Conan O’Brien marches to the beat of his own drummer.  No really, he does. When it comes to social media participation, the comedian blazes his own unique trail there too.  Let’s take a look at Conan’s new Twitter account, what he does “right” and “wrong”, and how you can benefit from breaking the rules once in a while too.

For those that don’t know, I’ll briefly sum up Conan O’Brien’s recent history.  He worked for years to become host of the most coveted talk show in America, got the job, and was essentially given the boot very shortly thereafter (unjustly in the eyes of many).  In the process, he gained a fiercely loyal fan base, known as Team Coco.

During his NBC tenure, Conan didn’t officially have his own social media presence.  In fact, he instead poked fun at celebrity social media usage via the recurring “Twitter Tracker” skit.  Fast forward to today, [...] Continue Reading…

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About 90% of my work day is consumed by writing — one of my favorite things to do. Along with creating my executive clients’ personal brand communications and career marketing documents, I’m busy maintaining two blogs, contributing content to a number of blogs and websites (including here at Brand-yourself), and keeping up with my own business and career marketing materials.

In my spare time, one of my passions is working on NY Times Sunday crossword puzzles.

All of this is driven by my love of words. I’m always looking for resources that will help me find the right words and improve my writing.  If these resources make word-searching and learning fun, so much the better!

I readily admit that, although grammatical errors can drive me up the wall, I’m certainly no expert. I’m sure my blog posts contain mistakes that have my readers tsking.  That being said, I always try to make my writing as [...] Continue Reading…

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At some point during each week, chances are you will read at least one blog post.  However, the chances are slim at best that you are commenting on blogs.  I’m guilty of this as well.  Leaving comments on blog posts is an incredibly useful networking tool, but it takes some effort to come up with something that will be useful feedback for the author and future readers.

But, by not commenting on blogs, an opportunity is missed to connect and network with someone new who may not know you… yet.  This is a perfect way to further expand your personal brand.
Free Blog Comments Advice:

Include a link – Links are an ideal way to further engage the author and future readers.  You might include a link to a prior blog entry you wrote on the same/similar topic.  You could include a link to someone else’s blog with a counter point.  You could include [...] Continue Reading…

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If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you should know by now that an interview isn’t over until you’ve sent a thank-you note to everyone that you interviewed with that day.  It’s critical in terms of showing your potential employer that you actually care about the job, that you are capable of expressing the basic human emotion of gratitude, and that you are generally on top of your game.  I guarantee that, all else being equal, or even if you are slightly better than your competition, if you fail to write a thank-you note and they do write one, they will get the offer.

With that in mind, the content and style of your note can make a difference as well.  So, to give you all some direction, I’ve chosen 5 sample thank-you letters which each highlight a key point.  Without further ado:

1. The Targeted Letter, QuintCareers.com

This letter addresses [...] Continue Reading…

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