Marketer by Day, Pro Wrestler by Night?
As I am making my way through the web that is social media I have been quickly adding my name to Twitter, Plurk, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Digg, etc., After doing so for the past few weeks, I thought I should Google myself to see if I was appearing in a search [okay, okay, I admit it. I also wanted to see how I appeared on Goggle. I like Seth’s advice, what can I say?!].
On a recent Google search, I was skimming through the links and what do I see? A Beth Harte…and, as you can see, she ain’t me! She’s Beth Harte, Extreme Wrestling US Champion. Is this for real?!
Now there are two people competing for the same exact brand name. But it’s different because this is my name! It’s on my driver’s license, my tax return, my diplomas, and my blog! I am sure the other Beth Harte feels the same way…I mean being confused with a marketer might ruin her image. That is if she is even real [disclaimer: I am not, nor was I ever, an expert on the topic of pro wrestling].
How then does one brand oneself when they no longer have a unique identifier?
Here’s are some quick tips:
- Change your unique identifier, even if slightly, it’ll help your search engine marketing (SEM).
This is why David Meerman Scott goes by, well, exactly that. How do I know that? Because I watched his YouTube video and he told me. And that’s why I am now listed under the brand ‘The Harte of Marketing.’
- Ultimately, in the social media groundswell, customers determine your brand—not you or your company.
Before putting your name out there ask the following: Are you ready to turn over your brand? In the world people will respond to—and about―you quickly! Are you willing to invest the time into managing your brand? Are you open to feedback, even if very critical? Are you willing to say you’re sorry if when you find you’ve been rash or wrong in a response or a post? Are you willing to be permanent [i.e. you are forever on Google. I am finding things that I did in 2004 on Google!]?
- Brand monitoring and reputation management is key―learn it. live it.
Even industry expert Seth Godin has been a target of brand name exploitation.
- Where can you go to manage your brand?
Companies like Motive Quest, Nielsen BuzzMetrics, and Cymphony can help your company monitor their brand. But if you are a do-it-yourselfer or don’t have a budget, try one of these: Summize, Google Alerts/Blog Search, Technorati, and Blogpulse.
What tips can you offer on how you proactively manage your brand? What lessons have you learned?
8 Responses to “Marketer by Day, Pro Wrestler by Night?”
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Beth #4 is my favorite. So many people and companies spend little if any time monitoring online conversations. That is a MUST! Once you know what people are saying about your brand, then you can react and respond.
At SXSW this year, Dell’s Chief Blogger Lionel Menchaca had a great story. He said that right after Dell’s Direct2Dell blog launched, the whole ‘exploding laptop’ story broke. So Lionel wrote a post about it, and ADDED a pic of a Dell laptop on fire to the post. Predictably, the reaction internally was to ask him WTF he was thinking. People at the company were worried that others would read Dell’s blog, and then find out that there were problem with some of Dell’s laptops.
Lionel explained to them that bloggers were ALREADY talking about the exploding laptops, and Dell could either ignore that conversation, or become a part of it.
And that’s the choice we all make online, we can either ignore the conversation, or join it.
@MackCollier you are absolutely right. More companies should learn a lesson from Dell and understand that they are no longer in control of their brand. If they embrace the joing the conversation—versus turning an intentional blind eye—they would be better prepared for any crisis that might rear its head. Not to mention the other added bonus of some great ideas for technology. It can be primary research at it’s best.
Beth, if you are interested in monitoring as a business practice I run a company providing this service here in Italy.
Check http://www.buzzdetector.com.
@gianandrea, thanks for stopping! Thank you for letting me know about BuzzDetector…I would have included you in my post had I known about your company. But, this is just the beginning and I still have many more posts to write!
Beth, your blog can help boost your visibility on Google and put you ahead of the pro wrestler with the same name (who would have thought it???). I love your title: The Harte of Marketing, but the blog should be hosted under your domain name. (You have bethharte.com, right?) Without even knowing what I was doing, I’ve managed to get enough “Google juice” that if you just type the word Connie in a search, I usually come up on the first page of 32,400,000 results, and I’m not using my personal name domain.
Great post, btw. It’s true that you don’t own your brand; others define you. For me, it happened to be a silly picture of myself in a pink hat and boa–that became my trademark. Since people identified me by that, I’ve kept it and made the most of it.
@connie, thanks for checking out my new blog! I do need to get both domain names and will do so before the ‘other’ Beth Harte does. Beth Harte typically does rank high in Google due to the nature of my job (lots of PR), but now there’s competition.
We all should take notes as we go through this thing called life. Good post!
@marksalinas, thanks! It’s all about living, learning, and getting our hands dirty along the way. And what most people forget…dirt washes off.