6 Tips for Better Branding Using Avatars

from WebWorkerDaily by Aliza Sherman

We're living in a social media world, and, like it or not, our avatar is often the first impression others get about us as we interact virtually on social networks, blogs, microblogs and other online communities. Our avatars are a representation of our brands — our personal brand or our company's or organization's brand. But how many of us are thinking strategically about our avatars?

Here are six tip for better branding using avatars.

1. Define your brand. Anyone familiar with Branding 101 knows how to think through the attributes of a brand. Simply put, you need to ask yourself which words best describe who you are and what you'd like to project to others. When I was working with my business partner to think about the brand for our new company, we came up with "professional, creative, playful, approachable." For my own personal brand, I might pick "helpful, honest, sensible, snarky."

2. Identify your assets. Once you've established clear brand attributes, you need to go through the images you have or are considering using for your avatar and pick those that most clearly represent those attributes. Without question, using a photograph of yourself will always establish more trust than using any other image, particularly any non-human image.

A cartoon image of yourself can be a good second choice if the nature of the illustration is in keeping with your brand attributes. You could use a site such as Meez, DoppelMe or Yahoo Avatars to create a cartoon likeness. You might use your Second Life avatars to represent yourself on your profile, particularly if you're involved with the virtual world in your work.

Your company logo could stand in for your own image. However, that may create different expectations from others if they think they're hearing from the "company" instead of you.

Any other image that you pick could potentially cause confusion or give the wrong impression. Not everyone gets the inside joke between you and your friends when you put a photo of a hot dog on your profile. If you are thinking about the importance of the image you project, you need to make your avatar choice very carefully.

3. Optimize your images. If you are using a photograph, you can use a free online editing tool such as Picnik, PiZap or FotoFlexer to touch it up or add interesting effects.

Beware of "overproduced" photographs that misrepresent what you actually look like. They may not affect trust now, but could once someone meets you in person.

4. Be ever-present. Don't get lazy and fail to add an image to your profile. In fact, make sure any time you set up a new social media account that you have an avatar ready to upload immediately, while you fill in the basic details of your profile. Wherever there is the opportunity to extend your brand with an image, upload that image.

A profile without a personalized avatar can send the wrong signals to others. When I'm contacted by someone who uses a generic avatar, I feel a mixture of:

• Suspicion. If I don't know the person, I want to be able to see what they look like and so I wonder what they're trying to hide.
• Skepticism. If they don't take the time to add their image, I wonder how seriously they're taking social media as a communications tool, particularly if they're contacting me for professional reasons.
• Doubt. I think that if someone can't even figure out how to add a basic image to their profile, they might lack basic skills, which doesn't bode well if they're approaching me for a job.
• Frustration. In this world of virtual contacts and less likelihood of a face-to-face meeting, I rely on profile images to provide a sense of connection that's lacking from purely textual encounters.

Don't forget that avatars aren't just for social media profiles. They're also available on many blog publishing tools so your image appears with your blog comments. You can also create a universal avatar via Gravatar (Globally Recognized Avatar) and attach a consistent image to many of your interactions on blogs and social media sites.

5. Mix it up. While on the one hand you want to be consistent with your personal brand and thus your avatar, that doesn't mean you have to use the same image across all sites. Nor does it mean you can't switch out your image periodically to keep things fresh. The consistency comes from staying "on message" with your avatar choices.

Pick an avatar that is appropriate for each site — in many cases you could use the same image, but think before you upload. And when you're ready for a change, pull from a pool of images you've already reviewed and optimized.

6. Politicize with care. Who knew that simply making your avatar green could be a powerful and controversial political statement? Many people will modify their avatars to show their support for or against the cause of the moment. Managing your brand also means taking care to decide which political or social movements you'll be backing with your personal branding images.

Changing your avatar to green can be the virtual equivalent of wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with a political slogan, or even attending a rally or protest. But while it may be a physically "safe" way to broadcast your personal and political opinions, it could affect your personal brand in detrimental ways. What if a client or potential employer doesn't share your views and sees that you've been supporting a cause they are vehemently against?

I'm not saying that you shouldn't have the courage to speak out for what you believe in, but understand the deeper impact to other aspects of your virtual life and work when you choose to use your brand avatar as a soapbox.

How are you building and managing your personal brand through your avatar?

“Radically Transparent”: A Practical Guide to Online Reputation Management

from WebWorkerDaily by Nancy Nally

"Radically Transparent: Monitoring and Managing Reputations Online," by Andy Beal and Dr. Judy Strauss, was recommended to me by several online friends who are involved in PR and marketing. It's a practical and comprehensive book that's designed to help individuals and businesses manage their reputations in a world in which the old rules no longer apply, thanks to the advent of the Internet.

The book begins by providing background on the importance of managing your company's reputation online and the potential consequences if you don't. It follows with practical instruction on using tools like social media and search engine optimization as ways to be proactive about managing your online reputation in order to achieve your business goals. The final section is about online monitoring of your reputation and managing an online reputation crisis.

The big emphasis in "Radically Transparent" is on being proactive in reputation management. The book's practical recommendations center around creating a positive reputation through the use of tools like social media and blogs, instead of waiting to respond to critics in a crisis where you would always be playing catch-up. The philosophy is that actively building and monitoring your reputation can actually prevent a crisis from happening.

Some of the book's sections (such as "The Power Of Blogs") may be somewhat basic for WebWorkerDaily readers, but in total "Radically Transparent" is a very practical and comprehensive textbook on the topic of online reputation management. It won't go over the heads of those who are inexperienced in the online marketing, but at the same time I believe even the most experienced online marketer will come away from "Radically Transparent" having picked up a few new tips and techniques.

If you work in marketing, this book would be a good recommendation for clients reluctant to implement online reputation management. For freelancers or small business owners, reading this book (and then sticking it on your bookshelf for references) will give you a great background in reputation and crisis management.

Although the book uses the stories of the online reputation problems of several large companies like Dell and JetBlue as examples, the lessons it contains aren't limited to large companies — the authors translate the such experiences to apply them to the management of an individual's reputation. Personal reputation management (or personal branding) is especially important to freelance web workers. Their online reputation is usually just as important as their off-line reputation.

In a way, the core message of the book is a slightly down one because it takes a somewhat fatalistic approach to the inherent negativity of the Internet. The core philosophy underlying the need for proactive reputation management is the assumption that it is "inevitable" that all of us will have our reputation attacked at some point. Unfortunately many of us can attest to the truth of that statement.

Interested in reading "Radically Transparent" for yourself? Chapter 1 is available for download as a PDF from the Radically Transparent web site.

Have you read "Radically Transparent"? Are you proactive about your reputation online?

Tip: Recover your GMail password via text message

from Gmail Blog by The Gmail Team

Posted by Cristelle Blackford, Online Operations Strategist

Even the best of us forget our passwords from time to time. In fact, recovering passwords is one of the top reasons people visit the Gmail Help Center. To help with these situations, we recently added the ability to recover your password via text message.

To turn this on for your account, just sign in, select 'Change Password Recovery Options,' enter your cell phone number and click 'Save.'

Next time you forget your password, enter your username on the password-assistance page, and Google will text you a recovery code. No need to check another email account or even leave the page.

In general, it's a good idea to add as many password recovery options to your Google Account as possible, like a secondary email address and security question. And don't forget to keep them up-to-date.

The Essentials of Email Etiquette

from Lifehacker by Azadeh Ensha

1 person liked this

Those accidental reply-alls and empty subject fields in your inbox tell the truth—too many people still don't know the basics of proper email etiquette. Here are eleven rules to forward on or follow.

Photo by half empty.

Career writer Marci Alboher touches on a few areas where your email manners might need tweaking. Our own email training impulses align with the importance of descriptive subject lines, and more people should avoid the impulse to have the last word. According to Marci, "there is usually no reason to cap off a long exchange with 'thank you' (and certainly, 'you're welcome')." There tends to exist a natural end point in conversations, so let it end there.

The article also suggests senders should ask whether someone prefers documents to be sent as attachments or pasted in the body of the message before sending. If back-and-forth editing of text is required, try using shared collaboration tools, something like previously mentioned webapp Show Document, in lieu of updating and sending attachments between or among parties.

Take a look at the full post for the entire rundown of email tips, then come back and tell us about your email dos and don'ts. What simple steps could your friends and co-workers take to improve their emailing? Do you have any absolute email don'ts? Share your thoughts below.

How to Improve Your Email Etiquette [Yahoo Shine]

What'sTheCost Shows You the True Expense of Things

from Lifehacker by Jason Fitzpatrick

WhatsTheCost is a financial calculator designed to show you how much something really costs you over time, whether it's your mortgage, credit card debt, or even your pack a day cigarette habit.

Photo by Andres Rueda.

Looking at the short term picture when it comes to debt and expensive hobbies or habits can be a real money sink. WhatsTheCost is a simple financial calculator that lays out the long term cost. There are calculators for loans, mortgages, rate changes, savings, credit cards, debt snowballing, and even smoking and drinking. Curious about costs?

• A pack a day at $5 a pack costs you $1,825 a year. If you're unlucky enough to be a smoker in New York City, the taxes there mean you'll spend $4,015 per year to keep the habit up.
• A car loan for $10,000 at 7.5% over 48 months actually costs you $11,605.
• A mortgage for $150,000 at 5% over a standard 30 year repayment plan will cost you $289, 883.

The calculator just gives you the raw data; it's up to you to decide what that data means to you. Taking the amount you would save by not smoking and plugging it into the savings calculator might be a sobering moment and tinkering with the repayment window on your mortgage might convince you to change the length of the mortgage you select—a 15 year mortgage in the above loan scenario yields a savings of over $70,000.

The default currency for WhatsTheCost is Pounds, change it from Pounds to Euros or Dollars via the small currency box on the right hand side of the screen. In the number-crunching mood? Check out other calculators we've shared like the debt snowball calculator, the rent or buy calculator, and the credit card repayment calculator. Have an all around useful calculation tool to share? Sound off in the comments below.

WhatsTheCost [via MakeUseOf]

Anticipate Your Interviewer's Next Question to Ace Your Job Interview

from Lifehacker by Azadeh Ensha

Photo via YouthCentral.Vic.Gov.Au

So you've sent in countless resumes and finally landed yourself an interview. Now what? The Harvard Business Blog suggests seven rules to follow next time you're face to face with your potential employer.

Harvard Business Blog's David Silverman suggests, for example, that apart from shutting up and listening, you can "answer the question you wish they'd asked" when being interviewed. This means pre-empting your interviewer instead of waiting on them to ask follow-up questions like, "What did you do at your last job?"

To the extent that companies appreciate employees who exhibit some initiative, anticipating rather than waiting for the next question can place you in a more favorable light. And as much as you'd like to come across as polite, taking this leap can serve you well in the interview process. Among the post's more obvious tips? Dress the part and show interest.

While you're at it, be prepared beforehand by knowing the 50 most common questions asked of interview subjects, and if you do well enough to land the job, be sure not to tip your hand when negotiating your salary.

Care to share your good and bad interview experiences? If so, let us know below.

Ace The Interview [Harvard Business Blog]

Personal Branding Is Important, Like It or Not

from WebWorkerDaily by Pamela Poole

In a recent conversation with some Internet pros about different aspects of personal branding, one thing really struck me: we all fell into one of two opinion groups. One group thought personal branding is natural and necessary, while the other group felt that personal branding is icky. I'm convinced the reason those in the second group feel that way is down to the use of the word "brand." It's the baggage associated with that word that gives "personal branding" a bad name. So let's not call it that. Instead, let's call it "image" and talk about what it is and what it isn't (or what it shouldn't be).

But first, some basics. You are being Googled. If you haven't done so lately, do a vanity search and try to objectively assess the impression people will get when they see the results. Who's Googling you? Potential partners (of the love and work variety), clients, investors…all kinds of people are doing a quick background check on you. As a professional, what you want to accomplish with your image is credibility. You want those search results to show that you know what you're doing. This is true whether you're an artist, a dog groomer, a developer or a wedding planner.

What It Is

Image is unavoidable. If you have an online presence, people are making assumptions and forming opinions about you. They're putting you into categories. It's what people do. The conclusion they reach constitutes your image, whether you like it or not.

Maybe you don't care. Not caring is certainly an option. But if you're a professional, and I'm assuming you are if you're reading this, you should probably care.

Image is like a shirt. Every morning you get up and pick out clothes that will be appropriate for what you're going to do and who you're going to see that day. So you just have to decide if the "online you" that you present is a guy in flip-flops with two days of stubble, or a well-groomed guy in a smart suit, or something in between. And you can have an "off-duty online you" and a "professional online you," no problem! It doesn't hurt someone's image to seem like a well-rounded, multifaceted person.

What It Isn't (Or Shouldn't Be)

Image shouldn't be artificial. A lot of people seem to have that ickiness reaction because they perceive that a personal brand is something like a fake facade. But the general consensus is that you have to be genuine in this day and age. So, just be yourself. Or, more accurately, your image should reflect the parts of your self that you want to show the world. If your image is a fabrication, people will figure it out eventually, so honesty is the best policy.

A Definition of Branding

Wikipedia offers this definition of branding:

People engaged in branding seek to develop or align the expectations behind the brand experience, creating the impression that a brand associated with a product or service has certain qualities or characteristics that make it special or unique.

Clearly, the image you project online serves a similar purpose. As a professional, you want to have some control over people's opinion of who you are and what you do. And you want them to get the impression that you and what you do are in some way special. You can accomplish this without artifice, so what's the problem?

Image Is a Societal and Business Reality

These days, with more and more big companies putting on a human face, and more and more people parlaying their personalities into companies (think Gary Vaynerchuk), the line between business branding and personal branding is becoming blurred. For these reasons, it's especially important for people who run a one-man-show or a little shop, which many of us do, to consider the issue of personal branding seriously.