Todays Women in Business

Free blogging course from Mark Joyner

Well if your New Year Resolution is to become a better blogger, here is a belated Christmas present I have come across that you might be interested in.

Mark Joyner and his team at Simpleology has just created a multi-media course about blogging.

You might think this is odd given that Mark is no where to be found in the blogosphere. However he maintains that he has a great blog course and he is offering it for a free evaluation if you blog about it.

You can find all the details here. The course is meant to cover:

• The best blogging techniques

• How to get traffic to your blog

• How to monetise your blog.

I've not received my copy of the course as yet but I'll let you know my evaluation of it as soon as I receive it. In the meantime, why not request your free copy today?

A Carnival of Personal Branding Tips, August 2007

You might recall some time ago I mentioned that we would host a blog carnival of Personal Branding Tips.

Well there seemed to be a problem with the submission form for the first carnival and this months carnival has unfortunately only a few posts that have been submitted.

So all of you who write on personal branding do make sure that you submit your articles for future editions.

The purpose of this carnival is to provide readers with high quality articles providing practical tips to develop their personal brand, so not all posts that are submitted will be acceted if they not meet the requirements of the submission guidelines for "A Carnival of Personal Branding Tips".

In the meantime, thank you to Pushpa, Bhupendra and Ian for their articles which you can find below:

Pushpa Sathish presents The Business Blogging Toolset: 100 Resources for Entrepreneur-Writers posted at Bootstrapper.

Bhupendra Khanal presents Top 10 Mantra for Professional Success posted at Analytics Bhupe, saying, "Work for yourself and for noone else."

Ianternet presents Ask the Number 1 Question in Branding posted at Ian Fernando.

If you have an article that you would like to submit for consideration for the next edition of “A Carnival Of Personal Branding Tips” you can do so at our carnival submission form.

A Brand You World Episode 1 – Express your personal brand through your writing

Personal Branding Quick Tips - Discover three actions you can take to express your expertise and personal brand through your writing.

Listen to this four minute personal branding tutorial from "A Brand You World" bringing you personal branding guidance.

"A Brand You World" is hosted by Krishna De, Ireland’s leading Personal Branding Strategist.

How To Leave Us Feedback

Do share your thoughts on this employer branding quick tip. Perhaps you have found some of the strategies and tips we share have worked for you or perhaps you have ideas and suggestions you would like to share with our listeners. You can choose one of 5 different ways to get in touch so why not:

1. post your feedback the comments section
2. leave comments at our media centre, you can call +1 214 615 6505ext 6842. As this is a US based number you make low cost calls from Ireland using AllFreeCalls.ie or from the UK using AllFreeCalls.co.uk
3. leave an audio comment on our site here at Todays Women in Business - just plug in your headset and micophone and you can leave a message
4. leave an audio comment on our Irish media centre at 086 8163096      
5. or send us an email at connect(at)todayswomeninbusiness.com

Do let me know about your success in bringing your personal brand to life.

And if you are looking for additional resources to build your corporate brand, employer brand and personal brand why not visit our brand building blog and podcast at Biz Growth News where you can also register for our no cost branding audio seminars and our weekly brand building ezine.

8 random things about me

Today Anna, my co-host in the Podcast Sisters tagged me to write about 8 random things about myself so here goes. I've decided to write 8 things to do with my name as I get asked lots of questions about it (sorry Anna it's not as random as you might have liked), and having a name that is considered to be "different" has shaped who I am and my personal brand:

1. my given name "Krishna" was gifted to me in memory of both of my paternal grandparents - no I did not make it up or assumed the name in later life!
2. I used to get into trouble from my geography teacher as he did not understand why "Krishna" was not my first christian name - he was very odd and very old
3. my first christian name begins with "L" in memory of my maternal grandfather - you'll have to guess what it is
4. my last name is so short I usually get letters addressed to Mr D.E. Krishna not Ms Krishna De
5. when I got married all of 17 years ago, my husband suggested we put both our surnames together - so now our family name is De-Alker (but I am known as De in business)
6. the orignal spelling of my full name added up to 13 letters, so my mother decided to add another letter onto my first name to make it even - and she wasn't even superstitious
7. when it came to naming our three daughters, we deliberately picked names with different first initials - that way there is no chance we will pick up their post by mistake or visa versa in years to come
8. when I set up my own business, I quickly realised that the Hindu deity "Krishna" was online long before me - that is one of the reasons I started my primary business blog, created a portal website and why I love the service Ziggs which will guarantee you are found in the search engines when people look for you by your name (even if you don't have a website).

So now it's my turn to tag eight people so I'll now ask some of my great "virtual friends" I've connected to through business blogging to share 8 random things about themselves. so it's over to Roger Anderson, Chris Barrow, Michael Port, David Maister, Mitch Meyerson, Des Walsh, Maryam Webster, Andy Wibbels.

Blog comments can build your personal brand

If you subscribe to and read blogs what inspires you to make a comment?

I know as an author of several blogs and as a guest blogger on a number of blogs that it is great when readers post a comment. I look forward to reading their thoughts, ideas and feedback.

Even if you do not have a blog yourself, you can leave comments on someones blog post.

But had you considered that the comments you leave can enhance or de-value your reputation and personal brand?

Remember once posted, it is going to be difficult to change what you wrote as a blog comment.

Yes we can and should leave blog comments that say "thank you" for the resources or ideas shared in a blog post, or to say "well done" on an achievement of the blogger.

However when blogging for business, your blog comments should be enhancing your reputation as an expert in your chosen field.

So here are my quick tips for building your personal brand online through blog comments - yes you may find them controversial, but this is the "internal checklist" I have for blog comments that I leave:

• consider your motivation - if you are leaving a comment on a blog consider what is motivating you to do so. What is your intent? If you can not add to the dialogue and enhance the debate in a professional and positive manner, don't comment
• think before you write - consider carfully the tone of your comment and what you want to say. Remember whatever you write will elicit a feeling and reaction in who ever reads it - not just the blogger
• check your spelling - the care and attention with which you reply to a blog comment and checking the grammar is worth the time and effort. Why negatively impact your personal brand through rushing the comment?
• do not self promote - blog comments are not the place to self promote your experience, products or services. If you do, you may find the business blog owner deletes your comment
• think quality not quantity - posting a considered and well thought out comment on one or two blogs each week is far more likely to get you noticed and build a positive reputation and brand than crafting ten or more blog comments of just a sentance not adding richly to the conversation.

What are your "internal guidelines" for leaving blog comments?

How do you encourage people to leave comments on your business blog?

Blog comments and why we should encourage them

I am often asked by people looking at setting up the business blogs what I recommend in terms of blog comments and whether they should be left open or not.

The power of Web 2.0 is the building and nurturing of relationships and creating communities.

Leaving your blog comments open is one way that you are encouraging dialogue and feedback on your posts and articles that you write.

If you are the author of the business blog you still can manage the comments when leaving the comments open - most blogging platforms allow you to review posts and approve them before they are live on your business blog.

You can also put in place a policy about blog comments on your site.

I have found that my thinking and perspective on the subjects I write about in my articles has been enriched through the conversation and perspectives shared by people taking the time to comment on my blog posts.

Through commenting on a post we are engaging in the conversation, especially if we share our thoughts and resources we recommend.

You can be sure that this will attract the business bloggers attention and they will most likely take a look at the website or blog of the person making the comment.

I've actually found people have sought me out and started to read my business blog and subscribed to my news letter as a result of the comments I have made on someone elses blog.

If you have questions about business blogging to build buzz about your brand or perhaps you wondering how to get moving with your business blog, you can join me and my fellow "Podcast Sisters" for our Summer Teleseminar Series.

We will be holding 3 teleseminars delivered at no cost to you other than the cost of a call.

Where are the calls taking place: You can join us from ANYWHERE in the world if you have access to a telephone

When: 4:00pm Dublin/London (11am ET)for 60 minutes on the 18th June, 25th June and 2nd July

What will we be covering:

• 18th June: Session 1 – Creating your blogging strategy and how to measure success
• 25th June: Session 2 - How to use blogging as an employer branding tool
• 2nd July: Session 3 – How blogging can build your personal brand and expand your professional and personal success

You can find out all the details of how to join us here.

We look forward to connecting with you, live and uncut and guiding you into the world of building your brand through your business blog.