007The Agent In Engagement blog celebrated its 2nd Anniversary at the end of October. Since its premiere, I’ve created 320+ posts containing 225,000+ words and the site has seen by 80,000+ visitors with 323,000+ visits. And…it almost didn’t happen.

 

You see, I spent almost a year “thinking” about starting a blog focused on employee engagement before I finally made the commitment. I was afraid of what others would think. After all, “Diamonds are Forever.” I was also a victim of “Dr. No” you shouldn’t / can’t do that. It scared “The Living Daylights” out of me. The result? I decided to “Die Another Day.”

 

Once I came up with the concept of Agent In Engagement, i.e., engAGemENT, I took on the assignment of building a personal brand that would set me apart from others. “For Your Eyes Only,” here are the 007 steps I took.

 

 

 

001: Introduction: Simpson…Greg Simpson

People like and remember stories so I used the agent theme to create an initial version of my introduction:

 

I’m Simpson…Greg Simpson, Agent in Engagement.  My mission is rid the world of bad and ineffective managers by focusing on how frontline and middle managers engage, manage, and develop their direct reports. After years in the field, the consulting field, where I created award-winning employee engagement work for Fortune 150 clients, I’m eager to return to headquarters in an employee engagement assignment that will allow me to help a company and its employees succeed.

 

While I’ve continued to hone it over time, it was the basis each of the following steps.

 

 

 

002: Blog: Agent In Engagement

Once I had the introduction, I concentrated on creating a blog. Here was the process I followed:

 

  1. Purchased my domain name through Namecheap
  2. Purchased a hosting package from Bluehost
  3. Downloaded WordPress and chose a theme
  4. Uploaded a header photo (originally I changed it monthly)
  5. Added my introduction to the About page
  6. Wrote my first blog post: Perfectly Matched
  7. Hit publish

 

At first, I published a new post every workday. That lasted about a month. After several variations, I now publish 3 posts each week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

 

 

 

003: Twitter: @AgtInEngagement

I chose to use Twitter to promote my blog posts. What I realized, after the fact, was that Twitter handles are limited to 15 characters. Agent In Engagement has 17.  Luckily, I was able to shorten Agent to Agt. I used a shortened version of my introduction in Step 1 for my profile.

 

Every tweet has some relation to employee engagement. I began by posted an employee engagement-related quote at the beginning of each day followed by my blog post tweets, retweets of other posts I read on Twitter, and new tweets with content I came across in my reading.

 

 

 

004:  LinkedIn: Linkedin/in/Gregory F Simpson

For consistency across all platforms, I populated my profile summary section with the same introduction I used in Step 1. Again, I thought a story would be more interesting than the usual biographical approach.

 

 

 

005: Infographics: Year in Review

I wanted a way to round out my story without being too wordy so I created infographics to capture my professional and personal development activities each year. Each inforgraphic’s header contains a version of my introduction in Step 1 and sections that highlight my activities. My goal was for them to show my commitment to continual learning and development. Click to see my Agent In Engagement Year in Reviews for 2013 and 2014 or access them through my LinkedIn profile.

 

 

 

006: Business Cards

You’ve probably figured out I like to find ways to stand out/be different.  It’s the same with my business cards.  I use a mini-card from Moo.  At about half the height of a normal business card, Moo’s mini-cards allow you to completely customize each card’s look and feel – seriously, you can include a different image on each of the 100 cards in each order. I chose a simple water drop image to connote how engagement has a ripple effect.

Agent in Engagement Business Card

 

 

 

007: Attend Conferences and Events

Conferences, whether in-person or virtual, and events provide many opportunities to 1) practice your introduction and 2) begin to build a reputation (brand) with those in your field.  When I introduce myself, I use a version of my introduction in Step 001: “Hello, I’m Simpson…Greg Simpson, Agent In Engagement.” It seems to intrigue people, helps start the conversation, i.e. engagement, and gives them a hook to remember me.

 

 

 

Those are the 007 Steps I took to become an Agent In Engagement. I hope you’ll make it your mission to identify and pursue your personal brand.

 

By the way, it is sheer coincidence that this post happens to fall within the same week that the newest 007 movie, Spectre, premieres in the US.

 

 

 

What are your thoughts on the 007 steps? In what ways to do build your personal brand?

 

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: The links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only reference products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

 

Let’s Engage!

I’m Agent in Engagement Simpson…Gregory F Simpson.

 Employee engagement is a critical mission. I hope I can count on your help! Subscribe to the RSS Feed to receive the latest intelligence/insights and/or register to make entries in the comments log.

Photo of Gregory F SimpsonYou can follow me @agtinengagement.
Email me at g…@a…t.com.
Connect via LinkedIn at LinkedIn.com/in/GregoryFSimpson.
Learn more about me at gregoryfsimpson.com.

 

 

P.S.  First contact? Welcome to the Agent In Engagement community. Explore and join fellow employee engagement operatives in targeting a known thief – alias: Disengagement. Together we can bring this thief to justice and make the world a better place for all companies and their employees.

Other recent Agent in Engagement data/reports by Agent Gregory F Simpson: