A few months ago we wrote about Dan Schawbel, the hotshot personal branding expert who exemplifies what the power of the intertubes can do for your personal – or professional – reputation.
Since that interview, Schawbel has released the second iteration of his book, Me 2.0 – 4 Steps to Building Your Future. Keeping in line with his mantra of staying relevant in your own industry, Schawbel has updated the book to reflect new changes in social media, added new case studies, and included new techniques to help the readers utilize the tools available, so they can start networking effectively.
“Personal Branding is all about discovering what makes you special, and then communicating it to the right people, through multiple channels.” ~ Dan Schawbel
Who is this book for?
- Job seekers – find ways to stand out from the rest of the applicants
- Employers – know when someone is feeding you a line about social media
- Anyone interested in Social Media – how can you turn this into a business opportunity?
- Anyone interested in Personal Branding – learn about the power of Brand You
- Anyone who would rather be chased instead of always chasing. Stop searching for the perfect job, and let the perfect employer come find you.
What will this book teach you?
Me 2.0 is pretty much a step-by-step guide to using Twitter, Facebook, mobile branding, and location-based social networking. It will also show you how to use Google Buzz effectively – but you can probably skip that section. If you’ve ever asked “what’s the point of Twitter,” or thought it’s unlikely that your prospective employer isn’t going to Google you, you need to read this book.
What’s new in this version?
As well as updating the original content, there’s a new chapter in the book, “Personal Branding for Job Seekers.” Here you will find the Five Rules of Job Searching 2.0, listing the how’s and why’s to effective job searching in the age of web 2.0, with specific instructions like How to Find a Job Using LinkedIn. This chapter is immediately useful to the reader, and is an excellent tool to help you understand what social media can do for you.
What’s covered in this book?
Section 1 – The Rise of Personal Branding
- The Brand Called YOU!
- Millenials Enter the Workforce
- Introducing Commander YOU!
- The Many Aspects of Personal Branding
An in-depth look at what personal branding is, how it will affect your career, who your competition is (the millenials), and why you should be interested. Loaded with real world examples of strong personal brands (apologies if you’re sick of reading about Justin Bieber). My wife actually started to understand what social media is, after years of me rambling about it, thanks to this section.
“The Internet, more specifically social media itself, has forced everyone in the world to become a marketer, regardless of position.”
Section 2 – Command Your Career in Four Steps
- Discover Your Brand
- Create Your Brand
- Communicate Your Brand
- Maintain Your Brand
A thorough walkthrough of the steps involved with identifying or creating your own brand, how to share it, and how to manage it over time. Use the tools provided to help correct the negative aspects of your brand. Great information about your personal appearance, and how your behaviour, body language, and clothing choices can impact your personal brand.
“Effective interviewing skills are a powerful part of your [personal branding] toolkit. They’re essential to achieving your career goals – you have to get your foot in the door before you can show a potential employer what you have to offer.”
Section 3 – Now You Have Command
- Personal Branding for Job Seekers
- Your Entrepreneurial Conquest
- Life-Changing Results
“If a resume is strong enough to get you a job, then why do people have to go through several rounds of interviews these days?”
This section is about putting your personal brand into action, and using it to land the job of your dreams. The reader will learn how to start leveraging what you’ve learned in the previous chapters to help you make the right connections, so you can be referred to the perfect job, instead of blindly applying to anything and everything. The Five rules of job searching 2.0 are great rules to use if you are the applicant or the employer. If you are hiring anyone or looking to be hired, you need to be familiar with social media and the impact that the people working within a company have on the entire brand. This book goes a long way towards illustrating this.
One of the things that I like about this book is it’s an easy read, and it’s actionable. The tips and tricks can be implemented as you learn them, and they are useful to those heavily experienced in social networking, or to those just starting to consider it. This updated version has enough new content to warrant buying it, even if you already read the first version.
Before you race out and grab this book, check this two part interview for Fast Company. The first part has Dan Schawbel interviewing David Brier, while the second part has Brier interviewing Schawbel. Two different branding experts, with diverse opinions in this genre. This will give you a bit more insight into what Me 2.0 can do for you, and why you need to get your personal brand strategy in place sooner rather than later. And then go buy Me 2.0: 4 Steps to Building Your Future.
Thanks for reviewing Me 2.0 Jason!