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In my previous post, Personal Branding 101, we discussed the importance of branding in this web 2.0 world, as well as how to discover and create your brand. In Personal Branding 102 we’ll discuss how you’ll communicate your personal brand, using social media tools and proven marketing tactics, and then how to sustain your future growth by performing brand maintenance.

Communicating your brand

This is the exciting and challenging part of the process. You’ve figured out what you want to do and have created content around it. Although the content can serve as a communication engine, such as a blog that pumps out content and ranks high in search engines, you have a better chance of getting the word out by being proactive.

Put on your personal PR hat and start to promote your materials. Before you go crazy with self-promotion, realize that the most successful people are able and trained to promote the work of others as well. Here are some proven personal PR tactics:

Evangelize: Although you are the chief marketing officer for the brand called you, what others say about your brand (especially if they are respected and well-known) is more impactful than what you say about yourself. This means that you should try and find people who will help promote you when you aren’t even in the same room. You want people to blog about you, your products or your company without pitching. A fan base for your brand can really help you get the word out at the least possible cost and time commitment, but it takes time. There are people out there who are already interested in what you have to say, but you might not yet realize it. By starting a Ning network, for example, you have the infrastructure to support your own following and then communicate updates as you progress throughout your career.

Pitch media: Instead of spamming reporters, do some homework and figure out who covers what. Almost all newspapers and magazines have online versions and blogs now, which are easier to get into. It’s easier to pitch when there is actually news, but reporters are always looking for expert sources such as yourself. After you target the right reporter, email them your pitch and follow up after a week. If you still don’t hear anything, move on. Always use the journalist/blogger’s preference when communicating with them, such as Twitter, email, skype, phone, etc.

If you set Google alerts for terms in your industry or perform Twitter searches, you’ll end up finding reporters that cover your area. You can also go on Alltop.com to search for the top blogs in your industry and on mainstream websites such as the NYTimes.com to a section that makes the most sense for you. For more great tools check out Sarah Evans‘ post, “10 of the Best Tools for PR Professionals and Journalists.”

SEO: Ranking high for your expertise is extremely important. It takes time, patience and determination. It also helps to have evangelists that will link to your website. Reporters, conference organizers and customers are constantly using search engines to find expert sources, cool stories, speakers and solutions to their problems. If you’re at the top, they will contact you. It’s that simple, yet that challenging! Here are 55 SEO tips to help you rank as high as possible in search engines.

Attend events: Getting out into an area where people are already interested in what you have to say (an industry event), is where you can do some real networking. Remember that people don’t know about you until they hear about you from your mouth or from a 3rd party. Tell them what you’re up to AFTER asking them about what they do. Try some live video feeds using Qik or record video interviews during the event, so you can provide special content to your audience.

Speak at events: When attending events isn’t enough, speaking at events can satisfy your personal PR craving. It will be hard for you to speak without becoming known first though, which is why this falls after attending an event. When you speak, people automatically perceive you as an expert (unless you flop and prove them otherwise), so you’re bound to get attention, fans and new blog subscribers if you play your cards right. Make sure you have a recording of your speaking engagement, so you can use it in your marketing kit to promote to get your next gig. Try uploading it to YouTube for some added exposure.

Create your own event: The only thing bigger than being a speaker is actually starting your own event or event series. When you do this, you are perceived as a leader and a go-to-person at the event. Try using a wiki to get people to register for your event or create a blog around the event, so that you can get the attendees involved in the conversation before, during and afterward.

Comment on blogs: Bloggers love comments. Don’t even deny it! When you comment on someone else’s blog it’s like a kudos or a pat on the back. A blogger is more apt to comment back on your blog, subscribe and link to your blog if you’re a part of their community. If you comment on every blog in your industry on a consistent basis, people will get to know you based on your avatar (go to gravatar.com) and your brand will flourish.

Write articles: Article writing is a great marketing tactic. Depending on your writing portfolio and the strength of your brand, you can write for magazines, online sources or blogs (like Mashable!). There are also online article directories that you can submit your work to, such as ezinearticles.com. By contributing to these sources, you’re able to get your brand into new places, while marketing your current web properties.

The communication process never ends, unless you want to go out of business or stop growing. It can happen within a company, where you convince your manager to work on the next big project, or as an entrepreneur, where you’ll want to convince venture capitalists to invest in your company because of your brand. Either route you take in life, your brand will shift over time, as you accumulate more experience. This is where brand maintenance comes in.

Maintain your brand

There are two main parts to brand maintenance that matter: online “spring cleaning” and careful listening.

Online “spring cleaning”: As your brand grows, you must ensure that all the online assets that you have control of grow in the same respect. This means that you need to constantly update your LinkedIn profile so it contains your latest contacts, experience information, and summary. It also means that your physical resume has to be updated, in addition to your video resume and so on.

I know this is a painful task, but the reasoning is simple: first impressions on the web tell you that someone’s entry point into your brand can be a variety of sources. If one of these sources isn’t current, then you may lose an opportunity. Update your picture if you look different and your interests have changed.

Careful listening: People are going to be talking about you in various places, such as Twitter, blogs, social networks and more. You need to keep track of what they are saying, so that you can respond accordingly. There are many tools out there to help you such as Twitter search, Google alerts, and more. By listening to your industry, you’re able to react and better position yourself, as the economy changes and your niche isn’t as relevant anymore.

It all starts with you. You can make anything happen and now, with these social tools, it’s easier to accomplish more in less time. People that can help you accomplish your dreams are at your fingertips. It’s up to you to figure out what you want to do and surround yourself with the people that can help in your personal branding conquest.

Remember that right now these social tools pose as a differentiator, but soon they will be so standard that they will be a qualifier. Take advantage of what’s here before it’s too late and good luck on your personal branding journey!

In the past few years personal branding has been discussed exhaustively throughout the Net. The difference between today and over ten years ago when it was first mentioned by Tom Peters, is the rise of social technologies that have made branding not only more personal, but within reach.

From the corporate brand (BMW), to the product brand (BMW M3 Coupe) and down to the personal brand (car salesman), branding is a critical component to a customer’s purchasing decision. These days, customer complaints and opinions are online and viewable through a simple search, on either Google or through social networks. There is no hiding anymore and transparency and authenticity are the only means to survive and thrive in this new digital kingdom.

Many people think that personal branding is just for celebrities such as Paris Hilton or Britney Spears, yet each and every one of us is a brand. Personal branding, by definition, is the process by which we market ourselves to others. As a brand, we can leverage the same strategies that make these celebrities or corporate brands appeal to others. We can build brand equity just like them.

We can also have just as much presence as most startups and mid-size companies and products. Social media tools have leveled the playing ground and have enabled us to reach incredible heights, at the cost of our time. Today, I want to share the personal branding process, so you can start to think about what face you want to show to the world and how you want to position yourself for success!

1. Discover your brand

The single biggest mistake people make is that they either brand themselves just for the sake of doing it or that they fail to invest time in learning about what’s in their best interests. The key to success, and this isn’t revolutionary, is to be compensated based on your passion. In order to find your passion, you need a lot of time to think, some luck and you need to do some research online to figure out what’s out there.

Brand discovery is about figuring out what you want to do for the rest of your life, setting goals, writing down a mission, vision and personal brand statement (what you do and who you serve), as well as creating a development plan. Have you ever been called intelligent or humorous by your peers or coworkers? That description is part of your brand, especially if you feel those attributed pertain to you. To know if you’ve discovered your brand, you need to make this equation equal:

Before you enter the next step in the personal branding process, you’ll want to select a niche, whereby you can be the master of your domain. For example, Joel Comm has mastered the Google Adsense niche and brands himself using his name, and Brian Solis owns the social media PR niche with his PR 2.0 blog (under his name). When I say domain, I mean an area where there aren’t many competitors and literally, your online domain name. Once you sort this all out, now it’s time to create your brand.

2. Create your brand

Now that you know what you want to do and have claimed a niche, at least in your mind, it’s time to get it on paper and online. The sum of all the marketing material you should develop for your brand is called a Personal Branding Toolkit. This kit consists of the following elements that you can use to highlight your brand and allow people to easily view what you’re about:

1. Business card: It doesn’t matter if you’re a college student, CEO, or a consultant, everyone should have their own business card. The card should contain your picture, your personal brand statement (such as Boston Financial Expert), as well as your *preferred* contact information and corporate logo if necessary.

You can create your own business card and share it through your mobile phone using mydropcard.com or rmbrme.com. On the web, BusinessCard2.com is a great social network for creating and distributing your person business card.

2. Resume/cover letter/references document: These are typical documents that you need for applying for jobs and when you go on interviews (something over 2 million job seekers will be doing as we speak). Be sure to prioritize each document with information custom to the target position. Take your resume online and add social features to it to make the ultimate social media resume, promoting your personal brand to the world and making it shareable.

3. Portfolio: Whether you use a CD, web or print portfolio, it’s a great way to showcase the work you’ve done in the past, which can convince someone of your ability to accomplish the same results for the future. Figdig.com and carbonmade.com are social networks for people who want to show off their creative skills to the world.

4. Blog/website: You need to own yourname.com or a website that aligns with your name in some fashion. Depending on who you are, how much time you have on your hands and if you can accept criticism, you should either start a blog or stick with a static homepage. Those who blog will have a stronger asset than those who don’t because blogs rank higher in search engines and lend more to your expertise and interest areas over time.

5. LinkedIn profile: A LinkedIn profile is a combination of a resume, cover letter, references document and a moving and living database of your network. Use it to create your own personal advertising, to search for jobs or meet new people.

6. Facebook profile: Over 160 million people have profiles, but almost none of them have branded themselves properly using this medium. Be sure to include a Facebook picture of just you, without any obscene gestures or unnecessary vodka bottles. Also, input your work experience and fill out your profile, while turning on the privacy options that disable the ability for people to tag you in pictures and videos (allowing people to see the ones tagged of you).

7. Twitter profile: Your Twitter profile should have an avatar that is carved out of your Facebook picture and used in your LinkedIn profile. You need to use a distinct background, fill out your profile and include a link to either your blog or LinkedIn profile. Twitterbacks.com, developed by internet mogul Jim Kukral, has templates you can use to sculpt your very own Twitter background (Photoshop skills not included). Twitbacks.com is another solution that also lets you promote your Twitter profile.

8. Video resume: A video resume is a short video of you talking about why you are the best for a specific job opportunity. You get about a minute or so to communicate your brand and are able to send the link, once you upload it to YouTube, to hiring managers.

9. Wardrobe: Your personal style is tangible and is extremely important for standing out from the crowd. Select clothing that best represents you because it will be viewable through your pictures/avatars online, as well as when you meet people in reality.

10. Email address: Don’t overlook your email address as not being a significant part of your toolkit. Most people use email over all social networks and when you connect with someone on a social network, you are notified via email, so get used to it. Your email address poses a great opportunity for your brand. I recommend using gmail because of the acceptance of Google and since GTalk allows you to form tighter relationships with others. For your address, use “firstname.lastname@gmail.com.”

What’s next?

After you spend the time on these parts of your personal branding toolkit, it’s time to showcase it to the world, especially your target audience. Don’t be fooled by the myth that if you build it, they will come. Unless you’re the luckiest person on earth, you’ll have to actually communicate everything you’ve created to others.

In the next post, I will discuss how you can take the personal branding toolkit you’ve developed and communicate it to your audience. I’ll give you tips on how to market your personal brand to become known in your niche. Then, I’ll finish by explaining how you should monitor and update your brand over your lifetime.