Today's Ypulse Guest post is from Greg Rollett at Rollett marketing -- Greg went to speak to teens about creating their own personal brand and was surprised at who seemed more interested...If you work in youth media or marketing and have an idea for a Ypulse Guest Post, send it my way.

Personal Branding Isn't Just For Gen Y

I have spent the past two days speaking to juniors and seniors in the Orange County Public School System here in Orlando, FL, about social media and creating an online brand. These students had the opportunity to skip out on class for a few hours to learn about the construction and skilled trades industry as part of Construction Career Days.

Going into the sessions, I knew I had 25 minutes to tell the students about the pitfalls of social media, but also the great personal branding opportunity that this new technology has presented us with.

Asking the students if they had ever "Googled" themselves, if their friends had videos of them acting irresponsibly on YouTube, or unprofessional Myspace URL's got their minds whirling and created a few laughs. Some students took more notice than others, and you could see a sparkle in their eye when I threw out the fact that you can monetize a blog through free services like AdSense.

What I didn't see coming were all the questions, concerns and overall interest from the teachers, volunteers and chaperons. When the statistics about how many people are using social media popped onto the PowerPoint, even more heads turned. Small conversations in the back of the room suddenly turned into attentive participation.

Why were these Boomers and X'ers interested in a talk about how to clean up social networking profiles and create blogs? Very simply put; they do not have an online brand or online persona for themselves. The closest thing any of them had to a blog was an editorial in the Sunday paper. Or maybe an article in the Home Owners Association or PTA bulletin.

The parents of Gen Yers are also very concerned about their image and the perception that their employers have about that image. Before my talk, these teachers were scared that Myspace or Facebook could ruin a good or stable career. They never thought they could benefit from a video on YouTube or hosting a blog.

By the time the session turned to questions, the "adults" were the ones with their hands in the air. They were asking questions like "So, if one of my students did this," when I could tell what they intended to say was "So, if I am an expert or authority in this field I should use social media to benefit my career?"

Exactly.

Creating a personal brand isn't just for Gen-Y'ers looking to get a head start on their career path. It is for companies that are looking to stand out from their competition, set themselves apart from the pack and start talking about the things that interest them, their clients and potential customers. Social Media is also for individuals who want to do the same thing. Research is no longer just sitting in the library reading lengthy history books. Research and experience now comes from reading and writing blog posts in coffee shops and communicating with the authors to learn from their experiences.

With the economy jumping all over the monopoly board, becoming an expert or industry leader in a given niche is becoming essential to building a stable career. Social media allows you to brand yourself into whatever you want to become an expert in. It was just interesting to see the adults taking more of an initiative than the students whose generation defined social media and perfected social networking. Watch out Gen-Y, when the Boomers and older Xers more fully embrace social media they will be right on our heels!

Posted by anastasia