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Personal branding expert Dan Schwabel brought his Generation Y expertise on maximizing social media for business success to the LCT Leadership Summit.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Welcome to “Me Inc.” It really is all about you — and your business.

In the digital social media, business owners must know how to command their marketing reach and reputations, all the time in real time, says Dan Schwabel, managing partner of Millennial Branding LLC. Operators need to put themselves out there and connect. “People want to do business with people they trust,” Schwabel, 28, told attendees gathered at the 2011 LCT Leadership Summit during a presentation on Sept. 13.

Schwabel, a leading entrepreneurial blogger, personal branding expert and author of “Me 2.0,” told industry operators and vendors they need to make their brands and companies unique in the ever-expanding digital, social media milieu. That mix now includes a website, blog, e-newsletter and/or e-promos, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn — and that’s just for starters.

Operators should differentiate themselves by quality of service communicated via websites and social networking profiles. “What do people find out about you before they even call you? Put quality into everything you do, even the small things you don’t think about. Little things matter.”

Facebook in many ways has replaced the traditional “word of mouth,” Schwabel said. “Consistency builds brands, such as chauffeurs showing up each time on time. How are you coming off in customers’ eyes? How will they describe you? Is it positive? Facebook will be projected to more people than word of mouth.”

Schwabel outlined several ways social media is changing how operators are lowering their marketing costs and changing how they cast a wider Inter-net for more business. “If you rely on old media, it won’t always work for you,” Schwabel said. “It’s all about experimenting and building a brand via social media.”

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