Author: Ben Cathers

Ben Cathers is the co-founder of InstantSocial.com – an outsourced social media provider (smo). He is the co-founder of three startups before he was 19 years old. Ben is the author of Conversations with Teen Entrepreneurs and was named in 2005 by CNN as a member of “America’s Bright Future.”  Ben has been quoted/featured in the Wall Street Journal, FOX News, ABC News, CBS News, Yahoo! Internet Life, The London Sunday Times and in over 40 different publications. 
Personal BrandingReputation ManagementSocial Media

What Your Social Media Username Says About Your Brand

While it may seem like a trivial task, choosing your username for your social media properties (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube username, Gmail username) is an important branding task. Often, your username will serve as the “first impression” a new viewer has to your brand. In an attempt to make the process easier, I’ve included my views …

Brand Yourself AsPersonal BrandingPositioningReputation ManagementSocial Media

Creating Momentum in Brand Building

As I’ve blogged about recently, it’s important to keep up branding resolutions, add personal social media profiles to a corporate website, follow branding rules for entrepreneurs, and so forth.

And all of these ideas should be followed to ensure a complete branding across the social web. However, many of these rules assume you have fully …

Brand Yourself AsCareer DevelopmentPersonal BrandingSuccess Strategies

New Year’s Personal Branding Resolutions Update

A few weeks ago I proposed New Year’s Resolutions for Entrepreneurs and Personal Branding and explained how I will personally follow these rules to continue my personal branding. I will now propose these resolutions to you, the reader, and ask how you have improved your personal branding.

How have you improved?

I will blog more. …

Brand Yourself AsentrepreneurshipPersonal BrandingPositioningSocial Media

What Does Your Email Signature Say About Your Brand?

This article will be discussing the email signature on a personal account – not a corporate email signature. The reason is, for an entrepreneur, as previously discussed, needs to maintain their own separate brand.

Communicating your brand

Here is how I view each item from a personal branding standpoint when I see them in the …

Personal BrandingPositioningReputation ManagementSuccess Strategies

New Years Resolutions for Entrepreneurs & Personal Branding

Happy New Year! As entrepreneurs begin another year of running their business, or decide that this is the year they will start their own company, here are some personal branding resolutions all entrepreneurs should have:

1) I will blog more

You want to further your brand and expertise. There’s no better way than to share …

Personal BrandingPositioningReputation ManagementSocial Media

Facebook “Bio” and Entrepreneurs

During once of Facebook’s recent re-designs, the “bio” section became front and center on the “info” section of a Facebook profile. This change appears to have replaced the “about me” section which was historically at the bottom of a Facebook profile.

Re-thinking the strategy

For the entrepreneur, this means they need to re-think their branding …

Brand Yourself AsCareer DevelopmententrepreneurshipPersonal Branding

Personal Social Media Profiles on a Corporate Website

As discussed in my previous posts, I believe that the brand of an entrepreneur can be very valuable to a startup – especially in the early stages.

Why?

Because an entrepreneur’s brand (especially if they are viewed as an expert in the industry that the startup is in) can provide comfort to potential new customers …