Stop Pitching & Start Story Telling discusses how personal branding through social media can help one's career. It recommends focusing on branding yourself by developing your unique voice and populating social networks with relevant content. By building your influence and thought leadership online, you can gain credibility, media coverage, and opportunities without traditional pitching.

1. Stop Pitching
& Start Story Telling
UTSA / CITE
January 29, 2010

2. About
• PR guy for 25 years
• Social Media for the last 4 years
• Blogger with.... 4 blogs
• Journalist.... contributing columnist
“Express-News”
• Guest Lecturer - UTSA (new gig)
• Content producer

3. When I went to college
• No PC - we used a typewriter
• Research was done the Library
• No Internet
• No iPhone or wireless devices
• No digital camera
• Social Media did not exist

4. Caveat
• Presentation based on my belief sets
• I try things out and like to experiment
• Not everything I do works, but the good
news is that this costs almost zero, other
than your time

5. Today
• You can launch a company
• Create online communities
• Connect with potential business partners
• Create deal flow
• Get funded
• Build a company from your dorm or apt.

6. Premise
• Focus on branding YOU
• makes you a better entrepreneur
• makes you a better prospective
employee / team member

7. Today
Dear Mom &
• Focus on branding
Dad... today in
• you school, I learned
• your technology that I was a
brand
• your company

8. As an entrepreneur
• Thought leader raise
partners
money
• Innovative
• Connecter
build a
• Networker team
• Ear to the ground

9. As an employee / team
• Differentiator
• Raise above the noise of having a great
academic career
• Your resume is already online hire me before
someone else
does

10. Influence is the new currency
• Influence and thought leadership is the
new currency
• Make your voice heard
• Make a difference

11. stop pitching
start
story
telling

12. stream
your
narrative

13. build a following
and new deal
flow will come
your way

14. how: > ?

15. converse
interface
broadcast
inform
share
spread you ideas
give away as much information about you as you can

16. The Basics
• Develop your “voice”
• Write like you speak
• Write to and for your audience(s)
• Give yourself six months to see it work

17. Who are you trying to reach?
• Have the right message and tone of
voice
• the right people
• the right networks
• be persistent with outreach

18. The Social Web

19. If you populate the social web
with great and relevant content
about you, your company and
your technology, you’ll be found

20. Going to the Social Web
• Complements communications efforts
• Gives your company or management a
human voice
• Impacts search results
• Lets you be “found”

21. static VS. active
Web Site
Brochures
Press Releases
Trade Show Booth

22. Go wide and deep
You Company Technology
Article
Blog
submissions
Facebook delicious
Twitter SlideShare Comment on other
blogs
YouTube
LinkedIn Digg
Docstoc
Slideshare

24. How I’ve used the power of social web to get
media coverage, gain credibility and
demonstrate thought leadership as a pro-
active consumer of AT&T’s three screen
service offering

25. trade business/financial broadcast radio

27. YouTube -great way to pitch the media

28. Re-purposing content...
Industry leaders
demonstrate
N-trig technology

29. Industry leaders demonstrate
N-trig applications & product
differentiation

30. How To: How I watch Internet TV - U-verse and Internet TV

31. Thought leadership in VoIP Security

36. Branding YOU
• Your brand is your best personal resume
• If you understand the power of personal
branding it will help you get a better job
when you finish school
• Branding really shows who you really
are

37. How I am branding Alan
• Social Networks
• Blogging I’m a mini
broadcasting
• Journalism
network
• Self PR
• Photography
• Videos

38. What about you?
• Student leader
• Innovator
• Collaborator
• First mover
• Entrepreneur
• Community builder

39. I “tweet,” engage in conversation,
give away information
follow me: @alanweinkrantz

40. My business blog demonstrates expertise and helps clients and
projects I am involved in “be found”

41. Consumer facing blog covering AT&T positions
me as an authority in triple play services in
telecom

42. Facebook connects me to
friends & business associates in
the U.S. and Israel

43. LinkedIn - business focused social
networking in the U.S. and Israel

45. Flickr photos....I always carry my
camera when I travel for fun or business

46. Monthly columnist for San Antonio
“Express-News” covering AT&T
and Social Media

47. B.B. King, Tom Petty, The Who
in Concert

48. My “Conversations Series”
with San Antonio’s Social Media Superstars

49. Branding You!
• Join a few networks
• Determine what you want to
communicate about yourself
• Make sure you have an up to date photo
• If you are on social networks, make sure
you have an up to date profile

50. Branding You
• 30 days of listen
• 30 days of research to see who you want
to engage with
• 30 days of conversation and outreach
• measure and repeat

51. Brand Persona
• @UTSAHottie careful how
you brand
• @LoveMyBeer
yourself on
• @BigAssCamero twitter...
• @AnarchyNation

52. Be aware
• You are what you post...
• “got shit-faced last night at Fiesta”
• “going to Mexico this weekend to....”
• “Prof. Smith is an ass-hole”
• “looking to buy term paper on....”

53. Contact
• Alan Weinkrantz
• 210-820-3070
• www.alanweinkrantz.com
• alan@weinkrantz.com
• @alanweinkrantz - Twitter
• FaceBook, LinkedIn too!

54. Copy of presentation
• online today: alanweinkrantz.com
• Slideshare.net
• copy and share with others
• this is just what I believe and seems to
work
• your mileage may vary

55. start story telling

56. Thank You
© 2010