Personal Brand Recognition – The new form of compensation
August 30, 2007 at 2:15 am | In Futures, Interview, Networking, Personal Branding, Podcasts, Project Management, Reputation Management, Success Methodologies, Success Strategies, tv | 10 CommentsIt seems like there has been a compensation transition due to the rise of social media. Although cash compensation will always reign supreme by the majority, I’ve been seeing more and more social media participants “stick” to other new age forms. One example is what the blogosphere calls “link love,” which I define as recognition given from one blogger to the
next in the form of a link to relevant content. There are even some bloggers out there that feel like they haven’t given enough link love, due to high volumes of email and asks. Already in this post, I’ve given out link love twice. Link love is about mutual respect for ideas and personal brands. If one blogger views your blog entry as insightful and creative, they may use link love to commemorate that blog post, giving you credit, while hopping for recognition back. It turns out that “link love” is a creative form of building links, increasing page rank with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and a great way to network. I’ve seen a lot of unique strategies for building these types of links and even have developed a contest, where the winner receives link love.
Oh wait theres more. Bloggers are even interviewing other bloggers through either podcasting or written content methods. Recognition has become a new form of compensation because there is actual value in building links. Now, more than ever before, people are willing to do more for less and accept compensation in the form of recognition and respect for their brand and their hard work. Personal Brands are not built by the dollar, but rather take form by building a reputation and respect from people in your industry. I find there to be a lot of forced “link love”, where individuals ask for a link exchange or a blog post dedicated to them. I’ve been a victim to this and used to think it was a best practice, but both Google and everyone else knows that this strategy is no longer effective. The real success lies in building relationships, that will unveil new opportunities such as guest blogging, interviewing, posting and link exchanges. By getting yourself out there, meeting new people and creating new relationships, you are forming evangelists for your Personal Brand. Experts, such as Seth Godin and Guy Kawasaki don’t need to link to others as much because they are thought leaders and respected individuals with a worldwide reputation. Since not everyone starts out with an “expert brand” we must reach out to others before we receive the same in return.
One of the most popular forms of alternative payment to traditional internet credit card processing is Paypal. A lot of people use Paypal to pay for this type of link advertising.
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Hi Dan,
I am conducting research into blogs, discussion groups and forums with the intention of setting up my own professional blog. It will be great to start my own thread whether it is about branding, people or topical debates. The post all about link love is incredibly interesting and shows that community spirit is a live and well in a virtual world.
Got to shoot
Chris
http://www.threerooms.com
Comment by Brandorama — August 30, 2007 #
Hi Dan, I operate the website you link to that refers to bloggers interviewing other bloggers. As mine is but one of several blogs covering the same political campaign, I had two interests in mind- 1) to learn more about my blogger peers and network with them, and 2) to set mine apart from others and give it a more authoritative feel. As you can see, there is zero advertising on my blog, so compensation plays no role. It’s a combination of making a difference and meeting others. Thanks for the “link love”
Comment by Joel — August 30, 2007 #
Hi Dan:
Comments on the following”
“I find there to be a lot of forced “link love”, where individuals ask for a link exchange or a blog post dedicated to them. I’ve been a victim to this and used to think it was a best practice, but both Google and everyone else knows that this strategy is no longer effective.”
Comment: This is a very relevant statement, especially considering Google’s current practice in evaluating link “votes” to sites. It is actually becoming a pain to scrutinize every comment to ensure that it does not link to spam site
“The real success lies in building relationships, that will unveil new opportunities such as guest blogging, interviewing, posting and link exchanges. ”
Comment: Funny thing here – A very savvy marketer is now selling a product that creates links between blogs – we could actually do this for free if we start talking to each other!
Cheers
Leon
Comment by Leon — August 31, 2007 #
[...] Read also: Personal Brand Recognition – The new form of compensation [...]
Pingback by Tips to choose your “link love” partners | Catur PW.Com — August 31, 2007 #
Very interesting. I’m developing a theory about the operation of relationship in social media, and link love is a very strong par t of that -for relational and recognition and authority reasons.
Comment by Tiffany Monhollon — September 1, 2007 #
After reading this I started thinking about my own personal brand and how it is impacted by the fact that the success of my brand is dependent upon the effective relationships I create and nuture. If I subconsciously focus my writing (therefore thoughts) to gain recognition by those I want to connect with because of their success, is my personal brand then influenced by these ‘thought leaders’? What is the consequence of this?
Comment by Daryl Close — September 2, 2007 #
What a great article! I have begun to develop a great interest in personal branding. Unforetunately, there is not a ton of information on the subject, but your blog, magazine, and website provide a ton.
I am gathering information for a presentation, at my job, on personal branding. Not quite sure where to start, but I have some excellent ideas.
Thanks for such great info!
Comment by James Seay — September 3, 2007 #
Dan,
Another bravo! You always stay at the forefront.
I found Daryl’s comment interesting about writing to gain recognition and the influence of thought leaders? Along with, what are the consequences of those influences.
Many times I witness authors revered almost like movie stars and while I believe there are several who garner and deserve great respect. I believe they are all reachable. While their purpose for connecting, might not be brand recognition, it could be education, point of view or interest. Most people won’t ask or reach out for the connection because they are intimidated by the “title or status”.
The might be harder to reach because there’s more people around them. It might be logistics and proximity and not because of lack of need.
So, reach out and connect! There are a many authors that I have connected with because I called and said “i really would like to connect with you and like your work.”
Maria Elena Duron
The Champion of Connections Coach
Comment by Maria Elena — September 5, 2007 #
Great article. I do feel a lot of pressure and have people messaging and emailing me on a daily basis asking me to link to them or telling me I should be giving out more link love. Some blogs are now completely made up of nothing but link love, with absolutely no content whatsoever which is scary.
Link love is great for finding new blogs through technorati though which I enjoy!
Have a great day!
Comment by Christy — September 6, 2007 #
Coffee isn’t my cup of tea.–attributed to Samuel Goldwyn (1884-1974), Hollywood movie producer
Comment by NeiveLes — July 15, 2008 #