What should you, Nicki Minaj and Justin Bieber have in common?

I know just a couple things about Nicki Minaj

1. She is an up and coming female rapper (another one) who I am hearing about more and more each day
2. She is of Trini origin - a Trini dougla
2. She got her break when she was discovered on MySpace by some big jefe record executive

I know even less about Justin Bieber except for

1. His name has been a Twitter trending topic for weeks now
2. He got his break when he was discovered on YouTube

How do you intend to catch your big break??

Before, it was the employer who pulled out the bells and whistles to make themselves attractive and accessible. Now, with social media, it's the prospective employees and the big-dreamers who are really putting themselves out there to get the attention of employers and dream peddlers. How are you using social media to self-promote?

Are you using a business-oriented social network like LinkedIn?
If your Facebook page currently has photos of last weekend's drunken club session, it may not be the best channel for promoting yourself professionally. Nix that idea IMMEDIATELY! Consider using a site like LinkedIn to sell who you are and what you can offer, while having the opportunity to network with people in your field. And don't just create a profile and leave it sitting there. Get recommendations from past employers/colleagues. Get out there and make yourself visible. Follow groups which are related to your field, get involved in discussions, post answers to questions - interact and exchange.

Are you following the RIGHT people?
We all have our interests. I follow travel tweeters, but I also follow a lot of PR/comms/social media marketing tweeters. Twitter may be like a huge chatroom for most, but make it a chatroom with a purpose and with an end goal in mind if you're looking to catch that lucky break.

Are you blogging?
Blogs are a great way to have your say and share your expertise, while putting yourself out there. But...

Are you mindful of the content you post online?
Don't use your blog to only be critical, divisive or just plain cantankerous. Offer useful solutions, show your creativity in resolving issues, show that you can be a positive part of a community. So while we may not always agree with what others may say, we don't have to be nasty about it. Offer contributions, not deconstruction! And F bombs may not be the best way to paint yourself fabulous, so don't use the F bomb on Twitter or elsewhere if you're not too pleased about something.

Is your CV current and innovative?
Ensure that your CV is current. Don't put outdated info on your LinkedIn site, which midway through a conversation you realise is not the whole story. Super fail. And depending on what you're looking for, and the audience you're trying to reach, why not integrate short video, or a podcast telling people about yourself. Though I think here, we are lagging in this area, it's an idea especially if you want to show yourself as on the cutting edge of your field. HR is using video conferencing, and social networks in some areas to recruit new hires. Why should you be limited to a standard CV?

Are you checking out who's checking YOU out?
So you have set up these social media channels to sell yourself but are you even checking to see if anyone is browsing the merchandise. Just as traditional marketers measure to see whether their message is getting across, you need to ascertain whether you are being noticed. So monitor your hits to your blog, who subscribes to your RSS feed, who's retweeting you, following you, who's connecting with you, who's responding to your discussion topics etc. Don't leave it to chance.

Are you getting the word out?
I don't think we have many mind readers out there so be vocal about your objectives and start exploring those avenues relevant to your professional needs. Let people know that you are looking for new opportunities. The more people who know you're looking, the greater the chance of you getting that job. If we can use social networks to find a date (more on this later this week), why can't we be honest about our professional desires? Get it out there!

Justin Bieber's mum used YouTube to post his performances for friends and family and inadvertently got him his dream job. Now he is all over Twitter. Why? I am not quite sure but there is really something to be said about using social media to follow your dream. Start building your networks now before you really need it. It takes time to build that network and that following, so don't waste time. Get it going.

p.s. Findind a G-rated/fit-for-purpose photo of Ms Minaj for this blog was a challenge. Be mindful of your content, right?

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The Two Face Dilemma with Social Media

I came upon a really timely and interesting blog entry yesterday, because it is something that impacts me and I am sure some of you as well. With social media being everywhere, including in business, one has to seriously think about the identities which one has online and how it impacts your professional and personal lives. I blogged on this already but felt a need to "wheel and come again". Most people would have started off with a personal Facebook profile or a personal blog. That's how I started. Then companies started getting involved in social media and the landscape changed from being just about "me" and more about "us", and especially in a case where you are actively involved or recognised professionally, your social media profiles probably need a review. Not only that, but there is greater convergence of the personal and professional.


I have several social media identities, between work and play-

• Blogs - this one is more professional while I have others, which are more personal in nature
• Twitter - a healthy balance of the two
• LinkedIn - I don't know if there is any other way to use LinkedIn other than personal branding for business and professional networking
• Flickr/Photobucket - personal
• Facebook - my profile here is strictly personal

But here is the rub. I also manage a few professional profiles on YouTube, Flickr and of course, Facebook. Before pages came along, one had groups and if any of you have a group, you would know that when you send messages to your members, regardless of the name of the group, your personal profile photo and your name go out with the message. I cannot tell you (though my friends would know cause I complain about it enough) how many people I do not know personally, but whom I would probably interact with via my groups' activities, send me friend requests. Some may want to keep me close as a company insider for when they want assistance and some may just want a date, which sadly seems to be the usual reason. Not only that, but you have to then be mindful of the photo you have up. Can you imagine getting a message from an organisation you're following and the admin's photo is of him/her in a bikini/speedo, with a beer bong, and a spliff? How would that inspire you?

Now while I support networking and social media for business especially should heartily support interaction, am I willing to let customers and interested persons into my personal space? I say, without hesitation, no. With pages, I now can interact with customers from a strictly corporate profile which keeps the lines firmly in place and you can still contact me directly.

My personal spaces are for personal things. I don't want to share my vacation photos, my notes, my status updates about all my craziness with people I do not know personally. And you do continue to meet people in the course of doing business and they may want to "friend" you on Facebook, but those relationships are also different to the ones I have with the people who are my friends on Facebook. So do I have a professional Facebook page, for this purpose - without personal family photos, videos and the like? Do I ask you to become a Fan of my professional Page? Sure I think I am awesome but the word "fan" has this connotation and I am not that vain to think I am SO popular or SO interesting that I would attract "fans".

This is not to say that I would not become friends with people I form virtual relationships with. Not at all. I think social media allows for rich interactions which you may not have via the traditional channels. I DO have people I have met through work on my profile - once I have developed that relationship with them. I DO sometimes share stuff that is non-work related on my blog or in my not so personal spaces. And at the same time, I DO harness my personal profile for work sometimes, by sharing work stuff, asking for feedback or running ideas past them (and many thanks to my fab friends for being so supportive). So where does one draw the line then?

I try now to use what I have to network professionally. So LinkedIn and Twitter work for me right now and I have had great interactions there thus far.. My Facebook, let me say it right now, is off limits for people I do not know personally, or even people I work with. I do not subsrcibe to mixing my professional life with my personal life. And my Facebook profile is still not half as bad as some of the profiles I know are out there - with sexy profile photos, status updates about their sex lives and fetishes etc - and which are open and welcoming to colleagues, suppliers, bosses. Do you want to update your profile, which your boss has access to, saying that you're in Tobago when you called in sick that day? Scary stuff, man. I see some things sometimes and cringe. Not only that but I know of people who have unwittingly lost a chance at a job or a business opportunity because of stuff on their personal profiles, which they have opened to the masses.

But it's just different. Your personal voice and your corporate voice. Your personal profile and your corporate profile. Different but not separate. They still, I think are interwoven, especially if you are a marketer who really forms great, personal relationships with clients. Customers rarely want an autobot, do they? But as social media continues to permeate our lives, the lines will continue to get more and more blurred. You just have to decide where, when and IF you want to draw hard lines of demarcation.

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