The importance of Values & Opinions (V&O) (October 28, 2010)
If makes sense that if my values and opinions don't offend yours then we won't get polarised somehow. If my V&O is the same or similar to yours with 1 or 2 amusing differences, we're likely to be on the same wavelength. We identify with people similar to us. As an friend once said: "Like likes like".
In a world where online social destinations are the place to see and be seen, V&O is an intrinsic component of social success; a.k.a being popular, liked, trusted and followed.
BrandMe
The web gave everyone the ability to be a publisher. The social web gives everyone the ability to build a personal brand, sometimes referred to as BrandMe. As unique as your finger print, your personal social media brand can be established by simply being you. Or in other words, never trying to be someone or something else. Your personal brand needs to be the real deal.
So important is your personal brand that some now negotiate better pay deals using scoring services such as www.klout.com. Finding a new job might mean using a combination of your CV and the value of your personal brand. Ex-colleague @carlmartin (http://mobsessed.co.uk/) did this to great effect and now works at AKQA. That's personal brand equity at work!
Look at the Twitter profiles of successful twitterati and you'll note a combination of notes on personal and professional preferences and activities. A snippet of their V&O. I don't know about you, but I'm drawn to people that present an attractive mixture of the two.
For your V&O to be coherent, you need to be consistent in all online places. And you should associate accounts to achieve this. Create links between your blog, linkedIn, flickr, twitter, foursquare, youtube, facebook and maybe even ebay accounts. For your brand to be strong there needs to be one you, one version of the truth, one set of Values and Opinions that friends recognise with little persuasion. Your V&O is your social signature.
Brands
This can be real short: all the above applies to brands. Brands must coherently express their V&O. And this is achieved through continuous social interaction, not by means of a corporate website.
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