THE STARTUP OF YOU Social Media Strategies And Personal Branding #SMSPB COURSE SYLLABUS & WORKPLAN

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1 Supervisor and Lecturer: Francesco Venier THE STARTUP OF YOU Social Media Strategies And Personal Branding #SMSPB COURSE SYLLABUS & WORKPLAN Lecturer s profile: Francesco Venier heads the Executive Education Division of MIB School of Management and directs the Executive MBA. He holds a tenured position at the University of Trieste, as Professor of Organization and Management. He is Member of the Faculty of Economics and Director of the BSc in Communication and Human Resource Management. His current research interests range from Entrepreneurship, Talent and Knowledge Management, to Change Management to the impact of social technologies on Organization and HRM. TO DO BEFORE THE COURSE START Fill now the following survey: Course Structure Lectures 2 days Personal Project 3 months Intended Learning Outcomes In today s work environment, your first priority to safeguard and improve your career and living standards is employability. Employability is funded on your ability to learn and continuously improve and update your skills, that s why you enrolled in a masters in business isn t it? But skills and passion alone do not entitle you to anything. If you are not able to make your value become evident to others, until the ones that you can help do not see how you could help them, you are not going to be hired, promoted, or chosen in any way. For this reason we believe that to be successful today you need to think of yourself as a startup, as a company that needs to focus a viable business model and manage the channels and the marketing processes as well as its competences. So in this course you will be looking at yourself as a one-person company looking for a business model that, at the most basic economic level, is the logic by which an organization sustains itself financially. The course helps you define and modify your personal business model the way you engage your strengths and talents to grow personally and professionally by making evident how you can help others using online tools like LinkedIn, twitter, blogging, Facebook, and so on. Tools that have created an enormous opportunity for individuals to build their reputations and create networks with unprecedented reach. This makes urgent for any manager or professional to learn how to exploit the hidden power of these platforms as tools that enable us to leverage the inbound and permission marketing techniques to promote

2 our talent and create value for the society and ourselves. Therefore the learning outcomes of this course will be Learning to professionally exploit the main social media platforms to create value Develop individual creativity and personal responsibility Students will leave the course with the foundation for their own personal brand which they can leverage in their corporate careers or in their own business someday. Course Objectives This Course is more a laboratory than a series of lectures. It will encourage students to experiment, learn from mistakes, and plot their unique personal business model, personal marketing plan and corresponding personal brand. Personal branding builds content around one s professional value using principles of permission and inbound marketing and social media platforms as tools. Therefore the course will introduce elements of business modeling, branding and inbound marketing and will give to the students the practical bases to build their brand trough the most widely used Social Media platforms: Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, Google +, and a blogging platform of their choice among Wordpress, Blogger or Tumblr. If they want to develop a more visual brand a YouTube or Vimeo channel and a Pinterest presence are required instead of blogging. Remember: Your personal brand is based on how you can help others address opportunities and solve problems that matter to them. The Twitter hash tag for the course is #SMSPB Teaching Materials and basic bibliography (required) Participants will have a copy of lectures slides, additional readings and assignments. BASIC BOOK: Branding Yourself by Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy ( Kindle: (I suggest to buy it in kindle version and read and annotate it using Kindle or a free Kindle app available for Windows, Windows Phone 7, Mac OSX, iphone, ipad, Android, Blackberry, or in any web enabled platform using the Kindle cloud reader.) Suggested but not required books: The Business Model of You by Timothy Clark and Alexander Osterwalder ( Kindle: The Start-up of You by Reid Hoffman (Kindle: Evaluation criteria Evaluation is based on 1. the KLOUT CHALLENGE (see workplan) (30%) 2. Social Media Personal Brand Project (AKA Marketing Plan of you, see below) (70%) This is a big project that is the result of the consistent development of all assignments plus your creative effort. The more you put into it the more you will get out of it. We will provide you with a considerable amount of class time that you can use to work on this project and your other assignments. As a minimum, you will communicate your brand through Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Google + and a blog (Wordpress, Blogger or Tumblr). You are also encouraged to run a video blog (vlog) with YouTube and/or Vimeo. You will get a maximum of 20% bonus for these elective activities if they are consistent with your brand. I will, however, look at everything you have online to make sure it is consistent and professional. If you have other socialmedia accounts such as Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr, Myspace, Badoo, Foursquare, etc.,

3 take a hard look at them and make sure they are coherent with your brand. If not, fix them or shut them down. NB: You may NOT create a second Facebook page just for this class, if you use Facebook it has to be in line with your personal brand. Please understand that EVERYTHING you create in this class can be deleted at the end of the class (e.g. you can delete all assigned entries or even close your Facebook account). If you do not want to work on your personal brand you can work on a company or association brand using the same principles. Clear statement of value/value proposition (20%) Is your purpose well defined and clear? Is you personal Canvas coherent and sound? Presentation of your brand (20%) Picture Professionalism Personality Title or name given to your brand Consistent communication of your brand (e.g. profile picture and about me statements) across platforms Links across platforms Connections to others that share your value Completeness is any thing missing? Extras are you doing something unique and impressive? Content around that value (20%) Is the content consistent with your stated value? Is it interesting, helpful, concise and well-written content? Could this really help you get a better job or start a business? Conversation around your value (10%) Comments made to you that you respond to Comments you make about others Comments others make about you Final test will be a PowerPoint presentation that explains your Personal BM Canvas and your Personal Branding plan following the 4 points of the PB Project shown above, starting from your personal value proposition, and logically explaining the practical path and actions you put in place to build your brand.

4 Workplan Time-Frame Activity Description Before the course begins DAY DAY To Do The social economy and the new strategies to maximize your employability Inbound Marketing and Personal Branding Using Twitter for Personal Branding Using LinkedIn for Personal Branding Using Facebook for Personal Branding Blogging and Blog platforms Stitching all together Google (You Tube, Apps, Gmail, Blogger and Google+) for personal branding Fill the following survey: Read the HBS case Hub Spot Race Against the Machine The Business Model of You Inbound Marketing principles, Why your online identity matters; What is a Brand, The relevance of Personal Branding Personal Brand Plan. Rules for choosing your web domain name and vanity URL. Case Hub Spot Case We Googled You READ Branding Yourself Chapters 1, 2 and 7 Twitter What Can Twitter Do for You. How To Use Twitter. Creating a Twitter Profile. Getting Followers. Sending Out Tweets. Rewetting Your Content. Tweet Deck and Twitter apps for mobile. RED Branding Yourself: Chapter 5 LinkedIn The Basics of LinkedIn. What s in a LinkedIn Profile? Creating Contacts on LinkedIn. Transforming Your Contacts into Connections The Importance of Recommendations. Do s and Don ts of LinkedIn READ Branding Yourself: Chapter 4 Facebook What Can Facebook Do for You? Use a Facebook Page to Professionally Brand Yourself. Professional Page and Personal Profile. How not to suck at Facebook. READ Branding Yourself: Chapter 6 Blogging Why Should You Blog. Choose Your Blogging Platform. Setting Up a Blog. Finding the Subject Matter. Writing for Readers Versus Writing for Search Engines. (SEO) Search Engine Optimization Through Blogging. READ Branding Yourself: Chapter 3 Google ecosystem Google offers a powerful ecosystem that allows you to integrate and multiply the reach of your personal brand message. Even if the more professional blogging platform is Wordpress, and biggest social media is Facebook, Blogger and G+ give you a huge advantage in terms of impact on SEARCH in Google therefore you should maintain/mirror your activities also in these platforms. Google Apps and Gmail instead are the ideal back office tools for many tasks. This last lecture ideally closes and gives you the tools to integrate and boost the reach of all the platforms seen in the course.

5 Time-Frame Activity Description Due by next Sunday Due by Week 1 Due by Week 1 Due by Week 2 Due by Week 2 OPTIONAL: gives you a 20% bonus on the final grade Assignment 0 Klout Challenge begins Assignment 1 IMPORTANT! Assignment 2 Twitter Assignment 3 Linkedin Assignment 4 Blog Due by Week 3 Assignment 5 CHOOSE YOUR_BRAND_NAME THAT MUST BE UNIQUE (possibly your namesurname if impossible find something close to it e.g. mine is checovenier) AND FENCE YOUR BRAND REAL ESTATE as follows... 1a. If you think that your personal brand is worthy more than US$, buy YOUR_BRAND_NAME.com from or any other domain registration service. 1b. open an account with your vanity URL name (it must be YOUR_BRAND_NAME) on each of these platforms: about.me; wordpress.com; blogger.com; gmail.com, linkedin.com, facebook.com and twitter.com. Create an about.me page and LINK all your SM identities there. 1c. Setup a Klout profile with YOUR_BRAND_NAME and link all your social media accounts (see 1b) to it. 1d. Once you have done so fill this form with your data: 1e. Invite me to connect with you on LinkedIn, G+, Twitter and Facebook 1f. Setup a few Google alerts (google.com/alerts) and tweetbeep.com alerts related to your name and personal brand name. Your Klout challenge is to get more than 35 Klout points by the end of the course. Social media is a consumer engagement tool and you will gain engagement experience during this challenge. Use information and hints from class lessons to engage others via social media, which ultimately will increases your Klout score. Recalling also what you did in Personal development and HRM Course, work on your brand. Ask yourself: What makes me different and why should people care? What do I want to be known for? What qualities do I want people to associate with me? What is the first thing I want to have pop in their head when they hear my name? (You can help yourself using the excel framework for your personal marketing plan) Prepare a few slides of presentation for the lecturer about your brand. Finally: Write your brand statement (i.e. your Purpose, aka what you can do for your customers ) in 140 characters 2a. Work on your twitter account to personalize it (picture, background, description...) and make it coherent with your brand. 2b. Follow at least 100 people that fit with your brand. 2c. Be followed by as many people as you can (i will assess this at the end of the course) 2d. From now on you must send at least two tweets per day that build value to your brand 3a. Join the top 10 LinkedIn Groups (starting by the MIB Alumni) that are coherent with your brand 3b. Start one LinkedIn group and make it grow as much as you can (I will measure it at the end of the course) 4a. Setup your Wordpress or Blogger account and blog (ONLY IF YOU DECIDE TO USE A BLOG FOR YOUR BRAND) 4b. From now to the end of the course write a blog post at least once a week coherent with your brand attributes 5a. Work on your Facebook profile (if you have it) to clean it and make it coherent with your brand, exploit the timeline feature for strengthening your brand. 5b. Scan Facebook for pages that resonate with your brand and join them 5c. Create an curate a page for your personal brand and make it followed by at least 100 people

6 Time-Frame Activity Description Due by Week 4 Assignment 6 6a. Work on your Google+ profile and make it coherent with your brand. 6b. Start to follow your entourage creating at least 4/5 circles 6c. Create an curate a page for your personal brand inserting post, photos and videos By this date Individual students must submit me a final report in PowerPoint on their Personal Branding Plan and Actions that I will evaluate and mark. The report must be structured as follows Clear statement of value/value proposition (ONE SLIDE) Is your purpose well defined and clear? Presentation of your brand (ONE or MORE slides to explaining your actions on these aspects) Picture Professionalism Personality Title or name given to your brand Consistent communication of your brand (e.g. profile picture and about me statements) across platforms By August 31st End of the course Links across platforms Connections to others that share your value Completeness is any thing missing? Extras are you doing something unique and impressive? Content around that value (at least ONE SLIDE FOR EVERY PLATFORM YOU CHOOSED answering to the following questions) Is the content consistent with your stated value? Is it interesting, helpful, concise and well-written content? How could this really help you get a better job or start a business? Conversation around your value (ONE or more slides that gives the hard numbers regarding the following results) Comments made to you that you respond to Comments you make about others Comments others make about you Facebook Engagement Strategies Key components Klout assesses from Facebook include comments, wall posts, and likes posted by people in response to a your original post. You gain more of each of these activities from their Facebook network with a few basic strategies. First, you are going to to post at least one status update per day. Second, you are asked to avoid merely posting text-based status updates but to post pictures, videos, and links to other sources such as current events and news. Pictures and videos are more visual in nature and capture people s attention better than text. This creates the likelihood of gaining more comments, wall posts, and likes from a person s social network compared to a plain text update. Third, you are going to ask questions on their networks. Such a call to action gains more responses than do simple status updates and is a successful social media marketing strategy that many brands employ. Fourth, you are going to post content that others will want to reply to with comments. Current breaking news stories or humorous posts are effective (e.g., quotations, links to news stories, or funny pictures). These are just a few of many strategies. (For additional Facebook information, see The Facebook Era by Clara Shih.) Twitter Engagement Strategies Key components that Klout assesses from Twitter include the number of mentions and retweets from Twitter users in response to a your originally authored tweet. A mention occurs whenever a user posts a tweet with symbol, followed by a your Twitter user name. A retweet occurs whenever a user forwards (i.e., reposts) a tweet authored by you. Mentions and retweets are a form of viral word-of-mouth referral that signifies the spread of engagement and capacity to influence. You gain mentions and retweets using a few basic strategies. First, you are going to post at least three tweet per day, although more tweets are better. Second, you are going to ask questions to generate replies, which are a form of a mention. Third, you are going to vary tweet styles between informational updates, opinions, humor, and questions. Fourth, you are going to seek out opinion leaders (i.e., Twitter users with a large following) and post questions or comments directed at the opinion leader. This method not only generates replies from an opinion

7 leader but also gains followers from his/ her network. The result is an increase in the capacity to influence and engagement with a larger user base. (More information on basic Twitter functions is provided in The Tao of Twitter by Mark Schaefer.) LinkedIn Engagement Strategies Key components that Klout assesses from LinkedIn include the number of comments and likes from LinkedIn users in response to a your posts. Like Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn has a status update feature. LinkedIn is more professionally oriented than Facebook or Twitter, meaning that information shared should not be overly personal or unprofessional. Here are a few strategies to improve LinkedIn engagement. First, you are going to post status updates at least twice a week and include links to popular news stories related to business and industry. Second, you are going to create a poll on LinkedIn. For example, they should ask a basic question other LinkedIn users can easily answer, such as What is a typical starting salary range for an undergraduate marketing major without work experience? Third, you are going to join LinkedIn groups and take part in group discussions. These are groups of professional people with similar interests and will produce comments and likes to content posted to the group. (More information on basic functions is presented online via LinkedIn s training center: com/training.)