Personal Branding

The time has come for another red-eyed, caffeine driven paper written by a zombie in Neil Hair’s undead army. This time, the paper focus was on personal branding strategies. Apply the five-question framework we have been exploring each class this quarter, I identified the gaps in my branding strategies, and the tactics necessary to increase my online presence. Having trudged through a source collecting marathon, I feel confident that my future steps are both strategic and achievable; that is after the majority of finals week is over.


It seems that finding a niche online is not as easy as it sounds, nor is it simply a matter of bombarding the virtual boards. Instead, a strategy that is aligned with who I want to be personally, and professionally, is most likely to jive with my goals and ability to monitor my reputation. It is still a work in progress, but I have already made a few substantial steps towards the new me. The following is a mind map; a compilation of where I am now, and where I hope to be in the near future:

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In-World Second Life Presentation

Amphitheatres, business suits, and teleporters galore! This week was our trial run for presentations in Second Life. Our group was geographically separated, as I presented choice criteria for our e-marketing strategy in sweatpants from my bedroom desk. With the exception of a few audio hiccups, the presentation was a success. It was amazing to see how well an online medium worked as a professional business communication channel. Not only was it easy to respond via microphone and typed text, listening to other presentations was a joy. One extra advantage provided by second life was the ability to hold relevant discussions with the team members about the positive and negative criticisms of other groups, without interrupting the presentation or missing information. Granted, there is the possibility to lose focus, but I feel that virtual mediums grant an increased ability to multi-task, if used responsibly. I know that my personal learning experience was enhanced by the ability to communicate and critique in real time, while still absorbing the information provided – all in a private chat that did not deduct from the concentration of the presenter.

I am looking forward to our final presentation, after having a stunningly successful experience on the first trail run. Biggest regret? - I neglected to use the helicopter to … perhaps next time the team will have a more grand entrance.

Updated Billboard in Second Life

Finally, the billboard has been finished. Thanks to a great script generator over at 3greeneggs.com, the prims have been set in action. A simple prompt to this blog and a welcome note card with all my contacts is all one will get – but it seems to me that is all one needs. Some of the other billboards looked great as well, but it became tiresome to be bombarded by “Hello…” “Click me” and logos that lurked wherever you went. For the first time I was able to truly identify with the second life communities annoyance with the marketing bombardment. No wonder why there has been a backlash!

In the next few weeks I should be wrapping up my personal branding papers for Uncle Neil. There won’t be much of a breather between that and the final paper. Based on what I have accomplished so far this may not be to my detriment – it seems that all of the projects thus far have only aided in completing one portion or another of the Give A Second Hope business plan. Perhaps this will do the same?

  

I’ve also made my first grand in-world purchase – I am now the proud owner of a police helicopter, spinning blades, radio, exhaust and all! Brian and I had the pleasure of using it to find our “professional’s” house who has been helping us out in class with all things second life. I would give you the coordinates but that would be unfair; but here’s a hint: it is high… really, really high. 

Personal Branding Billboard Complete

It has been a busy week for the group and I in Second Life. First of all, we spent most of the day in the lab compiling information for the powerpoint, and altering the building to fit the presentation we will be giving tomorrow for class. Bryan spent a lot of time touching up the building, while I worked on resizing the upper level complete with Mac computer display. Neil will just love that. I also began dabbling with scripts in second life (that is until I found a handy script generator). After the store rebuild, matrix for source criteria and import of the finished powerpoint, I still had enough energy to move forward on the personal branding billboard! With a bit of old experience in photoshop, I had already developed a transparent PNG, so the billboard would have a creative design. The business card is transparent. Here is a pic of my original design:

The new text got rid of the marketing branding at the bottom, as I am not currently pursuing any entreprenueral ventures aside from Second Hope. Additionally, the "your name here" which attempted to suggest branding, was changed out for my real name. Again, my perception of myself in SL mirrors, in some ways my real identity. However, when you click on the billboard, there is a note saying hello, introducing myself, and giving my SL name, blog address, twitter, etc. Another script was added to prompt a direct link to this blog - we'll see if we find any more visitors!


I will post a picture of the updated store and billboard soon!

Virtual Worlds, Stacks of Papers, Harvard & Wallace Library.

What is missing from that list? Sleep.

The answer is sleep!

The paper for commercializing virtual worlds has been completed: Yikes, I've just spent far too long editing and flipping through article after article. I think I killed several trees in the proccess of sourcing the paper. Oh, and then there's the matrix! What a blast that was. The double re-edit added at least an extra three hours on top of the original I made, and I threw out about ten sources by the time I was done. Ending count: 31 sources Word Count: about 3000. But even after all of that, you know what the WORST PART IS?!

I am really proud of my paper.

There, I said it. For as much moaning and whining as those around me had to tolerate this week, I am proud of the outcome. Perhaps my opinions will change when Neil rips it to shreds. But for now, I am glad I had to suffer through it. I feel as though I really have a grip on the type duality of consumers in virtual worlds. It became apparent after building the source matrix and model that the problems in virtual worlds centered around three things: ethics/IP, technical, and community conflicts. Additionally, the sources I collected have equipped me with a multitude of imformation regarding branding in Second Life, which is sure to come in handy when the group launches Give A Second Hope. It has been a long week. The bed is calling my name.


Oh, I almost forgot. I designed a logo for the team.
Let me know what you think:

Focus Group In Second Life

We met in second life this week again. This time we have a name: Second Hope. We've been toying with the idea of a NFP for a while now, and finally decided on a consultancy agency for NFP promotion in second life. Instead of focusing on the big charities, it occurred to the team that there needed to be a voice for the individuals. You know, the ones who you see on the front of a recycled ketchup container with a whole cut in the top for coins at your local pizzeria. I know of at least two individuals from my small town who we regularly support. Why not work out a business model that gives second life users to hear their story, even if they aren't shouting out as loud as the others.

Meanwhile, we had a focus group meeting (well not really a focus group, more like team members) on the RIT Island. Come to find out, there is no way to make a private chat unless you have your own group. So, for $100 ld, we made one. Now we just need a logo! Its strange, but my skepticism is fading. Perhaps it is because I really think our idea is viable, or because I can imagine it doing some community good. I don't know, but I'm excited to get to next class and further our objectives. Now if I could just round out this paper - at least we were lucky enough to have an extension. Time to get back to work. Thanks for reading!

Here's a picture of the meeting last week. I found myself a new suit.

-Bean