Academic Branding

Your Online Presence, by Design

by Sidneyeve Matrix

in the age of the social web

We dont get a first chance to

make a first impression.

many
educators have a

digital footprint

by default

not everyones department homepage is

an optimized e-portfolio (like this one is)

value-added
elements:
PDF CV keywords
speakers profile
research abstracts
news mentions
social proof

in the age of social media

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 Mesk

author of Social Media in Clinical Practice

the challenge? to create

your digital footprint

not by default, but

by design

55%
today

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

that percentage might be higher except

personal branding
often gets a bad rap

insignificant frivolous egocentric narcissistic

Source: research by Andy Coverdale
2012 The University of Nottingham UK

as a result, academics are often

underbranded
or misbranded

Source: Journal of Interactive Marketing, 2011

study by Prof Lauren Labrecque, Marketing Dept. Loyola University

this results in

a discoverability
dilemma

which means

missed opportunities

for collaboration
& data sharing
& speaking invites

these researchers found the

median
Twitter
following
of profs in this
than
their
730x larger
study was
median department size
!

Source: survey of 116 science faculty by Emily Darling (et al) of Simon Fraser University 2013

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 to

professional
online
publishing &
networking

for maximum ROI in

time online

what to do? try this

3 step strategy:
Your profile.

Publishing.

Your PLN.

improve your
personal SEO

instead of sending
searchers to Facebook...

Get your
Google+

for
better
SEO
design a personal
landing page
your internet home base

yourname.com

buy your domains

(all of them)

consider taking up

blogging
a living resume

We know that

Academic blogs are

proven to increase
dissemination of
economic research
and improve impact.
~! World Bank Report

Source: 2011 research by David MacKenzie and Berk Ozler,

published by The London School of Economics

free platform
great themes
SEO-ready

free platform
great themes
open source

instead of a full website...

a minimalist nameplate site

oh, and heres

2 extra

ideas
for
digital
assets
to
add to your landing page

speakers
page

help event planners

find you online

headshot

sample talks

testimonials

anatomy of a
speakers page
bio

free online
speakers page
!

add CV, slides, video,

tweets, sample talks

design templates start at $5

next step:

conduct a
personal content audit

experiment
with social

publishing

your work, optimized for the web

audit existing information assets

revise, recycle, repurpose

articles
lesson plans
photos
rubrics
slides
status updates
image: Shereen M from flickr

morselizing

your work
into mobile-optimized
social-ready infosnacks
!

so for example,
to visually communicate morsels of your work

convert this...

to this

(thesis postcards designed by my students)

a free tool to make digital postcards:

find the stories in your research data, and

convert this...

to this

visual
storytelling
with
research
narratives

opening up
data sets

a visual
research
article

free
infographic

design
tools

extend the life & reach of your presentation

publish your slides

free slide design tool in the cloud

iPad-ready

research
posters
easy to read
to download
to share
to embed

research posters

First thing people do after they

get a connection request?

Look at your profile.

action
step:
expand your

personal learning
network
& increase ROI in social media

#1 site for
academic
professional
networking

3 upgrades
!

oh, and heres

for your linkedin

profile

how about those

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
wont be awkward to send
requests to connect -- theyll
remember you.

~Yasheaka Oakley PR Pro

groups 3

Being organized enables reciprocity

and allows you to strengthen and
leverage relationships.
~ Soumitra Dutta

reciprocity

I share over 20
other bloggers
content on Twitter
every day.

roundup

reciprocity

Step1. create roundup. Step 2:

a great

PLN
makes all

the dierence