There’s a gold rush going on all over the world right now and it’s not in the form of stocks or natural resources. Because of technology and the internet, we’ve changed the way we communicate and in doing so we’ve changed the way we affect the perception of others about us, our work ethic, and what we’re good at. Before people had to physically see you or talk to you so that they can asses your skills and competence. Now you can always put your best foot forward to everyone via social networking sites and other technology-enabled mediums. I’d like to quote a line from Seth Godin in his book Linchpin which I always refer to in my talks.

If you’re not doing too well, maybe the rules have changed and nobody told you.

The rules have indeed changed. Are you handling your career or your business as if it was still the 1990′s? Because if you are then you’re missing out! It’s already 2010. The technology available ushers in new possibilities and opportunities for those who are bold and disciplined enough to take advantage of it.

What are Personal Brands and what’s cool about it?

Everyone is a brand. You, me, mom, dad, boss… everyone. Each person has a set of attributes, benefits, or flaws that come to mind when you think about them. For example, there those in the workplace that come up with excellent ideas but aren’t too good with execution. There are also some freelancers out there who have carved names for themselves in different niches like finance, marketing, political causes, or physical training. Because of their personal brands they have access to multiple sources of work. In fact, they rarely go out to find jobs because the jobs will find them. Allow me to share some local case studies that you all might find very interesting.

Randell Tiongson has made a name for himself as a personal finance coach here in the Philippines. He started in the corporate world as a manager for an Insurance company. His brand improved a bit when he started to go out and give talks and seminars upon invitation of clients. Randell also was a regular columnist for a business paper as well as a finance magazine. Later on he signed up with the Registered Financial Planners and became the Director. He resigned from his full-time job, got into blogging, and started looking for more opportunities. Eventually traditional media picked up his story and began using him regularly as a resource person. The mileage he got from TV, radio, and print combined with his consistent insightful and value-based blogging led to a more powerful personal brand. This gave him influence to start giving paid seminars about finance and more professional speaker gigs.

Another perfect example of a personal brand is my ninang, Susan “Toots” Ople. She started her career as a journalist and eventually moved on to government service. Under the shadow of my grandfather, the late Foreign Affairs and Labor Secretary Blas F. Ople, Tita Toots gained valuable experience and credentials in handling OFW and labor related matters. When my grandfather passed away, she put up the Blas F. Ople Policy Training Institute which primarily cares for OFWs and labor cases. With the Institute as her foundation, she started becoming more public in speaking up for OFW and labor rights. She brought home several stranded, jailed, and abused works abroad. She blogged about “safe” job opportunities outside the country and she also had a column in Manila Bulletin’s Panorama. Just this year she ran for the Senate. She didn’t make it to the top 12 but she was definitely able to reinforce her personal brand as an advocate for OFW and labor. This is evident with all the opportunities she’s getting right now.

Sonnie Santos used to be an Human Resources Career Executive. He eventually left his job after building his brand through talks, seminars, and blogging. He now runs his own company which offers training and social web marketing services.

Randell, Tita Toots, and Sonnie found their niches, owned it, and never looked back ever since. Take note that they are the “real deal”. They are genuinely good at what they do. Tools like social and traditional media just amplified their expertise so that more people can know about them. They built venerable personal brands and this gave them a unique set of opportunities to make a living by doing things that they love to do everyday!

Scarcity increases the value of a brand

Personal branding is a gold rush because the value of brands increase with scarcity. If there were already 5000 personal finance coaches blogging, giving talks, etc. then Randell would have had a hard time “breaking in” to the scene. The same goes for Tita Toots and Sonnie. One of their biggest advantage is that they were all first-to-market, especially in using social media and the internet as a medium to reach out.

The challenge now is for people to build their personal brands using their real passions and strengths as foundation. Find your true north and then aggressively use all the tools available brought about by technology. There’s a gold rush for personal brands going on and I hope you’re able to ride the wave!

I logged in Formspring today and found over 30 unanswered questions. I’ll try to clear them out before the weekend. Anyway, one of the more interesting questions there was if I ever tried applying to Yahoo or other big software companies. I’ve never really “applied” for work other than my first job. All my job changes after that were mostly through corporate headhunters. I never actually logged on JobStreet or JobsDB and actively searched for work. I just worked my blog, LinkedIn, and other social networks. The opportunities followed after. Anyway, I knew in my heart that I would take a break from corporate life after Friendster and try my hand with entrepreneurship because of the following reasons:

• My consultancy sideline was picking up. It reached a point where it was earning much more than my salary with Friendster and I was only devoting 20% of my time to it. What more if I threw in 110%?
• It’s just impossible to do both sidelines and a day job without sacrificing either your health or the quality of work. I made a decision to focus on one.
• A monthly salary wouldn’t be enough for me to raise funds for my wedding. I had 10 months to raise an enormous amount of money to fund my wedding so the only way I can do that is by leaving corporate where I get paid by my time and try business where I get paid by effort.
• I just love the feeling of waking up at 11:30AM on a Monday. I don’t get to do this all the time but when I have a relatively open schedule, I take advantage of it to get more sleep. You can’t do this when you have a 9-5 job unless you go on leave.
• I prayed over this and consulted with a lot of my mentors, friends, and loved ones. I felt that God was leading me to entrepreneurship.

I hope that answers your question bro!

PS: Oh, I stand corrected. When I was still in the gaming industry I sent my resume to Blizzard, lol.

A few weeks ago I was interviewed by Ronna Capili from the Philippine Daily Inquirer about Social Media for the Filipino Youth. This was a very timely piece since classes just started and it was a good opportunity to reach out and help educate the younger generation on how to properly use social networking sites. The article came out last Saturday on the Lifestyle (2BU) section’s front page. Here’s a link to the digital version on their website so you guys can check the article out. If you guys have time, read it and let me know what you think by hitting the comment button below. Cheers!

This question came in from Formspring. To those who don’t know, I’ve been a huge online gaming fan since college. When Ragnarok Online came out locally I went nuts over it and became very attached about my character and my guild. I played the game seriously and competitively for a couple of years. Yes, too much of anything is a bad thing. There are things that I missed and almost lost because I was too hooked on gaming. However I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it weren’t for the Philippine online gaming world. Gaming taught me one valuable lesson that I will carry with me ’till the day I die. Gaming taught me the value of passion.

I was so competitive in the land of Ragnarok Online to the point that I’d spend countless hours drawing up strategies, tactics, and other weird stuff to make sure that my guild would grow and become a force to be reckoned with. I eventually led more than 500 people online and it was such a phenomenal experience. Some of the good friends that I hold dear today came from Ragnarok Online.

Eventually I decided to take my passion for gaming to the next level. I wasn’t satisfied anymore with just leading the guild. I wanted to help build the community on a bigger scale because I felt that the people running the game were missing so much. I got an offer to join ePLDT’s gaming company, netGames, as their Community Manager. I took on the job and I took what passion I had in leading my guild, tripled it, and poured my heart, soul, and time into my career. Don’t get me wrong though — I made stupid mistakes but that’s part of growing up. What matters is how you stand up and continue.

From Community Manager I got promoted to Brand Manager. Eventually ePLDT bought majority of the shares from Level Up and I was assigned to handle the biggest online game in the country and the game that started it all for me: Ragnarok Online. The rest, as they would say, is history. I moved on to eventually handle the Casual Game Division.

What’s your WWE entrance?
Passion, for me, can be shown quite well in this video that I want you to watch.

That’s what I felt each time I would wake up and go to work. Yes, there were days that my entrance would suck… but the resilience and the passion was there. Gaming also paved the way for me to meet great mentors, teachers, and peers in the corporate world. I was blessed to have wonderful bosses who trained, whipped, and slapped me around, LOL. Passion was the fuel that kept me humble and hungry for more.

When I eventually felt that it was time to move on from the gaming industry, I channeled that same passion and energy into Internet Marketing, blogging social media, and consultancy.

“It is the passion that is in a kiss that gives to it its sweetness; it is the affection in a kiss that sanctifies it.” – Christian Nevell Bovee

Passion makes work not work. It makes labor satisfying, delicious, and sweet. The challenge in life is to find what you’re passionate about early and to focus on that. Build on your strengths and passions and there’s no limit to what you can achieve in life.

Lastly, there’s one hidden passion that all of us have… and it’s just waiting to be unleashed. It’s such a powerful force that it can move mountains. It can literally make you succeed beyond all imagining. I’ve only been able to tap into a small amount into it and I think it will be my life’s quest to fully embrace and share it — the passion for God.

Cheers everyone!

I can finally cross out one of the goals in my bucket list. It’s always been one of my dreams to be featured on a national broadsheet (by doing something good, hehe). Today my interview with Cora Llamas appeared on the Business Agenda section of the Manila Bulletin. Initially I was expecting to have a 1/4 or 1/2 page thing but I was blown away this morning when I opened the paper and saw that it was the banner article for the section… full page! Yikes! God is truly faithful and wonderful. When He opens doors it’s not just small “nippa hut” doors, He opens floodgates!

In the article Cora and I talked about two things: blogging and social media for businesses. For the first topic we dwelled mostly on how a lot of Filipinos are missing out on the “happy-making” and moneymaking potential of blogging. Social media and the internet has radically changed the way we communicate. If you are passionate and persistent enough I honestly can’t see any reason why you can’t make money out of doing stuff that you love.

Next we talked about how powerful social media can be for businesses, especially SME’s and start-ups. The internet is the great equalizer because effort and sincerity have more weight than marketing budget. I’ve seen numerous campaigns done by big brands that cost millions but were all miserable flops that added nothing to their bottom lines. The most effective online campaigns I’ve seen actually come from individuals (like bloggers) and SME’s who have the time and persistence to engage their customers constantly on social media.

I’m going to try to scan the whole paper but to those who want to read the article, the entire text is posted on Manila Bulletin’s website (click to go to the site).

I’ll take this opportunity to let everyone know that I’m working on my second eBook. It’s official title is “Rule the World 2.0″. Subtitles are “Making Money Doing What You Love”. It should be out in two-three weeks.

By the way, to those asking what happened to the Social Media study for the 2010 elections, I made it but I can’t release it in public. A few days before I was set to upload it I was contacted by a group and they bought the study (toinks).

Thank you again to Cora Llamas and Manila Bulletin for allowing me to spread the word about social media and personal branding in the Philippines. Cheers!

Blogging combined with social media is one of the most potent combos for personal branding. The people in your social networks are those that potentially have an influence on your career or business in the next few years so it’s important that you leverage your online connections with them to let them see the good things about you. That’s the beauty of the internet, it allows you to grab the eyes of your prospect and you let them stare only at the best things about your company, product, or yourself. When I meet new potential clients or partners they often mention that they’ve read my blog prior to our meeting. Some even say that they found out about me from a friend who shared an article or two on Facebook and Twitter. I know that the usual saying is that “reputation precede you”, but in today’s digital age it can be “does your blog precede you?”

Leverage the Share Generation
Facebook and Twitter have made it so easy for people to spread information in their personal networks. All it takes is one click of a button to share an article or re-tweet an update. That piece of info is sent out to their own respective connections and if someone in their circle finds it interesting they do the same. If you have powerful content that offers value then you can easily tap social media to build your brand at a rapid pace! This isn’t just theory. I’ve done it and I hope that you consider trying it out as well.

Why Blog when you have Facebook and Twitter?
Simply because Facebook and Twitter aren’t enough. 140 or so characters won’t be able to convince your connections that you’re an expert on something or that you’re credible. Think of social media as a teaser or as a prelude. The blog allows you to really communicate properly because you have control of the entire page. You can use images, text, and whatever to let them know what you’re all about. Make sure though that you have a simple and straight-to-the-point navigation bar so that they can dig deeper into what you’re offering.

This isn’t just for the US or Europe. This is applicable here in the Philippines and I’ve seen it happen several times already. Social Media and Blogging are here to stay and they can be tools that can really give your career or business a big boost. All it takes is a little humility to accept that you need to learn more and to match that with decent effort to put up and optimize your blog and social media accounts.

Last Friday morning I was invited to guest on Atty. Mike Templo’s show on ABS-CBN ANC, Crossing Borders. We talked about the different ways a person can make money online through blogging, online freelancing, and personal branding. It was a great experience to be on his show since most of the viewers were OFWs or their family members. One of my personal missions in life is to teach these guys how to leverage the internet to make money so that they won’t have to leave the country anymore to earn a living. If you have the right skills and you have the determination, you can earn the salary of an OFW in the comforts of your own house.

Giving the short talk on Crossing Borders also encouraged me further to keep on pushing for the agenda of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center. The TULAY program (in partnership with Microsoft and OWWA), has been very successful in teaching OFWs and their families the latest technology available to improve the quality of their lives. Skype, Yahoo Messenger, and Google might be simple tools for techies but these tools can make life much easier for kids who desperately need to bond and see their parents who are working overseas.

Anyway, here are some photos:

Thanks again to Atty. Mike Templo, Ayen Caringal, and the rest of the folks at ANC for inviting me over. It was an honor and a pleasure!

I was invited to give a seminar for the production team of ABS-CBN’s news channel, ANC. It was held last Saturday morning and we tackled the topics of Personal Branding and Social Media for Journalists. Honestly I was a bit intimidated at the start of the presentation since it was such a surreal experience giving a talk to people like Pia Hontiveros, whom I regularly watch on her show Strictly Politics. However I was finally able to get my focus back after the first few slides. I was also a bit nervous about giving the seminar since I was struggling with my allergy which fired up the day before which made it hard for me to breathe. Thanks to God’s grace I was able to finish the entire 3 hour seminar without any problem.

In the first session we talked about how social media and the internet has given rise to personal brands. It’s much easier now to build a career and a reputation because of all the various online tools available at our disposal. These tools weren’t here 10 years ago. In the session we discussed what Facebook, Twitter, and blogging can do for their careers as journalists, producers, and writers.

For the second session, we started out with an analysis of their current internet and social media campaigns compared to other networks. Did you guys know that among all the major news sources in the Philippines, ANC’s Twitter account has the most number of followers? Anyway, after that we zeroed in on the practical applications of Social Media for their jobs as people in the media.

Over-all I enjoyed giving the seminar and it was also nice meeting and chatting with people that I see on TV like TJ Manotoc, Boyet Singson, Twink Macaraig, Maiki Oreta, Betina Magsaysay, Caroline Howard, and Ron Cruz. Thanks again to Ayen Reyes and Glenda Gloria for inviting me to do the workshop. Cheers and God bless!

Here are some pictures which were posted by Yam dela Cruz on Facebook:

If you’re still doing your job our marketing your business like it was still the 1990′s, then your missing out on a lot of opportunities. Each generation has different sets of opportunities and advantages. For this generation the “killer app” is technology. Let’s embrace it and use it well so we can have better lives for us and our families.

A couple of months ago Facebook released a feature called vanity URLs. They gave us the ability to customize the URLs of our profiles. Instead of facebook.com/214010359, to would be able to change it to facebook.com/wauks. You can also do this for your Facebook Official Profiles. Here’s a quick 2-step guide on how to change your Facebook URL.

It’s actually very easy to change your URLs. First step is to just go to the Facebook Username Change Page (click). It should look something like this:

You’ll first be prompted to change the URL of your personal account. If you’ve already done this there’s a drop down menu just at the bottom listing all the Official Profiles that you’re an administrator of. Just pick the one you want to change and key in the URL.

Note that you can only change the URL only one time.

Whether we like it or not each time we post something it adds to our personal brand via the principle of association. Photos, links, quotes, or the quizzes that we take are all co-branded with our names. There’s no escaping it and we really have to be more responsible with the content that we share on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Friendster. Here are 15 common “stuff” that a lot of people post on their social media accounts which just damages their personal brand. Feel free to add to the list by hitting the comments section.

1. Photos of you with the opposite gender in a party and your partner doesn’t know about it.

2. Fighting online in social media with your loved ones (family, spouse, friends, etc). The only one who’s looking like an idiot here is you.

3. Any content related to vices that you do, i.e. “I was so drunk last night I passed out and woke up in another house.” or “Lost 3,000 on Poker. Sucks.”

4. Using Foursquare to check-in to show everyone that you’re in controversial places like Victoria Court or motels. D’oh.

5. Uploading photos of your ex even if you’re currently in a relationship with a new person. This has disaster written all over it.

6. Spamming the walls of your network with quizzes that you take. This can get really annoying. Nobody really cares about what your favorite sex position is or what x-men character you are.

7. Spamming the walls of your network with Farmville, Mafia Wars, and other games.

8. Rant about co-workers on micro-blogging platforms. For those in Plurk, even if you put it on private and select only a few people to see it that’s still kinda useless because all it takes is one
screenshot.

9. Rant about co-workers on YM status (grow up, please).

10. Rant about your boss on social media. I once had a friend who was shocked because Google Alerts picked up a blog post that he made about his boss. He got a massive dressing down the next day.

11, Complain about your workload. There are ways of saying this nicely. If you always make it look like you’re having a hard time then people will think you’re not getting the job done as opposed to you being a hard worker.

12. Posting links to porn on social media.

13. Posting pornographic photos on social media. Number 12 and 13 shows that you have no respect for the opposite sex and this is a huge affront to a lot of your contacts in your network.

14. Arguing with other people about religion online. Faith is personal. If you want to bring your friends closer to your God, do it in a more personal manner. The best testimony is always your life. You don’t have to hard sell if your life reflects your faith.

15. If you don’t believe in a rumor or an entry by someone on your network, don’t re-post it. Be responsible with what you re-post because you’re literally endorsing it to your friends, family, and colleagues.

Out of the 15 things that I posted, let me just emphasize number 15. Always remember that politicians, marketers, and PR practitioners are trying to engineer viral campaigns. Make it a point to check the veracity of anything you’re posting, especially if it’s a negative take on something.

Like what I said at the start, feel free to add to the list by hitting the comments section below. Cheers!

This coming April 3, the iPad will be released in the US. The following month it will start shipping to all parts of the world. Most filipinos look at this as just another expensive gadget, but there’s actually a treasure chest that’s waiting to be unearthed. Other than the usual media playing and browsing, the iPad will revolutionize how people read books. It actually started with the Amazon Kindle, but that product catered more towards existing book nerds and techies. My prediction is that Apple will make online book reading more mainstream and definitely much cooler. The pre-order numbers and even industry analysts are now saying that the iPad will be a success story for Apple. Other than the iPad, there are dozens of new tablets being produced by various companies and they will all launch in the next 6 months. It’s inevitable. There’s a technology revolution just around the corner. The question is if we will ride the wave or not.

How to Cash In
The iPad’s iBook feature opens up a world of opportunities to make money. Most, if not all, of other tablets will also be supporting some form of Ebook reading application. Yes, I know what you’re probably thinking about right now… what about piracy? Yes, piracy is a problem. But that shouldn’t stop us from going for the market that wouldn’t mind paying for content like ebooks. Have you ever owned an iPod Touch or an iPhone that’s linked to an iTunes store with a credit card? The feeling is insane. You can shop for apps anytime and since they’re all affordable, you end up buying. Don’t think local. Filipinos can be pirate mongers but there are a lot of countries out there that are lucrative and good markets for online purchases/downloads.

Writing becomes lucrative
Filipino writers have been lamenting how their job is not lucrative here. Let’s face reality – that won’t change anytime soon. If you really love writing and you want to make the most of your God-given talents, then let’s explore expanding the marketplace from the 7,100+ islands of the Philippines to the entire world. Every writer’s dream is to write a book, but their main problems are:

1. They don’t have the connections to publishers (that won’t take advantage and give them really bad deals).
2. They don’t have the capital to print their own books.
3. They don’t know how to market their books.
4. Majority of Filipinos don’t really read books.

Here’s the good news. Technology and the internet solves these problems. Let’s take a look again:

1. They don’t have the connections to publishers (that won’t take advantage and give them really bad deals).
Solution: You don’t need to approach publishers anymore because you don’t need to physically print books. The measly 10%-15% royalty will also grown a lot because your margins are bigger with ebooks.

2. They don’t have the capital to print their own books.
Solution: Again, not much needed to do ebooks. Your primary investment is content. In terms of cash, you might have to pay an artists to covert the .doc file to an ePub/PDF format. The artist should also spruce the book up with images and address lay-out issues.

3. They don’t know how to market their books.
Solution: Type “Affiliate Marketing/Sales” on Google and do some research. I’ll write more on this in the future. Also please see the Personal Branding segment below.

4. Majority of Filipinos don’t really read books.
Solution: Don’t just sell to Filipinos. Sell to the world

The rise of the Personal Brand
Personal branding used to be so hard. To build your personal brand before you’d have to get people to see you work and hear what you’re all about physically or through the telephone. It was very difficult to communicate who you were back then. But now is a totally different story. Personal Branding is much more relevant and effective given the rise of social media and the internet. Now you can let everyone know what you’re all about, what you’re doing, and what you want to say in just a click. That’s a major paradigm shift and we have to acknowledge that and take advantage of it.

Building a local or global personal brand can lead to phenomenal life-changing results. Build communities around you, figure out what they are willing to pay for, sell it to them, and over-deliver. Delivering more than what’s usual shouldn’t be too hard since your personal brand shouldn’t be far from what you’re good at or what you’re passionate about.

Others will take advantage of this. Period.
I hate to sound like a salesman but let me just emphasize this point. This knowledge or piece of info I’m writing about isn’t just between you and me. In fact I’m pretty sure that a lot of other social media and technology bloggers are saying the same thing. There are even others who have already started writing or making their ebooks and programs in preparation for the tablet invasion.

There will be a group of people who will see this opportunity and act on it. Will you be part of that group? The answer to that question of course is all up to you.

I had some free time tonight so I decided to sign-up for an account over at Formspring. It’s basically a website which allows people to ask and answer questions anonymously. I already configured it so that the questions that I answer will appear on my Facebook and Twitter account (technology is fun). If you have anything you want to ask me, please go ahead and ask away in my Formspring profile. Since we’re on the topic though let me share with you a personal branding blunder that I made with Formspring.

Each time a good online social platform goes up, I’ll make it a point to reserve my name and profile. I tried signing up for an account on Formspring using my first and last name but apparently someone beat me to it. He’s not a poser or anything because apparently the guy with the same name as me lives somewhere in the US. Here’s a screenshot of his profile:

This definitely gave me a wake up call since I’m a strong advocate of Personal Branding, hahaha. I’m going to do a quick inventory of other social media platforms that I don’t have accounts for yet and make sure I reserve my name at the very least.

I gave a talk on how to leverage the internet for success to Ateneo students during AISEC’s seminar last Saturday morning. One of the points that I stressed on was that the internet has radically changed the communication and networking. Young people often tend to take the internet for granted because they grew up with it. Because of this they fail to see how powerful Facebook can become if used properly. I believe that every generation has a different set of opportunities and advantages. The internet is the advantage of our generation – people who are in their 20′s and early 30′s.

Generational Advantages from Lolo to Apo
Our grandparents had the most financially rewarding advantage of all – real estate. Because the Philippines was still young, there was a lot of underdeveloped land that they could buy at a really good price. All they had to do was watch the value appreciate over time. Notice that most real estate moguls come from that generation.

Then came their children – our parents. This is the golden age of SME’s and corporate professionals. I’ve noticed that almost all of the people in the generation of my dad have their own small businesses. Why? Because the concept of niches was slowly being formed. Not only that, there were only a few players in the various markets. Less competition is more opportunity.

Now let’s talk about our generation. Notice that it’s so hard to get ahead and become wealthy these days? Business opportunities are quite hard to find, especially ones that are not just network marketing or direct selling. In terms of real estate, the investment is just huge and our monthly income won’t be able to cope with condo investments. But here’s one thing that the older generation is drooling about out generation – technology. We know the internet more than they do. We can quickly adapt and understand technology to the point that we are naturally good at it. The internet has become an integral part of our life. The question now is how will we use it? Will you be like 99% of the population and just use it for “fun”? Or will you embrace it and take advantage of the limitless possibilities that it offers?

Yes – I’m talking about blogging, social media, e-commerce, affiliate marketing, and all forms of online businesses. If you haven’t heard of these terms before, then you’re stuck in the generation of your dad.

Our Children’s Generational Advantage
Personally I think technology will continue to play a crucial role in the opportunities of generations. I think the next level for our kids will be mobile technology. I’m not saying that we won’t get to see good mobile tech in our lifetime, but I think we haven’t fully maximized the internet just yet and mobile will be something that our kids will take to the next level.

So that’s my challenge to everyone in my generation. Learn how to use the trump card that life has given us.

Carmina Topacio is the next rising Filipina online star. She made waves on Youtube after she started uploading videos of her doing covers of various pop songs. Her cover of Eraserhead’s Magasin now has almost 200,000 views. Here’s a stellar example of how someone can literally be famous by leveraging social media and the internet. I really wouldn’t be surprised if she starts to get offers for commercials and maybe even acting especially since the major networks have online monitoring teams in place already for things like this.

Here’s one of her videos:

Other than Youtube, Carmina also has strong presence in Facebook. I searched her name and the results were staggering. She has 60 normal pages and 2 fan profiles. If you don’t believe me try it out for yourself. Just type Carmina Topacio on the search bar.

Lastly, other bloggers have also picked up on Carmina. Some of which are the more adult themed sites (toinks) but we can’t really avoid that in this age.

It will be very interesting to see how social media can propel her career even higher in the coming months. All I can say is Carmina is good luck and congratulations

In the latest episode of Smallville (S908), Clark Kent’s alter-ego’s online identity is stolen by a bunch of kids who are big fans. They make Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter accounts for the “Blur” and they’ve even made a blog for him. Since the Blur didn’t really have his own social media accounts, the people actually believed that the ones the kids made were official and they all started to follow the various accounts. This is a really good example of why people should seriously consider managing their own social media accounts. It doesn’t take a genius to hijack one’s identity online. Note that not all social networks have customer support provisions that will allow you to take down impostors. By not being on social media, you’re risking that someone else will take your name and your identity.

You don’t really have to manage it everyday but you might as well make sure that you reserve your name in all the popular social networks. Just put up an account, post a picture, and leave it there. You don’t have to update it as much for now. What’s important is that your identity is secured.

Do you have a Facebook account?
Do you have a Friendster account?
Do you have a Multiply account?
Do you have a Twitter account?
How about Plurk?

Another thing that you might want to take a look into is buying the domain already of your name. Online identity theft is not just limited to credit card hacking or online game character theft. It can be social media as well so better make sure you are safe.

Paul Pena, one of my contacts in Facebook, mentioned a term that I won’t forget. We were discussing Personal Branding when he said “You 2.0“. It pretty much sums up what personal branding is in terms of the online space and I wanted to tackle that a bit in this post. One of the questions I often get asked is if I know all the people who are following me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook or Twitter. My answer is obvious – of course I don’t know them. I probably personally know less than half. Why then to I keep adding and adding? Because I believe that everyone who churns out content, be it blogging or social networking, is media – a broadcasting network or a television channel, and those in their online networks are their viewers.

Personal Branding is slowly shaping up to be a game changer that can really give your career or business a boost. I attribute most of my success in consultancy to the network that I’ve grown on various online channels and I know of other people who enjoy the lifestyle they have now because of the network that they’ve built over the years on social media.

I’ll be sharing more about Personal Branding and how it can help in an upcoming seminar that I’m doing together with Financial Coach Randell Tiongson and best selling author Efren Cruz called BRANDING U: HOW TO STAND OUT AMONG 90M FILIPINOS. In this seminar, I’ll be sharing how I used Personal Branding to propel both my corporate career and my consultancy business. See the E-Poster below for more information.

Hope to see you guys in the event!

One question that always pops up during my talks and forums is if people should buy their own domains in lieu of using free blogging/website platforms. I’ve answered it in probably a dozen ways already but it was only when I was giving a Blogging 101 Seminar at Victory Greenhills when I think I hit home with the most logical answer. If you think about it, it’s really simple.

How many people do you think have the same name as you in this world? Probably hundreds, thousands, or even millions right?

How many of them do you think are planning on buying the domain name of their (your) name?

When someone searches your name on Google, do you want someone else to dictate what’s written there?

Buying a domain is relatively cheap. It’s a good investment and will go a long way in building your personal brand.

Social Networks, by definition is not really a private tool. That’s why I find it a bit weird when people are angry when the information they put up on their sites spreads around. Anyway, here’s a reason for you to make sure that your social networks are updated and “clean”. Apparently the trend now in the US (and this will probably happen here as well soon) is that HR Managers check out the social networks (blogs, facebook, friendster, etc.) of prospective hires and this usually has an effect on their decision to hire or not. In fact, nearly half of employers use this tactic in the US.

Here’s the complete article for your perusal:

Nearly half of US employers research the online profiles of job candidates on social networks such as Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn, according to a new survey.

Nearly half of US employers research the online profiles of job candidates on social networks such as Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn, according to a new survey.

Forty-five percent of the employers surveyed for CareerBuilder.com, the largest US online job site, said they use social networking sites to check on job candidates, up from just 22 percent in a survey conducted last year.

Another 11 percent said they plan to start using social networking sites for screening.

“As social networking grows increasingly pervasive, more employers are utilizing these sites to screen potential employees,” CareerBuilder said in a statement.

It said job seekers should “be mindful of the information they post online.”

CareerBuilder said that of those who conduct online searches as background checks on job candidates, 29 percent use Facebook, 26 percent use LinkedIn and 21 percent use MySpace.

Eleven percent search blogs while seven percent follow candidates on micro-blogging service Twitter.

Thirty-five percent of those surveyed said they have found content on a social network that caused them not to hire a candidate, CareerBuilder said.

Examples included “provocative or inappropriate photographs or information” or content about drinking or using drugs.

Other reasons cited were badmouthing a previous employer, co-workers or clients, poor communication skills, making discriminatory comments, lying about qualifications or sharing confidential information from a previous employer.

Information found on social networking profiles was not always a negative factor in finding a job.

Eighteen percent of employers said they have found content on social networking sites that caused them to hire the candidate, CareerBuilder said.

Some profiles “provided a good feel for the candidates personality” or supported their professional qualifications while others demonstrated creativity or solid communication skills.

Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, recommended that candidates “clean up digital dirt” before beginning a job search by removing photos, content and links which could hurt their chances.

The survey of 2,667 hiring managers and human resource professionals was conducted by Harris Interactive between May 22 and June 10. It has a sampling error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.

Article is taken from MSN.

Did you guys know that a lot of companies include “googling” your name during background checks? The last thing you want to come out on Google are negative comments or reviews about you because it can actually affect your chances of closing a deal or getting a job. What’s key is to make sure that you have your best foot forward in the first few slots of the search page. That’s one of the goals of the Google Profile application. I recently made my own profile and I’m waiting for it to pop up on the search pages. A quick briefer on Google Profile after the break.

Basically Google Profiles is just like your ordinary SNS. The main difference is that it’s supposed to get into the search pages much faster as compared to your other social media tools. It’s a great way to establish your personal brand. Here’s a screen shot of my Google Profile page: