PR warning to school, college leavers – Your personal brand is powerful

An Australian public relations and reputation management strategist has issued a warning to school and university leavers to be aware of the power of their personal brand.

Principal of Mercer PR, Lyall Mercer says many people aren’t aware they even have a brand.

“This leads to a failure to build value into their personal brand and even worse, a failure to protect their brand’s reputation,” he explained.

Mr Mercer said anyone who doubts they have a brand, only needs to do a Google search of their name.

“A search will showcase who you are, what you’ve achieved and in many cases, what you believe. It will reveal your thoughts, your adventures and your actions in words, photos and even in video.

“Your brand is worth protecting because we have reached the stage where your digital footprint will not be easily erased by the tide of time.”

He said school and university leavers in the current social and digital media age have a tougher time than past generations, but need to be aware that the brand they mould now will influence their future.

“Youthful attitudes and actions haven’t changed – young people have always pushed the limits – but the level of transparency has,” he said.

He suggested people use the tools available to them to sell their brand.

“A good presence on mainstream sites like LinkedIn, blogs that highlight professional knowledge and expertise, and injecting yourself into the right online forums and conversations, are smart ways to build a strong personal brand.

“Conversely, those whose problems are aired publicly will see their brand defined by these events wherever they go on the globe. There is nowhere to hide!”

He listed three tips to build a strong personal brand:

1. Promote yourself – particularly online - with enthusiasm and humility.
2. Stay focused on your message. The more you talk about your message consistently, the more it will resonate.
3. Protect your reputation by being very careful what you post online. Make sure you keep business and personal contacts and issues separate on social media.

Churches at risk – not prepared for new media dangers

Churches and Christian ministries are not prepared for publicity crises and under-estimate the dangers of the new media age, according to an Australian public relations and reputation management consultant.

Principal of Mercer PR Lyall Mercer says the Australian media landscape has changed with the evolution of social media, placing churches at a greater risk of serious reputation damage.

He believes that this lack of planning will result in closures of churches and ministries for doing nothing more than proclaiming their beliefs.

“For the first time, the general media is primarily anti-church, fuelled by social media that provides a platform for minority views to be awarded much greater attention and credibility,” he explained.

He said the mob mentality of social media creates momentum that is often picked up by the mass media which, “when added to the 24-hour digital media cycle propagates stories in seconds, whether factual or not”.

“This provides the perfect storm for churches and church leaders who are too often caught off guard when being the subject of criticism or attack.”

As well as advising companies and industry groups, Mr Mercer has worked with high-profile issues across the world, consulted to some of Australia’s best known churches and ministries and trained church leaders across North America.

He said Australian churches are in greater danger than those in the USA because of the lack of church culture here.

“Churches in Australia are not seen to be a central part of the community, meaning that many here look at the church with cynicism and even hostility. They don’t see the good churches do, but are driven by atheistic ideology.”

Mr Mercer said many church leaders wrongly believe that their personal communications skills will see them through any public issues.

“Any church or ministry leader that thinks they can develop a strategy in the middle of a PR storm is deluded.”

He said every church and Christian organisation must have a workable and structured media policy, issues management plan and public relations strategy.

“It’s a new media world – what worked in the past won’t work anymore.”