网络时代自我推销的风险

    Twitter用户数量让在持续增长。对于希望塑造个人品牌的人们来说，这到底是福音呢，抑或只是代表更多的噪音？

    最好等到真正拥有了独特见解的时候再发言或者上Twitter。亚历山大说，他招聘的时候，都会看看博客和评论，希望能发现一些有新意的想法。但通常都是失望而归。

    有些自我宣传过度的人甚至不惜通过假造或夸大证书和学位来编造事实。如今，Google搜索功能强大，操作便捷，一切只需敲敲键盘，这这种做法并不聪明。过去十年里，电子产品零售商拉迪奥沙克公司（Radio Shack）、品牌皮具史密斯文森公司（Smith & Wesson）、美国奥委会（the U.S. Olympic Committee）、维利塔斯软件公司（Veritas Software），还有些其他机构都曾出现过部分高管由于简历造假曝光而离职或被扫地出门的情况。

    人们很容易痴迷于Twitter粉丝数量或者克劳特指数（一种衡量社交媒体影响力的测量方法），但很多人都忘记了这一点：一个人的品牌实际上并不在于掷地有声的最新时评。施瓦贝尔是千禧品牌（Millennial Branding）战略公司的执行合伙人，也是个人品牌塑造书籍《Me 2.0》的作者。他认为最佳战略就是“争取成为某个领域的顶尖高手，哪怕是微软Excel也好。”他还乐于为别人提供绝佳的建议和自由的见解。他说，我们帮助的人越多，就越能建立口碑和职业地位。因为人们觉得你有帮助，所以你的个人品牌就能在人们心中扎根。

    另一个典型的困局是：过度的自我推销，因而导致与老板疏远。作为一个二十来岁的个人品牌缔造达人，施瓦布正在不断提升着自己的声誉，但他会确保只在工作时间之余来做这些事，同时保证老板知情。他说，“每次我做演讲之前，我都会预先跟老板解释其中原委。”

    对于梅赛德斯的卡农来说，创造精英品牌的关键就是要对个人声誉进行“积极管理”。在这家德国汽车公司，这意味着要参与大师赛和全美公开赛，但不是其他轻易就能参与的活动。现在卡农已经不再使用Twitter，因为他认为这个平台对自己个人品牌提高没多大用处。但他正在帮助梅赛德斯“小心谨慎”地试水社交媒体。卡农称：“要追求质量，而不是数量。归根结底，还是实效重要。”

    那么，如何分配实际工作和自我宣传两者之间进行的时间比例呢？卡农认为，二八开是个合理的比例。把80%的精力放在工作以及跟老板和同事建立关系上，剩余的20%用于向他人宣传自己的工作内容和观点，以及通过演讲、写文章和发博文来提高曝光度。

    针对外部自我推销，卡巴尼建议采取三七开的方式。70%可以采用信息性、娱乐性和教育性的方式，而另外30%可以是纯粹的品牌塑造。与其开门见山的说：“让我们为你设计一个新的网站吧”，不如循循善诱地与他人展开交谈。可以给出人们在做网站之前应该会问的七个问题，同时确保进行答复。卡巴尼说：“一切关乎价值。社交网站的作用就像扩音器，但做正确的事也很关键。”

    A better plan is to speak or tweet only when you really have something unique to say. Alexander says that when he's looking to hire, he reads blogs and comments, hoping for signs of original thought. Often he is disappointed.

    Some overbranders even leave reality behind by faking or exaggerating credentials and degrees -- not too smart when Google (GOOG) is just a keystroke away. In the past decade, executives at Radio Shack (RSH), Smith & Wesson (SWHC), the U.S. Olympic Committee, Veritas Software, and more either resigned or were forced out after it was discovered that they had lied on or embellished their résumés.

    While it's easy to obsess over the number of your Twitter followers or Klout scores (a measure of social-media influence), many people have forgotten that their brands depend on more than pithy opinions on the latest news. Dan Schawbel, managing partner of Millennial Branding and author of Me 2.0, a personal-branding book, says the best strategy is to "be the go-to person for something, even if that something is as simple as Microsoft Excel data sheets." He also favors offering really great advice and free insights. As you help more people, you build word-of-mouth referrals and job security, he says. Your brand becomes ingrained in people's minds as useful.

    Another classic trap is alienating your boss with your overzealous self-promotion. As Schawbel was building his reputation as a twenty-something personal-branding czar, he made sure he did it outside work hours and kept his boss in the loop. "Anytime I had a speech," he says, "I would explain to my manager exactly what was going on beforehand."

    For Mercedes' Cannon, the key to creating an elite brand is to "actively manage" your reputation. At the German car company, that means the Masters and the U.S. Open -- but not other, more accessible, events. And while Cannon so far has skipped Twitter because he doesn't see it advancing his personal brand, he is helping Mercedes wade in "cautiously" into social media. "Go for quality, not quantity," Cannon says. "It really comes down to curation."

    So how should you split your time between the actual work you do and making sure others know all about it? Cannon thinks an 80/20 split is a good ratio, with 80% of your effort going toward the job and the bonds you build with co-workers and your boss. The remaining 20% goes into sharing your work and ideas and being visible through speeches, articles, or blog posts.

    Of that outside self-promotion, Kabani suggests a 70/30 split: Most of it should be informative, entertaining, or educational, whereas 30% can be straight brand building. Here, it's good to create a conversation: Instead of saying, "Let us create your next website," post the seven questions one needs to ask before doing so -- and then be sure to provide the answers. "It's all about value," Kabani says. "Social media is simply an amplifier. Doing the right things is crucial as well."