ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Bant Breen is the Founder and Executive Chairman for Qnary, an award-winning executive reputation management and talent branding company. As more people appear online, it’s become clear that their name searches need to be cleaned up and more professional. Qnary’s company grew dramatically during the pandemic because your online presence matters more than ever, and executives understand this.
In this episode, Bant talks about what executives should be thinking about when it comes to their online reputation, how to best reduce “bad” instances in your online presence, and why how you show up online really does matter more than you might think.
Tips on improving your online presence
- Do an analysis on how you show up today in the search results. Are you happy with the results?
- Executives might not think it matters. It does. Future recruits are looking you up! How do you want future employees to see you?
- Reporters want to cite you as a source, but you need a strong and respectable presence to do that. Do you have your credentials? Do you look reliable? Are your articles/thoughts properly linked?
- Executives can take advantage of mini videos (which rank more quickly in Google) to improve trustability. These videos can be just 2-3 minutes long.
About Karen Tiber Leland
Karen Tiber Leland is the founder of Sterling Marketing Group, a branding, marketing, and color strategy and implementation firm helping CEOs, executives, and entrepreneurs develop stronger personal, business, and team brands. Her clients include Cisco, American Express, Marriott Hotels, Apple Computer, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
She is also the best-selling author of nine traditionally-published business books that have sold over 400,000 copies and been translated into 10 languages. Her most recent book is The Brand Mapping Strategy: Design, Build and Accelerate Your Brand. She regularly writes for Inc.com and Entrepreneur.com and has had articles published in Self, The Los Angeles Times, American Way, The Boston Globe, and many others.
Karen has spoken for Harvard, The AMA, Direct Marketing Association, and Stanford, among others. She has been interviewed on The Today Show, CNN, CNBC, and Oprah.
Get in touch with Karen on Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook
About our guest
Bant Breen was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Achievement in 2010 and has a global marketing and communications background steeped in digital and innovation. Prior to launching Qnary, Bant served as CEO at IPG’s Reprise Media. Bant had previously been President of Worldwide Digital Communications at IPG’s Initiative.
Before joining Initiative, Bant served as the Executive Director of the IPG Emerging Media Lab, created Ansible (IPG’s Mobile Marketing Agency), and led Universal McCann’s global digital communications offering. Bant also led IPG’s acquisition of Reprise Media in 2006 and managed IPG’s investments in Facebook, Radian6, and several other digital enterprises.
Before joining IPG, Bant was the Founder and President of a strategic marketing and communications consultancy affiliated with Dentsu Inc. Prior to that, he worked at Leo Burnett Worldwide leading their European digital operations and then integrating the Leo Burnett global digital network now known as Arc Worldwide. Bant started his career as a WPP Fellow. Bant also serves as a board member, advisor, and strategic investor to publicly traded companies and startups. Bant has worked and lived in Asia Pacific, Europe, and the U.S. but now lives in New York City with his wife, Carmen, and two sons, Alejandro and Nico.
Resources
Karen’s book The Brand Mapping Strategy was just produced and released on Amazon’s Audible as an audiobook. You can now get an audio version of the book read in its entirety by Karen.
The Brand Mapping Strategy, Design, Build and Accelerate Your Brand
Tweetables and Quotes to Share
“In the beginning, Google was the first place and last place to look executives up, but it’s not the most important channel now. LinkedIn is the most important.” PODCAST: Thought Talk @KarenFLeland
“Companies jump to PR quickly. Now, it’s really important to get that foundation set before you make a big PR investment.” PODCAST: Thought Talk @KarenFLeland
“Writing is artistic, but it’s also quite mathematical. AI systems can read that and be able to understand it and mimic it.” PODCAST: Thought Talk @KarenFLeland
“The remote work, due to COVID-19, really accelerated social media’s significance. Thirty percent of people viewed social media presence as more important during the pandemic.” PODCAST: Thought Talk @KarenFLeland
