Starting Thursday, Todd Andrlik has asked a few of us to do some guest posting. Here is the line-up ... so make sure you get along and see what damage/contribution we all make to Todd's already successful blog.
The line-up is:
// Thu / Leo Bottary of Client Service Insights
// Fri / Kami Huyse of Communication Overtones
// Mon / Gavin Heaton of Servant of Chaos
// Tue / Drew McLellan of Drew’s Marketing Minute
// Wed / Darryl Ohrt of Brand Flakes for Breakfast
So, Blogger Social 08 is over. It was a blur. A joy. A great assault of emotion and excitement. An amazing experience.
And despite gathering some of the most articulate and creative marketing folks from around the world, the common consensus is that words are not sufficient to explain the impact of this extraordinary meetup on all of us participants. And I think this is as it should be.
But I will ponder one point. I have been writing, reading, commenting, discussing, emailing and collaborating with most of the 80-odd folks who trekked to New York for over two years. In that time much has changed. We fell into a community together. We saw it grow and expand, prosper even. We had fun and we had hard times. The community that grew out of our shared interest was surprisingly strong and extraordinarily supportive. But this has changed for me.
In making a commitment to come together -- to share an experience called "blogger social" -- we each had to forego something. There was a real cost -- be it financial, time or energy (or all three). But in the binding of that experience there was also a transformation. For me, meeting these old friends in person made me realise that our connection goes somewhat deeper than the word "community" allows. It is far more personal and much more expansive -- humbling and invigorating. Thanks to you all!
Susan Bird Tim Brunelle Katie Chatfield Matt Dickman Luc Debaisieux Gianandrea Facchini Mark Goren Gavin Heaton Sean Howard CK Valeria Maltoni Drew McLellan Doug Meacham Marilyn Pratt Steve Roesler Greg Verdino CB Whittemore Steve Woodruff Paul McEnany Ann Handley David Reich Tangerine Toad Kristin Gorski Mack Collier David Armano Ryan Barrett Lori Magno Tim McHale Gene DeWitt Mario Vellandi Arun Rajagopal Joseph Jaffe Rohit Bhargava Anna Farmery Marianne Richmond Thomas Clifford Lewis Green Geoff Livingston Kris Hoet Connie Reece CeCe Lee Toby Bloomberg Seni Thomas Darryl Ohrt Joe Kutchera Paul Dunay Marshall Sponder Chris Kieff Tara Anderson Jason Falls Paul Soldera Roberta Rosenberg Saul Colt Todd Andrlik Nathan Snell Ryan Karpeles Mike Sansone Jennifer Laycock Neil Vineberg Cam Beck Mike Arauz Matthew Bailey Heather Gorringe John Rosen Cathleen Rittereiser Tamar Weinberg Rita Perea Linda Sherman Matthew McDonald Kaitlyn Wilkins Terry Starbucker
Jennifer Berk Jane Quigley John Wall Scott Monty Kevin Horne Virginia Miracle Amanda Gravel Susan Reynolds David Polinchock Shashi Bellamkonda David Berkowitz Vahe Habeshian
I have been thinking over the experiment that John Moore at Brand Autopsy has been running. While he was away, John left a masked marketer at the helm -- Skyon, the master marketing pick-up artist. And while Skyons posts were great ... he kept his mask firmly intact.
So, here's what I am thinking. There must be some readers of this blog who would like to write some stuff. Maybe you just haven't had the time to put together your own blog. Maybe you don't want to ... or maybe you just haven't made it public yet.
What if you could post here ... say once a week for a month. That's right ... four posts over a month. You can choose your name/identity or you can come out of the shadows completely. Up to you. If you are interested, send me an email and let me know. I can only take one at the moment ... but if this works, I may do it again.
Go on, what have you got to lose?
Guest post by Dan Schawbel. Dan is the lead personal branding expert for Generation Y. He commands the world famous Personal Branding Blog, publishes Personal Branding Magazine, directs Personal Branding TV, and is the head judge for the 2008 Personal Brand Awards.
Never before has the web been such a friendly place. Web 2.0 has opened a gateway for individuals to come together, in unison and speak to each other using platforms such as blogs, Facebook and even Google talk. Those that used to be introverted, now have a safe place to express themselves and their point of view. They even have the privilege of networking with others who share similar insight, demographic or geographic.
Personal branding has paved the way for people to gain confidence in themselves and their abilities to deliver value, whether by expertise or content. Why take a job that you aren’t interested in and doesn’t fit who you are as a person? There’s no point, especially when you have tools ready and available to you to convey your passions, goals and subject matter knowledge.
A lot of this new direction comes from people’s comfort and freedom to express their appearance, competencies and personality. Personality can be clearly communicated through podcasting, either using YouTube, Google Video or hosting it on your own website. Either way, you can attract others to your brand by displaying the person behind the brand. The great part about the web now is that everyone has a voice, but still not everyone is treated equally. Those that have superior brand names, will get their email read faster, their articles published quicker and larger scale opportunities.
The good news is that anyone can achieve success by developing their brand. The bad news is that if you fail to bask in the greatness of web 2.0, you will lose your personal freedom and the ability to connect and reach hundreds of millions of people around the world. Whether you are 18 or 56, or black or white, you can all be a part of this growing community and develop your skills to match new job requirements that are spawning as we speak. Step out of your comfort zone and into a world where you can be recognized for YOU!
Recent Comments