TGGD #8 Talking Personal Brand with AmberMac

At last week's Toronto Girl Geek Dinner Amber MacArthur lead a fantastic discussion about creating and managing your personal brand. A huge thank you to Amber for coming out to talk with us. Thanks again to our sponsors from the WHIR. Thanks also to Kate Trgovac, President of LintBucket Media, for the donation of our door prizes.

Amber had a few tips to get the conversation started:

• When you build your online brand, get involved in at least five social sites/services -, i.e. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Delicious. She suggests Squarespace is a good publishing system for personal websites.
• Use the same name or your own nickname consistently so you create equity in your brand.
• Put your URL on everything (online and off) and list it everywhere. Make sure everything links back to your site.
  

Our discussion was lively. Here are my notes. Feel free to continue the conversation in the comments.

Q: How do you deal with negatives, like haters or trolls?
A: Respond to every comment. Remain calm and in control and recognize there may be some truth in the comment. Try not to get discouraged, but the most important thing is to respond.

Q: Is it important to join a new social network service just to claim your name?
A: Yes, I think its important. You should also own your own name as a domain name. If you can't get your name exactly, get creative with middle initials, nicknames, or other options.

Q: How do you the draw the line between accepting followers and saying what you want?
A: You may want to keep private things private, but be careful of splitting your audience into too many groups. Don't discount your social circle as a big helper of building a brand.

Q: Is there a diplomatic way to refuse a friend request?
A: I don't think there is a diplomatic way. Use the limited profile feature where you can.

Q: It is important to monitor your personal brand online?
A: Yes, you follow up to say thank you, nurture relationship and comment back.

Q: Should you be controversial on your blog to drive traffic?
A: Sure, being controversial will drive traffic. If that's the way your write, you've got to be true to your spirit. Some people can't force it. It can help, but not if it isn't sincere or authentic.

photo: AmberMac Website 2008 via insidetwit