Managing Your Professional “Brand” through Social Media

Mickey Farrance, President of the Working Women’s Network of Grenoble, announces a seminar on Saturday, March 20 at the Grenoble École de Management called Face-to-face to FaceBook: Managing Your Professional “Brand” through Social Media. Find out more here.

“‘To google’ is now a verb, and it doesn’t just refer to looking up information about things, it also means looking up information about people.  That means you, me, the next person applying for a job, or somebody I might consider working with.”  — Kelly Rigotti, blog, marketing and web presence consultant.

What do you find when you google yourself?  For professional people—entrepreneurs, business owners, consultants, job seekers, or anyone with a career in progress—this is an important question.

A professional image means conducting business professionally, dressing professionally, networking professionally— today, a professional image also includes what is out there about you on the Web.

What does that set of links returned by Google say about your professional image?   And how do you “manage” that information?  It’s random, isn’t it?

Not quite.  In fact it’s possible to manage your professional image— and not as hard to do as it might sound— through the appropriate use of social media:  LinkedIn, Viadeo, Facebook, Twitter, and more.

Here’s an opportunity to find out what this means and how to do it, at a half-day professional development Seminar, in English:  Personal Branding:  Manage Your Image through New Media, presented by the Working Women’s Network of Grenoble on Saturday, March 20 at the Grenoble École de Management.

It’s open to anyone (men as well as women) in the Grenoble area interested in learning how to develop a “Personal Brand” (a good reputation) and manage that online image using the new social media. 

Grenoble Life readers are a tech-savvy bunch, but it seems there’s always something new to discover.  If you are not sure what this “new media” is all about, or how to manage the increasing flow of incoming and outgoing social media communications, this seminar is for you too.  Bring your expertise along, as it’s also an excellent opportunity to share.

To sign up, download the registration form here.

by Mickey Farrance

When I moved from my native New York to California in 1980, I knew almost no-one in my new place. Twenty years later, when I moved from California to Grenoble, I left behind the extensive network of friends, colleagues, and business associates I had acquired during my time there. And I knew no-one here in Grenoble – time to start over!

I looked for opportunities to meet new people, and found the social/cultural association Open House. It’s an excellent group for newcomers, and the people I met there helped me settle in and integrate into my Grenoble life. Without even thinking about it, I automatically began networking – making acquaintances, finding friends.

In addition, one of the most difficult aspects of starting a new chapter of my life in Grenoble was adjusting to not being able to work. Quite simply, I’ve been working since I was 16 years old, and working for a living is just part of my personality. Being a stay-at-home spouse was interesting to try, but I missed my working life.  Where could I meet other English-speaking women and reconnect with professional life in France?

I discovered the Women’s Professional Networking Group in Lyon, France, and joined them immediately. Lyon is a bit far away to go for regular meetings, though, so I began a local group with some of the professional women I’d met in Grenoble through Open House.

Today, the Working Women’s Network of Grenoble has formed a wonderful international network of colleagues, business associates, and friends. The group started in 2004, and incorporated as an official French association in 2006. We describe ourselves as “…an association of English-speaking professional women living and working in the Grenoble area. We build and maintain business and personal connections that help us in our daily work and lifetime careers.”

The association has about 60 members, both employed by area companies and entrepreneurs / self-employed. A few are “between jobs,” or in transition as I was when I first arrived in Grenoble.  It’s a good support system for expat professional women who are unable to work – for example, because of visa issues – to maintain professional ties while they are here.

Networking in France is a relatively new phenomenon. This is partly because of cultural differences in perception about what is appropriate behavior among strangers. We get around the cultural issues by networking à l’Americain – networking in English, American style. Our meetings are structured and timed. We have an agenda and tools specifically designed so that members introduce themselves to the group, describe what they are looking for and what they can offer to others, and then pass leads to one another.

Another common mis-perception about networking is the (mistaken) idea that networking means using people. In the WWNG, we work on the principle that networking is about transforming relationships. It’s about turning strangers into acquaintances, and acquaintances into allies. Networking is about looking for opportunities to help others and to create opportunities for others to help you. We apply the Golden Rule of networking:  What you give out, you get back.

“[The WWNG] has really opened the doors of networking for me: simple, clear, and effective.  Thanks to the philosophy that underlies the techniques, I’m finally at ease in professional meetings and able to make an initial contact comfortable for me and others…In the professional domain, the goal is to forge new ties that can be mutually beneficial.”  Claire Cudrey, Cézame Connexions and WWNG member

In addition to our regular monthly meetings, the WWNG also organizes other types of professional development and networking events. For example, we’ve hosted several Professional Enrichment Program series of workshops designed for women in career transition, and 5 years now we’ve hosted full and half-day Professional and Personal Development Seminars. The most recent of these, Networking², brought together nine local, professional networking groups to share information, knowledge, and leads.

Networking works – it works for me, and it works for anyone who’s willing to expend the time and energy required. And for newcomers to Grenoble, networking effectively is a great way to integrate successfully into Grenoble life.

For more information about the WWNG, or about networking for professional advancement, contact me:

Mickey Farrance

President, Working Women’s Network of Grenoble

Tel. 04 76 72 31 15