The three most important components of who you are: reputation, reputation, reputation.

The social media industry spends a lot of time talking about the brand.  Whether it’s your corporate brand or your personal brand everyone has an opinion of how to market yourself.  That’s what it is afterall is marketing.  The branding police come in and say the product will conjure images of…..”being a kid again” or “going to the county fair” or (you get the pictures).  What happens after you buy the product and decide the packaging is hard to open or that it really doesn’t perform as advertised?  Well, they make television shows for that (PitchMen).   The same goes for your personal brand.  how many times have you “heard” about the accomplishments of someone then when you actually work with them only images of SnakeOil come to mind.  Once you “out” the product or the person, you will not use them again no matter how good the markting message is for them.

I have a hard time with spending so much time on your “Brand” for that reason.  All of it is glossy brochure-ware unless you can actually do something.  My preference is to push people and/or client’s brands to focus on their reputation.  Autos are a good example of what I mean, you don’t buy a Lamborghini for comfort and you don’t buy a Lexus to go fast.  Both are remarkable cars in their own right however the Lambo’s reputation is built around speed and the lexus around comfort.  That’s what you get when you buy them irrespective of whatever kind of marketing stuff they put in front of you. 

I pulled a couple of thoughts on personal reputation from the website Brand-Yourself (horrible name, I know).  They defined your reputation as this:

It’s the iconic who, what, why and how principle.
It’s developing, celebrating and using that internal and external persona, that is already there and a part of our DNA!

Who are you?
What do you stand for?
Why should you serve?
How can you better the community that supports you and the world you live in?

Who you are is the combination of your external appearance or image and your internal essence.
Whenever you are out professionally, make sure you are dressed appropriately and groomed. People do notice the fine points and that can say a lot about you. Ask any professional etiquette coach about how important style, flair and appropriateness is in making a first impression!

What you stand for is about your values, attitudes, demeanor and how you express your unique qualities.
Show people that and they will make a connection with you because we all look for those commonalities in our relationships with others. Kindness, sense of humor, integrity, generosity, creativity, caring all speak volumes about you to others.

Why you serve is how you want to be remembered.
Whatever causes or social leadership you are passionate about will not only drive and motivate you naturally but draw people to you. Step up, volunteer, join a cause, initiate an action, support one that needs some help.

So what does all this mean?  It means that it doesn’t matter if you have 3,ooo followers or 300,000 if you can’t articulate your strategy for a client.  It means, if you can’t legitimately help a client then refer them to someone who can.  It’s substance over talk, results over industry stats.  Our moderator this week knows alot about reputation as she has one of the best in the public relations industry.  Kami Watson Husye is the president and COO of Zoetica Media.  Kami is well respected for her work and her missions and will lead our discussion around managing your reputation.  The topic and questions this week are:

Topic: Building Your Reputation Using Social Media

Q1:  Is reputation more important than a “personal brand” in #socialmedia?

Q2:  Be it a personal or professional crisis, what is your plan for handling a negative backlash in #socialmedia?

Q3:  How do you scale online success for an organization or individual as your reputation grows?

This chat will take place on Tuesday August 24, 2010 at 12 noon eastern.  Follow #sm74 from any Twitter client or simply go to our LIVE page at www.hashtagsocialmedia.com/live.  The event will start at noon with the first question and Kami will move to the next question every 20 minutes for an hour.