Avoiding Social Media pitfalls & opportunities for personal branding

Did you post or check in?

Agenda

• A little background on social media

• Pitfalls & opportunities• How business uses social

media• Your personal brand

online• Q&A

Meeting Objective

Brief background• Chris Kovac – Director of

Social Influence(@chriskovac)– Nicholson Kovac– 14 yrs w/ interactive

marketing– Pharma exp: 3M Health Care,

Pfizer, Merck, others– Current blogger– Like Twitter a lot

• (it has benefits)

20 Clients100 Brands

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Utica, New York

Harrison, ArkansasDes Moines, Iowa

Toledo, Ohio Omaha, Nebraska

St. Paul, Minnesota

Social Media 101

• 3 Basic Components:• Networks (relationships)• Facebook, LinkedIn,

Twitter

• Communities• Forums, games, Ning

• Content• Blogs, multimedia

• Future• Augmented reality, QR

Student Doctor Network

SDN – Pharmacy section

Social Media opportunities & pitfalls

Everything is on the record, forever…

See…

Social Media Profiles• Who has their own domain

name?• Reserve your profiles (even if you

don’t plan to use)– Blogs

• Wordpress, Tumblr, Blogger

– YouTube– Twitter– Flickr– Facebook

• Prevent someone from hijacking your name

• Use professionally, later

Walled Garden

Personal vs. professional brands

• How can you separate personal from professional?• Facebook• LinkedIn• Twitter• Blogs

• Can be both…

• Forums• Communities

Would you want your Grandma to see it?

Rules of thumb

• Please don’t post the following:• Sex• Alcohol/drugs• Personal stuff (break-ups)

• Professional:• Having bad day/co-workers

• Why?• Employers are looking• You can’t take it back• Could violate school policy

Privacy (protect it!)

• Facebook settings (they change often)• Is your profile public or

private?• Protect your wall!• Photo/tagging privacy• Facebook location

• Location apps• me360mobile• Foursquare/Gowalla

• Scary story (or two)

Foursquare story @ restaurant

Qik – Streaming online video

Using Social Media for professional success

Social Media for business

• Companies listen to the marketplace conversations• Company/brands• Employees• Competitors• Issues

• They engage via social media• Customer service• Answer questions• Solicit feedback• Research

Engage with companies

• Read what companies & KOLs (opinion leaders) are saying

• Follow them on LinkedIn/Twitter

• Interact..ask questions• Goal: get on their radar!• Result: Internship…or

Employment!

Your personal brand

• Use social media to your advantage !

• Be yourself, be nice• Don’t be negative• Networking can play a key

role• Participate in LinkedIn

discussions, blogs too!• Social Media Club of KC

(1400+)

Starting your personal branding

• Start with personal experiences:• Life in pharmacy school• Transition to “real-

world”• Experience with looking

for 1st job• Share thoughts on your

industry issues• Be proactive!

Potential result…

• Develop relationships• Companies looking for

strong personal brands and thought leadership• Internships• Full-time employment

• National recognition• Be an expert!

Success!

Pharmalot.com – comments?

KevinMD.com “leading physician vioce”

Tips to remember• Think before you post!

• Self-censorship

• Protect your privacy• Networking can be very

powerful• Employers are paying attention• Start slowly• Put your self out there per

your industry• Interact with companies

Social Media Whitepaper

Let’s Connect!• ChrisKovac.com• @chriskovac (twitter)• ckovac@nicholsonkovac.com• http://www.linkedin.com/in/chris

kovac

• MobileLocalSocial.com• Slides on:

www.SlideShare.net/chriskovac

Thank You for Attending!Q & A