DUE Thursday, Jan 26 – 3 points
(Friday NOON deadline)

This week we are looking at many different kinds of websites and internet services. Today’s readings will focus on websites that promote an individual’s knowledge or skills. Both of these articles are a few years old, so be thinking as you read about what things they say that are true today and which things have changed.

• Rockstar Personal Branding
  I actually dislike the terms “rockstar” and “personal branding,” but this short book from Rockable Press contains some content about using the web to promote yourself that is worth discussing. It is available as a free PDF download when you subscribe to their mailing list. Get The Book

• The Vanishing Personal Site
  Jeffrey Zeldman is luminary in the web industry. In this blog post, he discusses maintaining a personal website versus outsourcing your web presence to third-party services. Read Post

Once you have completed the reading, you will need to take a quiz of ten true-false questions. (These questions will be randomly selected from the questions below. You can retake the quiz up to five times. Don’t stress about getting 100% on these quizzes: if you get 80% or better, you will be ready to proceed to the next activity and I will give you full credit.)

All questions should be prefaced with an understood, “According to the author …”:

1. T/F? Personal branding is drastically different from product branding.
2. T/F? Pablo Picaso is known to have created more than ten self-portraits in his lifetime.
3. T/F? If you are aiming to create a friendly, helpful image, you should respond promptly to email.
4. T/F? You need to be a specialist to be unique and remarkable.
5. T/F? It’s possible to portray yourself as a generalist with additional specialized skills and expertise in one particular area.
6. T/F? A “unique selling proposition” is essential for branding products you want to sell; it’s not important for people providing services.
7. T/F? Personal branding is only important for people offering their services on a freelance basis; it’s not important for people wanting a full-time corporate job.
8. T/F? It’s not enough when selling your skills to be an expert: it’s just as important to be be perceived as an expert by your target market.
9. T/F? Running a blog is a waste of time that you should be spending building your personal brand.
10. T/F? When getting formal qualifications, it’s important that the qualification sound impressive.
11. T/F? Teaching free classes and holding free talks are great ways to be perceived as an expert.
12. T/F? An “elevator pitch” is a brief summary describing who you are and what you can offer that you should be able to deliver in the time span of an elevator ride.
13. T/F? It’s best to memorize your elevator pitch word-for-word so you can deliver it even if you are nervous.
14. T/F? The author’s main aim when writing a blog post for a client’s blog is to make it useful for the audience of that blog.
15. T/F? Updating a blog where your name is mentioned just once a month should usually be enough to allow that blog to rank #1 in web searches for your name.
16. T/F? A blog could function as a portfolio.
17. T/F? Most popular bloggers are not interested in guest-posters because they only want the blog to benefit their own personal brand.
18. T/F? It’s difficult to reach a large audience with a blog with updates primarily about your personal life because there’s so much competition.
19. T/F? Designers, photographers and illustrators in particular have their sense of the aesthetic judged by potential clients from their business cards.
20. T/F? Individuals need a personal logo or mark, just like products and product companies do.
21. T/F? Even if you are not a designer, it’s important to have a well-designed blog or website; a bad design says that you have been unwilling to invest in a professional web presence.
22. T/F? The “About” page of a blog or website is a great place to put a great bio.
23. T/F? The bio should express in one paragraph what you want people to know most about you.
24. T/F? People trust a product recommendation from the product’s maker just as much as they trust a recommendation from a friend.
25. T/F? Jody Ferry’s website, mentioned by Jeffrey Zeldman, contains over one hundred pages of personal content.
26. T/F? At the time the article was published, Jeffrey Zeldman shared links on a service called Ma.gnolia.
27. T/F? Every person who designs websites needs to run a personal magazine.

DUE Thursday, Jan 26 – 3 points
(Friday NOON deadline)