WHILE creative sorts are allowed some degree of zaniness, in the corporate world, Chris Reed does stamp his own identity on his business and industry.
The unconventional hair-do and tee-shirts with loud prints and messages allow him to stand apart in the branding business. By billing himself as the only NASDAQ CEO with a Mohawk, it ensures easy recall, something the Singapore-based entrepreneur has used to good effect.
Besides shaving years off his actual age, the coloured Mohawk allows Reed to belong to a younger crowd drawn to social media magnets like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. But Reed remains faithful to just LinkedIn.
Reed who owns several companies leverages on his knowledge of the LinkedIn platform. A team of five at his company, Black Marketing, works on his personal account, while five times that number help his clients spread their messages by making better use of their LinkedIn accounts.
“Being a global platform, you curate something once but you have to share it 10 times in different time zones. And don’t forget that the entrepreneurs are usually on the site during the weekends, when the MNC employees are off,” explains Reed.
Entrepreneurs who need personal branding advice can make use of his Dark Art Of Marketing platform.
His business is listed on the NASDAQ in Sweden. “Seemed like a good idea at the time,” he says. “Problem is you can’t trade it in Sweden since we have a London address. We might have to do a dual listing.”
The author of LinkedIn Mastery, an anecdotal guide to the social media platform, Reed is an exuberant raconteur. He is a geyser of information about the social media platform that he has tapped to good effect. His mile-a-minute banter is built on presentations where he extols the virtues of LinkedIn to audiences who are equally fascinated and confused by the topic.
People Connect With People
At his recent presentation at the National Library last Thursday, he raced through slides of Richard Branson and Virgin, pointing out that people connect with people and not brands.
“Branson has 11 million followers on LinkedIn but Virgin has around 100,000. That’s less than 1%.”
While Virgin’s numbers are more than what most people or businesses have, it does punch home Reed’s observations.
One of the key messages is to overcome that Asian reserve. The British, Kiwis and Asians are reserved and will always deflect praise. But if you keep doing that, some American is going to come in and steal your thunder!
In this short video, Reed races through around 10 things business would find useful when making LinkedIn work for them.
