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, and the @ConanObrien Twitter account has nearly 700,000 followers.  How did he get here?  By breaking three standard “rules of social media”.

Rule #1:  Everyone else is already involved; you need to join social media networks immediately.

Common sentiment says that social networking is so hot right now that it simply can’t be ignored, and I agree.  But, this doesn’t necessarily mean you have to dive headfirst into the social media deep-end.  I suspect Conan initially took a hands-off stance on Twitter and other social media outlets because he didn’t fully understand their full power, or how the systems truly work.  But, the recent outpouring of emotion from loyal fans likely erased any doubt – now was the time to join in.

So, on February 24^th, @ConanObrien’s profile read: “I had a show. Then I had a different show. Now I have a Twitter account.”

Lesson #1:  You can gain great amounts of knowledge and understanding from social networks just by watching and listening.  Start participating only when you truly feel ready.

Rule #2:  To succeed in social media, you must engage in widespread conversation.

In the first 24 hours on Twitter, Conan gained 300,000 followers.  Let’s be realistic – how could he possibly engage all these people in conversation?  How could he sort through these users to follow back a number of accounts?  It just isn’t possible.  So, how did Conan prove he cared about his fans?  He followed one of them back.  Just one.

In a brilliant move to prove he was listening to the “average” fan (without actually listening to all of them) Conan followed random user @LovelyButton.  What made her so special?  Nothing!  Or everything, depending on how you view it.

Lesson #2:  Social media is a zoo, and you’ll never connect with everyone.  So instead, focus on forming a smaller number of true, meaningful relationships.

Rule #3:  Put others first – share the work of others more than you share your own.

I am a huge advocate of sharing within Twitter – retweets, posting links, #FollowFriday, you name it.  So far, Conan is a one man show, tweeting only his own quips and barbs.  And you know what?  It works for him.  People follow Conan because they miss his TV show, and because they miss him. 

I don’t advocate you eliminate social sharing from your repertoire, but there is one lesson to be learned here.

Lesson #3:  Sharing is awesome, but remember this – people connect with you because of your unique voice.  Make sure your distinctive point of view shines through at all times.

What do you think – were rules were meant to be broken?  Are there any social media rules you love to break regularly?

Ryan Rancatore can be found discussing other crazy subjects and how they affect you at Personal Branding 101.  Connect with Ryan on Twitter at @RyanRancatore, or on Linkedin, Facebook, or Brazen Careerist.

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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 professional as possible.  The bottom line is, the way you write says a lot about you and your personal brand.

Here are two websites I’ve turned to recently to sharpen my writing:

Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips

Mignon Fogarty (@GrammarGirl on Twitter) offers daily grammar tips, to which you can subscribe. Some topics she’s covered that plague me:

Ending a Sentence With a Preposition

Who Versus Whom

Lay Versus Lie

#8 in her Top Ten Grammar Myths, honoring National Grammar Day (March 4), is:

“Irregardless” is not a word. Wrong! “Irregardless” is a bad word and a word you shouldn’t use, but it is a word. “Floogetyflop” isn’t a word—I just made it up and you have no idea what it means.  “Irregardless,” on the other hand, is in almost every dictionary labeled as nonstandard. You shouldn’t use it if you want to be taken seriously, but it has gained wide enough use to qualify as a word.

Wordnik

According to their site, Wordnik (@wordnik on Twitter) is billions of words, 423 million example sentences, 4.7 million unique words, and over 185,000 comments, 95,000 tags, 74,000 pronunciations, 24,518 favorites and 728,464 words in 23,583 lists created by 39,849 Wordniks.

In a NY Times Sunday Magazine “On Language” article in December, Erin McKean, chief executive and founder of Wordnik, explained what the online dictionary is trying to accomplish:

“We’re using text-mining techniques and the unlimited space of the Internet to show as many real examples of word use as we can, as fast as we can.

A word is so much more than its meaning: it’s also who uses it, when it was used, what words appear alongside it and what kinds of texts it appears in.”

Wordnik includes definitions, examples, pronounciations, etymologies, and statistics.

The Word of the Day on March 10 was “shuckish”. Think you know what it means? Here’s the definition.

Related post:

65 Power Personal Branding Verbs to Nail Your Executive Value Proposition

An Executive Personal Branding, Online Identity and Job Search Strategist, Meg is a 20-year careers industry professional and one of only a handful of people worldwide to hold the Reach Certified Personal Branding Strategist and Master Resume Writer credentials, both gold standards.

“I love my work collaborating with savvy senior executives and entrepreneurs who know where they’re going, but need help differentiating their unique promise of value in the new world of work and executive job search, and positioning themselves to work their passion. My clients are typically c-suite, senior-level executives and rising stars.”

Find out more about Meg at Executive Career Brand, and by viewing her LinkedIn profile and following her on Twitter.

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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 a link to SlideShare to highlight a presentation you found helpful.  The possibilities are endless; just make sure you are on point with the link.  Relevance is key when leaving comments on blog posts.
• Suggest an alternative – Let’s say that you do not agree with the post; commenting on blogs with the opposite position is another way to enhance your brand.  Taking a position, even playing devil’s advocate, is a means to engage the writer and possibly continue the conversation further.  It might provide a deeper picture of something that wasn’t considered by them previously.
• Provide statistics – When commenting on blogs, supporting your comments with statistics shows that you are doing your homework on particular topics.  Show your expertise, your interest and passion with supporting numbers.

Comments are a means to begin a dialog.  If you are looking for a new position, what better way to connect with others in your industry and begin to interact than leaving comments on blog posts that interests them.  Yes, this is a bit of an ego boost to them, but it also puts you in a better position to take the conversation further.  I do not know many bloggers who will not respond to comments so take advantage (but don’t be pushy) of their knowledge.

I challenge you to start commenting on blogs and including  links to your blog or homepage, but make sure you are easily found, or else the benefit is lost!

—

Keith McIlvaine is a Social Media Strategist within HR and Recruiting for a Fortune 500 company.  When he is not focused on leveraging social media and networking, Keith is also a personal branding coach and social media mentor.  He is passionate about his family and is a major soccer fanatic.  Connect with Keith on Twitter and LinkedIn.  The statements I have posted on this site are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.

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For many, LinkedIn causes confusion – what is it, exactly?  Is it a virtual Rolodex, a place to showcase one’s resume, or is it a social network?  My answer – yes, yes, and yes.  Here are 7 tips and tricks to greatly improve your LinkedIn experience and make it a site you want to visit every single day.

1.  Expand Your Network

With a limited number of connections, LinkedIn is going to be pretty darn boring for you.  There will be few updates for you to see, and virtually nobody will read your status changes.  So, how do you expand your network to include relevant connections?  Send the invitations yourself!  Don’t be shy about it, either.  I say go for the gusto, invite the CEO of your company to connect, invite the awesome presenter that enthralled you at the latest conference, invite anyone that you either know well or want to know better.

But, when you do send the invite, follow these tips for how to properly construct the invitation.

2. Be Creative With Your Headline

Most tend to assume that a LinkedIn headline should include only your precise job title.  Why?  The LinkedIn police aren’t going to hunt you down for adding a bit of creative flair to your profile.

After all, it is highly unlikely that your job title alone does you justice. You might officially be an “Account Executive”, but that title tells us next to nothing about what you actually do. Look to these examples for inspiration on how to amp up your LinkedIn headline.

Marci Reynolds – Operations Leader | Expertise in Call Centers – Sales Ops – eBusiness | Blogger & Social Media Enthusiast

Dan Schawbel – Personal Branding Expert, Bestselling Author, Speaker, Consultant, Columnist, Publisher and Blogger

Liz Isaacs – Connector ♦ Passionate Writing & Marketing Communications Strategist ♦ Writing Coach ♦ Author & Screenwriter

To make the change, navigate to LinkedIn > Edit My Profile > Edit Headline.

3.  Incorporate Twitter

LinkedIn and Twitter integrated with one another in November of 2009.  The unlikely pairing instantly changed the way many use and think of LinkedIn.  By incorporating a select* number of tweets into your LinkedIn status updates, you can form a much closer bond with many of your business contacts.

*But a word of caution – many LinkedIn users won’t be used to a Twitter-like bombardment of updates, so be thoughtful with your frequency.  And remember to keep everything business-appropriate.

4.  Access LinkedIn Via Mobile

Only staying connected to your network when you are chained to your desktop is so 2009.  Several months ago LinkedIn released a completely new interface for their iPhone app.  The result?  Functionality shot through the roof, and the mobile experience instantly improved.  The LinkedIn iPhone app is the reason I now visit LinkedIn every single day.

5.  Ask Questions

Most often my advice is for folks to answer questions on LinkedIn, showing their specific expertise via the official “Answers” section.  But this is about making your experience better, so go ahead, start off by asking a few questions of your own.  Here you will see the power of the LinkedIn community – try and stump them by asking a doozy of a question.

6.  Join Groups (Even Cool Ones)

I know what you are thinking.  “Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard of LinkedIn groups, but why would I want to join? They seem boring.”  Maybe you are a skateboarding champ who happens to love The Simpsons, and you think there is no LinkedIn Group worth your while.  Think again!  You can join the “Action Sports Connect” and “Simpsons Fan” groups, and find a few like-minded individuals in your industry.

7.  Create Your Own Group

What is better than joining a group that suits an interest of yours?  Creating your own, of course.  You can create a group around any niche you want – be it topical, age-based, geographic, anything.  Sure, your group might start out small, and maybe it will stay small.  Who cares?  The connections you make via a small, tight-knit group in your industry are likely to be stronger than any formed in a group of thousands.

These are just seven ways of many to improve your LinkedIn experience.  If you haven’t logged in to LinkedIn for a long while, give it a shot again – I think you will like what you see.

Now seems like the perfect time to connect on LinkedIn, right?  Connect with Ryan Rancatore on LinkedIn here, or on Twitter here  @RyanRancatore.  Swing by Personal Branding 101 too if you are cruising for more personal branding tips and tricks.  

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