If you’re really serious about personal branding, you are on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.  So where else can you build up  your personal profile and showcase your expertise?

Consider using Quora, the online question and answer community.

Here are 12 ways to use Quora as a platform to build your reputation, establish your expertise and get on the radar of recruiters and company execs for potential employment.

Next, search for keywords pertinent to your target industry. For example, if you’re looking for a job in social media, search for social, social media, social media marketing, social networks, and even specific social media tools by name.

Finally, if you’ve identified companies where you’d like to work, search for those company names and follow both topics and related questions. Keep in mind whatever you follow appears on your profile page.

Temper self-promotion in your responses. Reference yourself only if relevant to the question being asked, not because you want to draw attention to yourself in every answer you give. You’ll get far better attention from answering questions well than tooting your own horn.

Since you’re on a job search, ask questions about honing your search, how you can leverage your network, how you can put your best foot forward in social networks, even who’s hiring in the industries or geographic regions you’ve pinpointed for your search.

Ask questions about companies. Identify prospective companies to pursue for employment by asking questions about the types of companies where you’d like to work. If you’re narrowing down your target list for employment, ask direct questions about each company’s corporate culture or other questions that will give you insights into those companies.

Many of the above suggestions are based on best practices for interacting within any online community, and they can prove effective on Quora over time. Participating thoughtfully on Quora can make a good impression on both the Quora community and potential employers who are using Quora to identify worthy job candidates.

Today, if you don’t show up in Google, you don’t exist. You may be looking for work and want to see what comes up when the recruiter checks you on Google.  Or you may be single (or not) and you are trying to get a date.  Whatever …  you can count on being “Googled”

Knowing what Google “says” about you and proactively managing your personal brand online is critical to success.
You will be able to know instantly how you appear digitally online…

Online Identity Calculator results

… it is a cool tool that will help you make sense of your Google results and give you advice on how to build a stellar online identity that’s aligned with your real-world personal brand.

This extremely popular and first-of-its-kind tool was designed by William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson, authors of Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand.  Together, they are partners in Reach, the pioneering personal branding firm with global presence.

Here is the link to the calculator: http://www.onlineidcalculator.com/index.php

REACH

Note:

Your search results may determine whether or not an executive recruiter calls you in for an interview, you land your next job or attract the best professionals to your organization.

Given the extent to which people use search engines as research tools today, building and managing your identity online is no longer a luxury. It’s a requirement

So regularly monitor your online identity. That way, if something or concern pops up … you can address it quickly, before it gets out of hand!

Quora (URL: http://www.quora.com ) is a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it. The most important thing is to have each question page become the best possible resource for someone who wants to know about the question.

One way you can think of it is as a cache for the research that people do looking things up on the web and asking other people. Eventually, when you see a link to a question page on Quora, your feeling should be: “Oh, great! That’s going to have all the information I want about that.” It’s also a place where new stuff–that no one has written about yet–can get pulled onto the web.

Attributes of Quora…

• Accumulating Knowledge
• Reusable
• Collaborative
• Continually Improving
• Organized
• Targeted
• People

People? Yes, everything on Quora is tied back to a person. Each question and answer has a revision history associated with it, and each change in the  log is associated with the person who made it. People use their real names and pictures on Quora and have a short bio describing who they are; this helps anyone reading things they write to understand why they should believe what is written and take into account the author’s perspective.

Steps to get onto Quora:

1. Start by setting up a good feed.

* Your activity feed has recent activity about content that interests you. You can view your feed by going to the home page.
* You can build a good feed by following and searching for topics, people, and questions.
* Topics: When you follow a topic, questions and answers tagged with that topic will appear in your feed
* People. When you follow people, you will see questions and answers posted by these people in your feed.
* Questions: When you follow a question, you will see activity about that question in your news feed (example: when a new answer is posted on the question).
* The easiest first step: start by following some topics that you care about and some people who write about them.
* You can also read some interesting questions to get a feel for the site.

2. Learn more, including:

* What does a good answer on Quora look like?
* What makes a good question on Quora
* Learn more about how to use Quora for users in specific fields and professions.

3. Follow a topic on Quora by simply pressing the “Follow Topic” button located in the upper right corner of the topics main page.

There’s a green “Follow” button to the right of a user’s name on every profile but your own. If you are already following the person, there will be a grey “Unfollow” button

4.  What are some good pages for you to check out?

Well, for example, consider the question that was recently posed on Quora:

Which human decision is the most important ever made?  By decision, I mean to a specific situation where individual persons made a conscious choice..

See the answers -  so far -  at:

http://www.quora.com/Which-human-decision-is-the-most-important-ever-made

5.  Categories and examples of Quora questions:

Businesses
* Why is Barnes & Noble performing well as a business while Borders is near (or has even reached) bankruptcy ?

Career Advice
* What would you advise your (hypothetical) 22-year old college-grad child to do with his or her life?

Children and Parenting
* What is the logic in making a child look up a word in the dictionary when they ask what it means, rather than just tell them the meaning?
* What is the right age to let your kids watch Star Wars? and Why do parents let their kids watch Star Wars at such a young age? Isn’t all the Darth Vader / killing stuff psychologically not good for little kids?
* Is it hypocritical to not report your child to the police if you know they have committed a minor crime? Why or why not?
* Why do some parents have their children circumcised?
* What are some alternatives to the Boy Scouts of America for families that don’t support their policies toward gays and atheists?

Etiquette
* How does one get better at remembering people’s names?
* If I see a missed call on my cellphone, but the caller didn’t leave a voicemail, am I socially obligated to return the call?
* Why is it important to teach children manners?
* How do you handle a friend who never chips in enough for a group dinner?

Food
* What are the best pizza toppings to get for a big group?
* In general, can you go to a restaurant and only get dessert?
* How can I learn to love salads?
* Is it rude to very politely ask a lingering group at a restaurant table when they are planning to leave?
* How should one think about the costs and benefits of opening a food truck?

History
* Which human decision is the most important ever made?
* What are good, accessible books on American history?
* Is there any point in studying the Middle Ages, in depth?
* What are some behaviors that are accepted now but might be considered immoral in the future?

Movies
* In The Dark Knight, how did the Joker really get his scars?
* In The Matrix, why doesn’t the Oracle tell Neo he’s the One?
* Was the movie Inception all a dream?
* Why were the Star Wars prequels so terrible?

Music
* Why is live music so loud?
* Who is the Alejandro that Lady Gaga sings about?
* What are the most iconic album covers?

Sports
* What are the most iconic images from the Olympics over history?
* How does a pitcher decide to become a closer instead of a starter?
* Should we root for Michael Vick?

Travel and Cities
* What are the best travel hacks?
* What are good tips for airplane travel with babies?
* Why do some people think San Francisco is the best city in the world?

Here are New Year’s Resolutions to pick (why don’t you choose one, two, three OR ten..)

New Year’s Resolutions get a bad reputation for being something you say in January, but quit by February.

This year, make a resolution that you will …

• think about what I liked and disliked in previous jobs and develop the ultimate job description. I will use this to give my search focus and meaning
• network 80 % of the time and use the Web 20 % of the time
• be open to exploring many new options in the job market, understanding that there may be interesting opportunities beyond my traditional field
• review which tactics did and did not yield results in 2010, and I will work to understand how I might improve in those areas that did not do as well as I had hoped
• promise not to apply for positions I am definitely not qualified for
• ask friends or acquaintances who manage and hire people to evaluate my cover letter and resume and give me real feedback – even if it hurts to hear it
• set myself weekly goals during my job search and keep to their deadlines
• consider new industries and career paths, but I will research the likelihood of being able to make that switch easily
• work on building relationships with your recruiter by helping him/her as much as they help me
• will apply immediately (with a tailored cover letter and resume) and search for friends and colleagues who could act as referrals to help me network into the organization
• consider my job search a full-time job and will not become complacent with my current situation. I will prioritize my job search above television, video games, or recreational internet use
• meet (on the phone or in person) three new people a week who can help me with my job search
• be thoughtful about when to send my resume, and I will not send my resume to everyone I know and not spam my resume to companies where I am seeking employment. Instead, I will tailor my resume to each company, so that my relevant skills are stressed for each specific position of department. The company will know I am serious and intent on working there
• learn to leverage Social Media as a vehicle for communicating about myself, and not just as a distraction for hours chatting with new friends be specific about the type of work and organizations, including names of target organizations that I find most interesting
• send thank-you cards after every interview, whether I thought the interview went well or poorly
• not assume a person cannot help me find a job.  They may know a great contact I need to meet
• set up informal discussions with decision-makers/hiring managers even if they are not hiring right now.  They may be hiring soon be open to exploring many options because an interesting opportunity may exist beyond what I can see on the surface start attending more job fairs and networking events, including those that may put me outside of my traditional industry
• consider that my resume may not be as good as it could be and seek advice
• acknowledge that I may not be an interviewing pro. Especially if I’ve interviewed a lot and have not landed a job.  I will seek professional advice
• start considering a wide array of employment opportunities, instead of only the areas I’ve been used to build a plan for my job hunt by outlining resources to research and key people to contact.  I will create a schedule, too.  Milestones and goals are important
• provide or demonstrate my value to my newly-made contacts first, before asking for their help
• share my concerns with a few trusted friends who can offer good advice (instead of giving up hope)
• re-examine what my real financial needs are so that I can be more open to opportunities that may pay me less than what I want
• meet, whether by phone,direct e-mail, or in person, three new people who can help me in my job search each week
• will volunteer.  I will make good use of my time by meeting new people and creating substance for a discussion on “what I’ve been up to recently.”  I will make a difference when many can use my assistance
• evaluate opportunities by recognizing that this job can be a stepping stone to another job (inside or outside the company) – especially as the market improves
• not depend on my network to find a job for me, but will view it as one of several methods of finding employment
• Read.  Learn. Teach.  I will educate myself or others on a subject-matter than is pertinent to my profession
• do volunteer work to keep myself busy, and to also answer the question interviewers will put to me regarding what I have been up to recently in my unemployment
• consider exercise to be a good stress-reliever and pick a program I will enjoy (not necessarily bring the fastest results)
• ask friends or family to give me full and honest criticism of my resume and of my interview tactics, even if it may be difficult to hear
• not become frustrated with my job search, or, if I do, I will not take out that frustration on my friends or family.

“Just like flight attendants state, you need to put on your own oxygen mask before helping others”  – Lindsay Pollack

You have the power to positively influence your professional reputation

• Values, Skills, Character, Unique Voice, etc. = You
• How it is “packaged” and conveyed outwardly = Branding
• Your reputation as reflected back by others = Brand

You are advised to participate in social media professionally

• Provides networking opportunities
• Demonstrates motivation and engagement
• Demonstrates computer skills
• Demonstrates communication skills
• Makes you “findable” to employers

Are you a job seeker?

A recent Jobvite survey indicated:

• 80 percent use or are planning to use social networking to find and attract candidates
• 72 percent plan to increase their use of social networks

Among those:

• 95% use linkedin.com
• 59% use facebook.com
• 42% use twitter.com

By contrast only 26 percent plan to increase use of job boards

The main points: Employers are both sourcing and screening online so get your brand correct: “own” your online presence It’s probably okay if nothing is found. But, it’s better to control the message.

The 5-step process of branding includes:

1:   Determine and differentiate your strengths for a particular context … who you are and what you do
2:   Shape your message … how you talk about your brand
3:   Manage information and presentation … where you talk about your brand and how it looks, i.e., establish the online presence
4:   Be consistent with on-message activities … same look and feel for all social media sites
5:   Monitor how efforts are being received .. obtain feedback from your professional colleagues on your “personal brand”

Set up a routine that works for you:

• 15-20 minutes of Twitter per day
• 2-3 Linkedin answers or blog comments per week
• 1 blog post per week
• 1 12 second.tv video per week

What is holding you back?

• General reluctance or skepticism
• Platform reluctance (twitter, for example)
• Technological challenges/abilities
• Understanding value
• Return on investment
• Lack of time/commitment

Get going now:

Preparing yourself:

• Familiarize yourself with notable platforms
• Linkedin
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Wordpress
• Establish your own online presence
• Talk with colleagues and peers
• Find time to read and learn on an ongoing basis
• Best source = do it yourself!
• Good reading = mashable.com

Luft and Ingham called their Johari Window model ‘Johari’ after combining their first names, Joe and Harry.

The Johari Window is a model for understanding and training self-awareness, personal development, improving communications, interpersonal relationships, group dynamics, team development and inter-group relationships.

There are four quadrants to the Johari Window:

• OPEN. what is known by the person about him/herself and is also known by others or ‘the arena’
• BLIND. what is unknown by the person about him/herself but which others know or ‘the blindspot’
• HIDDEN. what the person knows about him/herself that others do not know or ‘the facade’
• UNKNOWN. what is unknown by the person about him/herself and is also unknown by others or ‘the unknown self’

Why is this important for you to know?  Because successful communication depends on the degree to which we can align ourselves and our “Johari Window” to match to recruiters, hiring managers, whomever we interact with.

This tool will give you an insight into how much you reveal about yourself.  Some folks are introverted and reveal little about themselves. Others are extroverted and reveal a great deal – hense keep their “window” open.

Each quadrant represents a different kind of personal information – Here is more detail about each quadrant:

Open quadrant represents the information that we know about ourselves and that also is obvious to others. For example, when you see someone you see important information about them: their gender, approximate age, skin color, if they appear to be fit and healthy or not. If you talked with them, you might be able to determine if English is their first language, or you may observe they have a wedding band on.  With this information – there is no privacy  – the way we look, how we speak, what we wear lets others know something about ourselves.

Blind refers to information that others know about us, but that we don’t know about ourselves. Others pick up information about us that is blinded to us. For example, a co-worker may observe that you move your knee rapidly when you’re bored in a meeting.  If this information is pointed out to you, you will probably notice it the next time you’re sitting in a meeting.  Knwing this means that it has shifted from being Blind information to being Hidden information and you are able to control it if you wish.

Hidden represents personal information that is known only to us: our life experiences, our thoughts, feeling, dreams…all of that information is within you and it is this information that we share with others. We’re always making decisions about how much of this information we disclose to others.  The hidden aspect of ourselves is specific to self-disclosure.

Unknown refers to personal information that is known to no one—not even ourselves. It is information that is outside of our awareness but still may affect how we think, feel, and behave. Sometimes this type of information is called an unconscious influence over who we are as individuals – it means is that we can’t get conscious access to it.

The Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey 2010 was conducted online between May and June 2010; over 600 human resource and recruiting professionals participated in the survey. Respondents answered questions using an online survey tools and the response data is available only in aggregate form.

Specifics on the survey include how social recruiting programs are measured; use of social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for recruiting; spending trends and candidate quality of recruiting sources; use of online profiles in reviewing candidates; employee referral program; hiring plans and applicant characteristics.

Since you are looking for a job and should be active on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter (the three social networking websites most popular with employers, according to the survey), remember these four reasons to use these sites and actively manage your profiles.

• You’ll have access to job opportunities at progressive, growing companies.
• You’ll have access to job opportunities first.
• Employers are increasingly using LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to find and vet prospective employees.
• You may not find as many job ads on job boards or job opportunities through recruiters.

Link to Jobvite

Link to Article about Survey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUzUsCREgrU

You Tube Video - Linkedin Job Seeker Service

Summary of the Service

• Stand out from the crowd
• Move to the top of the list as a Featured Applicant when you apply to jobs on LinkedIn.
• Be prepared for interviews
• View expanded profiles and manage your contacts with Profile Organiz
• Reach out to hiring decision makers
• Send personalized InMail messages directly to hiring managers.

Details of the Service:

• New Move to the top of the list as a Featured Applicant
• Contact hiring managers directly with InMail messages
• InMails
• Save profiles & organize your job search with Profile Organizer
• Prepare for interviews – see full profiles of hiring decision makers
• Get introduced to inside sources at companies
• New Join Lindsey Pollak’s webinar: “Job Seeking on LinkedIn”
• Find opportunities faster with Premium Search
• See who’s interested in your profile
• Let users reach you for free with OpenLink
• Get priority customer service

Cost of the Service:

• Basic Account: $19.95 per month
• Job Seeker Account:  $29.95 per month
• Job Seeker Plus Account: $49.95 per month

Rather than using job boards like Monster and CareerBuillder, recruiters are seeing the value of social networking sites like LinkedIn. Social media tools such as LinkedIn make the recruiter’s job more efficient and often allow them to find job seekers more efficiently

It is true that the online social networking world is expanding, and recruiters need all the help they can get – from you and your Linkedin account. Read on to see what you can do to get the attention of employers who use LinkedIn Recruiting:

1. Update your LinkedIn “Status” regularly

• Link to articles you have written or in which you are quoted
• Update status with your latest blog posts
• Discuss business accomplishments
• If you are actively looking for a job, tell people what you are looking for!
• Update your status on Twitter.

2. Increase your number of trusted connections

• Use webmail importer to bring your real world professional relationships online and to find your contacts who are already on LinkedIn.
• Depending on whether you are using web mail or Outlook, check out the respective toolbars that will help organize your professional relationship.

3. Make your LinkedIn profile 100% complete

• Include all companies, education, and awards – all are key items that recruiters search for.
• References are very important. The more that is known about you the better.
• The more robust your profile, the higher you will be in the Google search rankings.
• The more information a recruiter has upfront, the more efficient the search process.

4. Include your web site and blog links

• Add suitable weblinks to the “Websites” section on your LinkedIn profile
• This could range from your career blog to your Twitter profile. Alternatively, you can also link to a guest blog post you wrote recently.

5. Do not block incoming emails

• The LinkedIn community is all about participation so accept incoming communication from fellow LinkedIn users.
• If a recruiter reaches out to you and you are not interested, let him or her know or better yet refer a friend
• Note that LinkedIn actually allows you to control how you receive emails and notifications.

6. Use the same profile picture that you use on other social media sites

• A picture helps to create and reinforce your online brand
• It will help a recruiter identify you on the interview day at “Peets”

7. Use the “Specialties” box to fill in keywords

• List as many keywords as possible that are relevant to your roles, capabilities, and interests that will help you turn up on LinkedIn Search
• Keyword rich, well-developed, complete profiles are recommended

8. Make changes to your profile after every job change or promotion

• The recruiters you are linked to will notice these changes
• It is harder to be found if people don’t know where you are
• Update your LinkedIn profile as you would your change-of-address at the post office

9. Join Linkedin Groups and post items of interest

• Share your interests, memberships, specializations, backgrounds, and experience
• Group members may also know of a potential opportunites that your are seaching for

10. Review company profiles and reach out to employees there for information interviews

• See who you may want to work for
• Research who is in the company for whom you have an interview with

But I recognize the importance of networking, especially as a newly hired employee or when I have been promoted to a new position.  This “transition” is period when the current employees in your new department / division or company are making up their minds about whether you are dependable—or a loser who should never have been hired / promoted.

Speaking of ‘transition” … Click here for a PDF on the golden age of networking! ”

Transition Tips:  See some best practices on personal branding, how to be a memorable job candidate and learning how to become a world-class networker.  Power networking strategies can quickly expand your network. Real world strategies to shorten your time in transition. Your dogged determination to never stop learning, executing and trying new strategies, especially if they take you out of your comfort zone will help to create a powerful personal brand for you.

Most people don’t take to networking naturally, which is why it is often tough for me to be comfortable about reaching out to people.   The key point is that networking is the best way to acquire crucial information about the job and on how to succeed early. So when I am newly hired (or promoted), I have committed to immediatley do the following:

1) Identify who is in your network:   I ask myself:   Who can help me? Who knows what’s going on? Who gets around roadblocks? Who are the critical links in the supply or information chain?

2) Dare to introduce yourself:    Most people will be more receptive than you think.  Few professionals will refuse a call from someone who starts the conversation with “I’m new in my job, and I’m trying to get to know people who….”

3) Share what you know:   Reciprocate by sharing information you know will be useful.  Keep connected with people by, for example, sending relevant articles once a quarter or congratulating your contact about a job change.

In conclusion, the time spent in the early days building a network will save time down the road when you’re trying to solve problems, leverage resources, and achieve success.  You will regret it if you fail to set up that initial contact with people.