Academic Branding Your Online Presence, by Design
by Sidneyeve Matrix
We don’t get a first chance to make a first impression.
in the age of the social web
digital footprint by default
many educators have a
not everyone’s department homepage is an optimized e-portfolio (like this one is)
• PDF CV • keywords • speaker’s profile
• research abstracts • news mentions
• social proof
value-added elements:
social capital
new transparencies The best way to control what kinds of information others will find about us online is to provide quality content and create well-designed profiles ourselves.
~ Bertalan Meskó author of Social Media in Clinical Practice
““
in the age of social media
your digital footprint not by default, but
by design
the challenge? to create
faculty use social media for self-promotion or professional networking
Source: 2014 survey of 8,000 higher ed faculty by Babson Research Group and Pearson
55%today
insignificant ◘ frivolous ◘ egocentric ◘ narcissisticSource: research by Andy Coverdale
2012 The University of Nottingham UK
“personal branding” often gets a bad rap
that percentage might be higher except
underbranded or misbrandedas a result, academics are often
Source: Journal of Interactive Marketing, 2011 study by Prof Lauren Labrecque, Marketing Dept. Loyola University
a discoverability dilemma
this results in
missed opportunities for collaboration
which means
& data sharing & speaking invites
Source: survey of 116 science faculty by Emily Darling (et al) of Simon Fraser University 2013
median Twitter following !
median department size
these researchers found the
of profs in this study was 730x larger than their
biggest barrier to tech adoption? time
Source: Internet and Higher Education, “Faculty instructional attitudes” 2011 study by J. Ulrich & M. Karvonen, Western Carolina University
another hurdle:social media activities unrecognized as
legitimate scholarly output / impact
we need a strategic approach toprofessional online publishing & networkingfor maximum ROI in time online
Your profile. Publishing. Your PLN.
3 step strategy:what to do? try this
improve your personal SEO
Get your Google+
instead of sending searchers to Facebook...
landing page design a personal
your internet home base
for better SEO
yourname.com
buy your domains (all of them)
blogging“a living resume”
consider taking up
Academic blogs are proven to increase dissemination of
economic research and improve impact.
!
Source: 2011 research by David MacKenzie and Berk Ozler, published by The London School of Economics
We know that
~ World Bank Report
free platform great themes SEO-ready
free platform great themes open source
instead of a full website... a minimalist nameplate site
2 extraideas for digital assets
your landing page
!
oh, and here’s
to add to
speaker’s pagehelp event planners
find you online
1
testimonials
bio
sample talks
anatomy of a speaker’s page
headshot
add CV, slides, video, tweets, sample talks
free online speaker’s page !
design templates start at $5
conduct a personal content auditnext step:
experiment with
your work, optimized for the web
social publishing
image: Shereen M from flickr
revise, recycle, repurposeaudit existing information assets
status updates
photosslides
articleslesson plans
rubrics
your work into mobile-optimized
social-ready infosnacks !
morselizing
convert this...to visually communicate morsels of your workso for example,
to this(thesis postcards designed by my students)
a free tool to make digital postcards:
convert this...find the stories in your research data, and
to this
visual storytelling
with research
narratives
a visual research article
opening up data sets
design tools
freeinfographic
extend the life & reach of your presentation
publish your slides
iPad-ready
free slide design tool in the cloud
easy to read to download
to share to embed
research posters
research posters
First thing people do after they get a connection request? Look at your profile.
personal learning network
expand your action step:
& increase ROI in social media
#1 site for academic
professional networking
3 upgradesfor your linkedin profile
!
oh, and here’s
Interact with at least five groups per day. Share an industry article you found interesting. Read other group members’ posts and give good advice. Then it won’t be awkward to send requests to connect -- they’ll remember you.
groups
”
”
~ Yasheaka Oakley PR Pro
3how about those
“Being organized enables reciprocity and allows you to strengthen and
leverage relationships.” ~ Soumitra Dutta
I share over 20 other bloggers
content on Twitter every day.
reciprocity
roundup
reciprocity
Step 1. create roundup. Step 2:
PLN a great
makes all the difference
