Building My Brand..

Let’s be honest, building a personal brand is not as easy as it sounds. While I certainly didn’t think that creating my brand would be a walk in the park, I didn’t think it would be this intense either; it really is true, if you can market yourself, you can market anything!

While initially set out on following certain nonprofits and management level employees at those nonprofits, after discussing it in class, I've also started to follow companies and individuals that specialize in how nonprofits can effectively use social media, specifically Social Media 4 Nonprofits.   

For the most part, I was surprised how easy it was to find some of my target audience, especially on Twitter and LinkedIn and once I found them, the hard part was done, right?...Wrong! Over the past few weeks I have quickly learned that the hard part was just beginning; following my audience was the easy part, connecting with them would require more. 

In following my target audience, on my Twitter account I have been replying to certain tweets and to retweeting others related to social media and nonprofits.  I have also joined several groups through my LinkedIn account (both organization based and groups based solely on social media usage in nonprofits) and have been commenting on various blogs and websites, such as NP Tech for Good. 

As for followers, there’s a social media blog from the UK (Muddywall) and a social media strategist from India (Santosh Rajan) that both unexpectedly began to follow me which I followed back in return.  With many of my target nonprofits working internationally, it’s both interesting and beneficial to see the social media trends in other countries. 

Not expecting a response, I decided to tweet Stacie Flinner, the Faith Partners Manger at charity: water to see if I would be able to learn a little more about that she does; to my surprise, she followed back, allowing me to direct message her.  While it was a hit or miss to contact someone that has no clue as to who I am, it’s a great connection and I look forward to seeing where it will lead.  

This past week I have also applied for an internship at one of the companies in my target audience; I love how they are using social media, and what better way to learn more about what they are doing than working alongside them.  While completely out of my comfort zone it's rather exciting; I’ll update you on what happens! 

Overall, one of the biggest take aways I have from the past week it to expect the unexpected. I set out with a specific target audience in mind, and while I’m still working to connect with them, I have been able to connect with several others that I never would have planned to.  

While I have mainly been focusing on Twitter and LinkedIn to build my brand thus far, I'm interested in your suggestions and feedback. Should I continue to place most of my focus on Twitter and LinkedIn? Are there any key people or organizations you would recommend I follow?  Are there other channels I should be considering?

Looking forward to your feedback and being able to update you on the progress of my personal brand, thanks for reading!