While Twitter and LinkedIn are some of the most popular social networking sites out there, there are so many other sites that you will likely find interesting and helpful to the spreading of your brand. Today I want to list a few that you may want to check out (based solely on popularity), but before I do that I want to reinforce a few points.
- Remember that quality trumps quantity. Only use these sites if you are able to maintain them.
- The best way to try a new form of social media is to go in with some tangible goals or hopes for how you can use it. Of course, it’s okay to try them just to see how they work, but it’s important to be strategic and focused.
- When you can, find applications that will feed from one technology that you choose to involve yourself with to another. We will talk about examples of this tomorrow, but keep it in mind today.
Okay, with those main points off my chest, I shall proceed to give you an idea of social networking sites that you may indeed find useful.
Google Buzz
Google Buzz is very new. In fact, it was just launched in February 2010. This application integrates with Gmail and allows you to share pictures, videos, conversations and more with followers. Unlike Twitter, Google Buzz does not have a character limit with each post which can be good or bad, depending on how you use it.
Google Wave
This technology is slightly older than Google Buzz and can really been seen as Google’s version of a wiki (in my opinion). This allows you to collaborate on documents that include pictures and videos with other wave users. This may be useful for peope working on proposals or projects together.
Meetup
While this site is not entirely professional, you can find many industry or interest based groups that meet on a regular basis. This is a great way to find in-person networking events and communicate with people who share your interests and professional goals.
Ning
Ning is an interesting site that allows you to create your own social networks. While perhaps not as popular as other social networking sites, this is a good option and has both paid and free options for you to use.
Plaxo
Plaxo is a great way to keep up with your contacts. It is a social networking site and address catalog in one and helps you to keep track of contact information, birthdays and important information. Plaxo syncs with many other sites and softwares like Outlook and iPhone to keep you informed.
Tumblr
By all accounts, Tumblr is essentially a blog which integrates social media technology like the Twitter "follow". You can also "like" posts as you can on Facebook.
This is just a small sampling of the vast array of social networking sites that are available for your use. If you do a search, you can even find industry specific sites. I hope today you get a bigger picture of all the possibilities there are to brand yourself. With just 4 days left in this branding challenge, I hope to give you many resources that you can explore. As you try each new technology, try to apply the principles from the earlier parts of this series to ensure that you approach each with strategy and evaluation. This will help you to maximize the return on your branding effort.
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Tags: 30 Days of Branding, Personal Branding, Social Media/Technology
