Over the years, this website has been home to my rants and raves about PR, communications, social media, geek stuff and productivity.  I’m grateful; this virtual garden o’mine has played an important role in the creation and maintenance of my personal brand.

People complement FlackRabbit.com quite a bit. Thanks, folks! Don’t be fooled, I didn’t design it! I’m lucky to be married to a talented web dude who created my logo and website long, long ago.

Of course, I realize that not everyone is married to a web designer. Still, you can do a lot to shore up your personal brand even without the customized creative:

Claim your Cyber space: if you don’t already own the domain for your name, company name or thing that makes you unique, go do that now-ish. It’s cheap and easy. If your name is taken, think of something else that sounds cool –like ThinkTrain, BlabberMouse or TinyCatPants. Then, find that same username on the social web and claim it there, too.

Start a Blog: go to WordPress and sign up for a free blog, then, start blogging. And I don’t mean just post pictures of funny stuff you see everyday or pen endless rants about how much you love Britney. Although those things are well and good, they don’t give us a good sense of YOU. Blog about stuff you want to be associated with; share things you know a lot about or wish others would consider; spout commentary on politics, the environment or public relations. You know what makes you fabulous/unique/fascinating — write about that.

Be obsessive: frequent readers of this blog likely know my obsessions: A) social media, B) things that are Google-able C) public relations. I love that folks know what I’m gonna be harping about before they even click on my link. Why is this important? Listen to John Gruber’s podcast about the importance of “obsession times voice.”

Go tell it on the mountain: once you find your obsessive voice, don’t be shy. Your blog will provide you with writing practice as well as a published voice, but in most cases, a blog alone is not enough to build your personal brand. You’ll need to talk, tweet and share links about your subject matter, too. You’ll know you are successful when folks start emailing, Facebooking and texting you about their issues/questions/need for info/rants about your particular area of expertise.

Say it enough and it will be true: when you walk into the room, folks should say “Here comes the Flack/Geek/Wonk/Writer/Hockey fan/Tree Hugger/____.” That won’t happen though unless you keep telling folks that is who you are. Ex: at the top of my site it says “PR Flack, Writer, Geek” because I want to be sure you know that’s who I want you to think I am. It took a lot of repeating, but over the years, those words (and FlackRabbit) have become the foundation of my personal brand.

Know thy online self: there’s really nothing worse than working hard to secure your personal brand only to have your online doppelganger, compromising Facebook photos or drunken Twitter ruin it for you. Keep close tabs on your online self and be smart about your posts, updates and Kodak moments. Oh, and if you haven’t Googled yourself lately, get into the habit.

What’s your personal brand? Is it something you consciously work to maintain? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

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