I am surprised when people, who use Facebook for business connections, post political items. Is it a bad branding decision to “like” a presidential candidate?

Peter Shankman recently spoke a Social Media Breakfast Maine. His actions on stage and off made an impression, and shows how he upholds his personal brand.

As a small business owner should you use personal branding, corporate branding, or some combination on social media such as Twitter and Facebook.

Social networking and branding are both hot topics for people who are trying to promote and build a business, or their own career. And I’m hearing a lot of confusion from people who are small business owners or sole proprietors about how to brand themselves while they build their online networks. Should they promote themselves with a personal brand, or build a corporate brand? Sole proprietors, entrepreneurs, consultants, solopreneurs, freelancers, and small business owners often have one person who is the public face of the company. For a consultant or freelancer who intends to stay as a one-person shop there really is no company behind the person, it is all about that person. However, some small business owners that are single owner-operators now, may hope to grow. And they are eager to use branding on the social web as an integral part of their marketing plan. Let’s take a look at some different business models and also the popular online  Continue Reading »