Why transparency matters—building equity in your personal brand

What if you didn't know the real names of your doctor, lawyer or accountant?

Most social media acquaintances aren't exactly on a parallel plane with professional or collegial relationships — but how about your friends?

In 2008 when I began on Twitter, it wasn't unusual to see people using descriptive monikers instead of their real names. How many people remember @TrendTracker or @TrendyDC? Today we know them as @GlenGilmore and @AnnTran_. I think they recognized their Twitter identities were going to be significant and went public at a point where their major growth was ahead of them. It enabled them to start positioning themselves as brands, and I believe they helped others feel comfortable about following suit. 

It's about trust

I think most of us appreciate it when their connections on social media are transparent about who they are.  If I'm being honest with someone, I hope they'll afford me the same courtesy. What is the point of engaging with or filling one's timeline with less-than-honest people?

A cloak of secrecy signals more than "mystery." It says, "There is a reason I don't want you to know who I am." Deceit is a shaky foundation for real connections. 

How people perceive your brand

In establishing yourself as a brand, simplicity in your name and image and consistency in the way you interact are essential. Your behavior both on and off the public timeline matters. By using your real name, you are inviting people to trust you, and by maintaining a consistent and positive presence across channels, you build relationships with people as well as equity in the recognition of who you are.

Business accounts may not identify the specific person tweeting on its behalf, though many do. Identifying who is tweeting is a good thing because most people would rather tweet with a person than an "entity." When one is responsible for engaging in conversations on behalf of a business, they need to keep in mind the reputation and personality of the company they represent. And if their identity is known, they have the opportunity to project positively for a business, but also build recognition in themselves. 

Using a descriptive moniker along with your name

Highly recognizable and respected people very successfully use non-name monikers, but self-identify using their real names. Reg Saddler, or @zaibatsu, and Heather Frey,  @SmashFit, both are well-established across social media channels with memorable handles that evoke a strong image of their brands.

If you decide to use a descriptive moniker, it's helpful and important to include your real name somewhere in your social media profile and I'll list several reasons why:

• First—You are creating a climate of trust by using your real name
• Second—It allows others to find you by name or by moniker      
• Third—exchanges with someone whose name you know is more personal and engenders the creation of relationships                
• Fourth—By using your name, rather than building equity in a pseudonym, you are building equity in the recognition of yourself and your personal brand. And at the end of the day, in social media, recognition is the form of currency that matters.

Short and easy versus long or difficult

Whatever you choose, make your identity as short and easy as you can. Abstract combinations of letters and numbers are difficult to remember.

Clever handles can be fun, but people can be difficult to locate if their monikers are not exactly memorable, or if you cannot search for them using their real names. 

The substitution of numbers for letters may be good for building a password, but expecting others to remember quirky configurations is unrealistic. Also—adding characters that require changing case on a smart device (phones, tablets), makes it inconvenient for someone to type your name. (Included are underscores and numbers or other special characters.) There are settings in some applications that will "auto-complete" a name once you begin typing, and you can also type once, then copy and paste. But still—isn't it easier when those extra motions are unnecessary?

Changing your moniker 

Once you've established the handle people are meant to recognize, try to keep it. If you change it, you will retain your friends and followers, but unless you've done some groundwork to prepare them for the change, they may not recognize you. 

Chris Luzader (@TechZader) handled this situation beautifully. Chris used to go by the name @The_Tech_Update, but he could see the value of simplifying his name as his brand evolved. He combined part of his original moniker with his actual name resulting in a shorter, simpler handle. But before making the change, he prepared by getting feedback on possible names, and gave his then-large following of 16,000 advanced notice.

Maintaining consistency in your avatar and your brand

Establishing a consistent presence across social media channels — hopefully both in name and avatar — reinforces the identity and recognition of your brand and what it stands for. Think of it this way—your avatar is your social media logo. If "Starbucks" changed its name or logo often, what is the chance you would recognize it? 

When someone changes their avatar on a daily, weekly or fairly frequent basis, it sends a message — "I don't care if you realize it's me." One friend had a maddening habit of frequently changing both his moniker and his avatar, making him impossible to find.

You might know someone on Twitter by "@whatever," but if they circle you on G+ using their real name, then send a friend-request on Flickr using yet another, they undermine the chance of making connections. They might seem familiar, but who are they?*

Trust is the foundation of real relationships

By using your real name and placing trust in others, you are inviting them to trust you, too. By building recognition of your name and avatar, you establish a "brand promise" creating an expectation of what others can expect when they encounter you or your company online.


Relationships matter in personal life and in business. People DO want to know who they are dealing with. By being transparent, the potential gain is greater than the risk.

What are your feelings about transparency? Are there good reasons for obscuring one's identity? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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*"Twitter for Busy People" will allow you to grab up to 1000 followers, by recency and by avatar. So if you are searching for someone and can't remember their names but remember their avatars, and if they've tweeted recently, you might be able to find them using this site.

I was a Twitter Conference Virgin

OK, I guess I was nervous about attending my first large-scale gathering of tweeps. It wasn't helped by the fact that the same day I had to wake up at 5 AM to arrive in Kirkland to shoot a CEO for an annual report. Driving on the east side is anxiety-provoking enough, but the thought of getting to meet—in real life—people from Twitter, had me feeling like a 16-year-old girl waiting for a new boyfriend to pick her up for a date!

The TweetHouse #140 Conference (#140tc) started at 8 AM, and I missed the keynote speech by Mashable's @BenParr, plus a few morning sessions. When I arrived I called my Twitter bud and Huffington Post blogger, @2morrowknight, to let him know I was there, but my call rolled over to his voice mail. So I went to the registration table where @sbroback (Steve Broback) and Kim Larsen introduced themselves to me, and I decided to grab a cup of coffee before venturing into the auditorium.

The place was packed. The room was dark. There were laptops everywhere and it reminded me of being at a University of Washington lecture hall. Looking across the room, I decided to walk to the left side to find a space. Spotting an empty chair, I sat next to @lindseym2 with Vittana (the startup whose t-shirts were worn that day by @scobleizer, @chrispirillo and venture associate @yush [Ayush Agarwal]). Then my iPhone rang. OOPs—I forgot to turn it off—but it was @2morrowknight!

He and I met outside in the lobby. The first pleasant surprise: @2morrowknight was not only handsome and elegant, but also charming and younger than I expected! We immediately hit it off and sat together for the afternoon sessions.

Since I arrived late, I caught the tail end of a panel discussion featuring @ShaunaCausey. Shauna was the person who told me about the conference and helped me sign up. It was hard to focus, though, because of my excitement about being there! And why wouldn't I? One of the first people I bumped into was @chrispirillo. He was adorable and personable and I felt like I was meeting an old friend, but for the first time. Imagine how cool it was to catch @BenParr, Chris and Shauna together?

Second pleasant surprise: Other people I'd been tweeting with would say, "Hey, I'm following you!" And this is going to sound crazy, but it's probably the closest I've ever come to feeling famous! The pinnacle was when @dom (Dom Sagolla) came up and introduced himself to me, saying he liked my avatar and noticed my name in the streams. I said, "Don't you know my BTF, @krystynchong?" and he said that yes, Krys had just been to his house recently! When Twitter and real life collide, it's still a small world, after all!

@chrispirillo introduced the afternoon keynote by @dom, one of the original creators of Twitter (pictured above). It was exciting, but also entertaining as well as illuminating, to get an inside glimpse of how the Twitter phenomenon was born. It was cool to see how the idea started as a sketch, and unfolded to become such a major element of so many people's lives—not only for individuals, but also for the vast number developers whose applications have been created to dovetail with and enhance the user's experience. @Invoker (Ryan Holmes CEO of HootSuite) @dacort (Damon Cortesi, creator of TweetStats and founder of United Startup) are two I had the chance to talk with. (For a complete list, click here. )

Final pleasant surprise: The tweetup at the Hotel Andra following the conference was a fantastic party. @seattlewinegal did a great job of assembling some fabulous wineries, and the Andra was a terrific venue. I had to make a beeline for @AndrewWill winery — one of my faves, but also enjoyed a tremendous Walter Dacon 2007 Appanage (@wdwines). The energy was palpable and it felt a little bit like #TwitterHollywood or #TwitterFanFest—just an amazing time.

The most striking thing to me was the friendliness exhibited by everyone, the level of fame notwithstanding. If you've ever felt like an outsider, it was the opposite experience at this conference. Tweeps are inclusive and all-embracing whether your following is 20 or 20,000. @zaibatsu (Reg Saddler) once told me Twitter is "the great equalizer," and based on this experience, I have to say I agree.

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Postscript:

Thanks to @kirste (Kirsten Mitchell) for taking the shot of me with @2morrowknight, and props to @sbroback, founder of The Parnassus Group, and @tweethouse (The Tweethouse) for putting together such an amazing conference. #140tc was one of the most fun events I've attended in my professional career, and I'm still thinking it was all a pleasant dream. :-)