I like to think of Facebook, You Tube, LinkedIN and Twitter and oth­ers as “venues” because they are places that have defined char­ac­ter­is­tics that facil­i­tate cer­tain kinds of inter­ac­tion. Like restau­rants or bars, they imbue meet­ings with a social con­text that can add or detract from the meet­ing. You already use dozens of (offline) places every month to meet clients. Sim­i­larly, var­i­ous “social net­works” are more appro­pri­ate for engag­ing clients, depend­ing on’ per­son­al­i­ties, the busi­ness at hand, etc. LinkedIn has done a great job at cre­at­ing a social con­text that’s all busi­ness, and this is con­gru­ent through­out the site. When you join LinkedIn, you are try­ing to improve your business—and that of the “Con­nec­tions” in your net­work. It facil­i­tates busi­ness rela­tion­ships and con­duct­ing business.Face­book is more like “the por­tal of life”; many peo­ple think of it as more “per­sonal,” and that’s accu­rate at a high level. The social con­text is play­ful and experimental—not as con­ser­v­a­tive. Here you have “Friends.”Twit­ter is a net­work, and it’s very social, but it is not a “social net­work” venue in the same way as the first two: it is not based on a pro­file, but on terse com­mu­ni­ca­tions with net­works of “Fol­low­ers” whom you often fol­low as well. It can be very per­sonal and businesslike.YouTube is also social net­work, but in a dif­fer­ent cat­e­gory, because their pur­pose is shar­ing video con­tent. How­ever, like all Web 2.0 appli­ca­tions, much of their value is the con­ver­sa­tions that unfold around the con­tent. Mem­bers are con­nected though sub­scrib­ing to each others (video) lists. These four social networks will be the main places that will allow you to build your personal brand and give you the ability to always DO YOU.

Always Do You,
Greg

A personal blog will allow you to set yourself apart from others even if the topic you blog about is similar to that of other sites YOUR insight makes it completely different. Even the most popular blogs contain information that can be found elsewhere, it is just their ‘spin’ on the issues that makes it unique. No matter what your personality is or your opinions may be there will always be people who agree with you or will be attracted to your style. The best way to increase blog traffic is always to step away from the ‘pack’ and be the individual that you are. In this way it is more likely you will create some sort of stir or interest. A personal blog allows you to be more comfortable in your ‘own skin’ and this makes the blogging ‘process’ all the easier for you. The result here is that the content you produce tends to be increasingly more unique as you shed your inhibitions about sharing perspectives or making suggestions. This is all part of the identity branding process and your blog is actually ‘maturing’ as it takes on and grows into its personality. A personal blog will also allow your creative juices to flow. Once you have hit your ‘comfort zone’ you now feel more comfortable about tackling issues with which you may have an opinion or even suggest solutions. Everybody has pet peeves or personal passions as you likely also do and now you can pursue them from the ‘pulpit’ which is your blog. With your personal brand already established your readers now know what to expect and this is likely why they continue to return. Remember when blogging to always DO YOU.

Always Do You,
Greg