LinkedIn have decided to go on the offensive – or at least that’s what I think you could call it. They’ve launched a site/service called BrandYou which is aimed at helping professionals look at their own personal branding, which I guess will sit comfortably alongside the product and services “branding” that they have been bringing in lately on their Company pages and well as backing up their position as the leader in online personal business networking.
Personally, I’m all in favour of this type of initiative – I think that we forget all too often that content and opinion we publish on the net has an impact on the way that people view us. I consider any foray into social media – from blogs to social networks to forums, You Tube and beyond – will not just impact on one’s own brand, but creates it. This in turn influences (more than we might like to believe) how people then view us and whether they make the decision to do business with us or our company.
We have wonderful ways of couching our input and comments, together with their influence, in “management terms” and, given my business training, I recognise that I’m more culpable than most in this respect. However, whether we refer to this as “personal brand equity” or the difference between people saying we are great or full of c**p, it all boils down to the same thing.
Therefore, any initiative which reminds us of the impact that a misplaced comment or ill informed article can have on us and our reputation is, for me, a welcome one. And if that helps LinkedIn in the process because of their patronage then I’m up for that as well. Let’s face it, I spend a good part of my LinkedIn training helping people develop their profile and how to develop a positive reputation on the site (and elsewhere) so I guess I’m likely to be a supporter.
It is important though … really!
Well, anyway, for the sake of completeness, I dalso id their BrandYou Survey (I came out as a Global Guru for whatever that’s worth!?), glad to see that they managed to squeeze a good old 2 by 2 matrix in there as well. Memories of my MBA days came flooding back I can assure you!
