PR, no I like Social Media Guide – I don’t like 1st two over-used phrases, but they can help forma  picture – to me they all mean assisting clients (small business owners, other bloggers, coaches, speakers, solopreneurs and entrepreneurs) with mapping out the right online social media spaces for them, and showing them how to navigate these in an authentic way that will allow them to expand their brand and build their business. I do not want to do it for them, I want to show them how to do it for themselves - I enjoy sharing these new resources with people and watching the light go on when they “Get IT! ”

Many small business people and bloggers know how to do whatever it is they do, and they do it well. What they may not know how to do is how to effectively expand the reach of the brand that they have worked so hard to build, and tell people about it in meaningful, effective ways that get people to take action.  What I do well is connect people to the information, tools, resources and the people they need to both do what they do better, and plug them in to the networks that exist, (from getting coverage in newspapers, magazines radio and TV, to creating a rich online presence through blogging, Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn and more) so that more people know and hear about what they do, and how well they do it.  I can help you connect with a larger, more targeted audience in authentic ways, if you are willing. That’s what I do well. I’m tech savvy, and I speak both Technoese and English, and can translate between the two in a way that does not intimidate those who consider themselves less tech-comfy.

My definition of PR is connecting organizations (businesses; non-profits, museums and public gardens; or individual small business owners and bloggers) to the right audiences: prospective and/or current clients, customers, members, readers). The social media piece of it, is just learning to use new online tools and adapting our approach to be effective in those places. Thanks to Geoff Livingston for asking for that definition at a conference where I formulated the answer.

Many folks can and do choose to explore this new landscape on their own, cool! But others realize that they are too busy enough doing what they do to reinvent the wheel; and they realize that to hit the road and gain traction, they need a colleague who is familiar with these online spaces.  In the social media, social networking sphere, PR professionals are often given little respect.  Sometimes it’s from the bigger social media players who have been in it from the start and learned it all themselves and say – “you don’t need to pay $15,000 a month to learn this.” They are right, you don’t.

Many business people hire accountants, and office staff or virtual assistants, and use coaches and various consultants so that they can focus on what they do well.  Why not a hire a social media guide: someone  who enjoys ferreting out the tools they need (discarding those that are irrelevant), show them how they work, and what are the best practices; and connect them with the right places to use these tools to get results for their business, blog or niche. That’s who I am. My background is not that of a major PR agency pushing a variety of products.  I come from a kinder, gentler public relations background; I have 18 years of experience in traditional PR – I come from a non-profit public garden, museum, attraction background.  I’m used to reaching out to reporters, editors and bloggers and building relationships with those who want the information I am giving them. I do my research; I am used to finding out the right contact at the right publication, then finding the right aspect or angle of the story that makes it new and fresh and gets the, “yes, we’ll consider doing a story.”  I have spent the last two years taking these traditional, old-school PR skills and learning to apply them to this new world.

More to come tomorrow – This post introduces you some of the ways I work in this new social media space, tomorrow I’ll lay out a plan to help you connect.  For some readers it may be talking about familiar topics, for others it may bring a fresh approach.  I look forward to engaging in the conversation with you – We’re all learning as we go along, even the big social media GURU’s, because the landcape is alwasy changing – but I’m still having a blast on the ride!

You can find me on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/cathylarkin

on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CathyWebSavvyPR (no caps needed, it just makes it easier to read)

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