Patrick Barbanes

Guest-post: Jenny McCoy on Personal Branding

Jenny McCoy hasn’t been around long – neither on the planet nor on the social media scene. In other words, she’s young. I somehow came across her blog and her “Show Me Ya Moves” video Dance Challenge. Then I met her at BarcampMiami in February. And as I got to know her, it was clear that Jenny was in transition – not the “in transition” that means you don’t have a job, because she did, but in transition from one “brand” to another.

Her blog and her Twitter name were “Workin’ On A Ramp” and @workinonaramp, respectively. Funny blog post and funny tweets. But in talking to her, she expressed a desire for change – to change jobs and to change her brand. Workin’ On A Ramp didn’t seem to workin’ for her so well. The content was great, but the brand (such as it was) confused people. And she began the process of changing it.

So a little over a week ago, I asked Jenny McCoy (@jen_mccoy, formerly @workinonaramp) to submit a guest post about her experience with personal branding, and I’m excited to include her post and a few lessons that I’ll summarize after her post below.

But even more exciting is the news that since the time she wrote this, Jenny has received a job offer as a social media manager for a major company in New York City! I’ll be interviewing her to get some of the details about how she did it, but in the meantime, read her post.

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Personal Branding Guest-Post by Jenny McCoy

by Jenny McCoy (@jen_mccoy)
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Some great lessons that I take away from Jenny’s branding experience are:

1) She recognized the need to change, based on feedback she was getting from readers of her blog.

2) She doesn’t mention it above, but Jenny created another very focused brand (“SocialJenny”) that probably had something to do with her getting exactly the type of job that the brand was designed to achieve!

3) It was her demonstrated talent – the written and video content she produced – COMBINED with her focused brand that I believe ultimately differentiated her from everybody else going for the same job that she just landed.

Lesson #3 is paramount to me. A clear personal brand, combined with an online presence that supports the brand, with the chops (talent, skill, results) to back it up, is a winning combination.

YOU can do the same! Not exactly how Jenny did it, but in your own way. Keep it focused and keep it simple, and you’ll undoubtedly come out ahead.

So congratulations on your new job, Jenny, and thanks for the post and the lessons!

UPDATE: I interviewed Jenny live on the phone about her branding and job search process. She just landed a job in New York City as a social media manager for a major media company. Listen to the interview to find out how she did it, then click the “Like” button!

2 Comments to Guest-post: Jenny McCoy on Personal Branding

Tracy
May 19, 2010

Although a little… shut up… older than Jenny, I can relate to her online identity crisis. Being in “career transition” at the moment has definitely amped up my family and friend’s concerns over my own personal brand. They worry that potential employers will see my Twitter stream and blog (with it’s whopping 35 visitors per day) and potentially pass me over for consideration for that perfect job.

But will they? To your point, I might argue that these companies actually get a better picture of me than a one-dimensional resume can provide. I’m authentically myself whether in the office or out. I’m not playing a shell game with my career persona. Are you?

Now I haven’t gone the full monty and changed my domain. Heck, I haven’t even self-hosted my blog yet (for shame, I know) but I definitely have something to think about. Thanks Jenny!

Jenny
May 19, 2010

Thanks for reading this Tracy. I think you should do it for sure! One thing that I always hear is “Are you sure employers want to know about your PBR preference and see tweets at 2 a.m.?” I think most do. And really, in all of the offices I’ve worked in, everything is quiet and polite for the first month or so and then once that phase passes by, people come out of their “work persona.” So why not just do it in the beginning? Excited to keep up with your job search!

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