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Who are you Online? Ensure your Image Survival through the Right Kind of Self Promotion!
By Mazarine Treyz, Guest Blogger
Whether you're an entrepreneur or even if you're a woman employed by someone else, you need to think about self promotion online. Why? Because what if you get laid off or fired? What is the social proof that you're a good worker, or that people should hire you? Maybe you should have a little side business in the works in case things go south. So your first project is start to think about where you're heading with your personal brand. Where are you now? And where would you like to go? Once you have answered these questions, you're ready to get your self promotion train roaring out of the station! First, You need to buy your name domain. I worked with a woman recently who owns several businesses, but didn't own her name domain. We googled her name, and the second result that came up was someone criticizing her abilities. That's NOT what you want to happen to you. Imagine the business you could lose or the reputation you've lost by having these results that you can't control. Then, you need to identify what you want to sell. and your Unique Selling Proposition, or USP for short. This helps you identify what you have that other people don't have. It helps you get clear on exactly what you can provide for people. Personal organizing services? Life coaching? Editing? Home repair? Landscape design? And once you've figured out what you're selling, whether a product or a service, you have to identify the key thing that separates you from others offering that service. Do you have an offbeat blend of talents? Is it your opera-singing as you fix the plumbing? Your poetic sense you bring to your lawyering? Maybe it's a way you solve a problem endemic to your industry. Do you go above and beyond with customer care? Do you see solutions where others see roadblocks? Whatever it is, start thinking about it now. Google "Identifying your USP" for more tips. Next, you can start to become a thought leader in your niche through a blog. Whether you're in marketing or manufacturing, whether you're in massage or art, you can have an impact on the knowledge that people want to find about your specific niche. Blog at least once a week, and give away some information for free. If you can become a resource for people, this will have them coming back again and again to your site for fresh insights, inspiration, and advice. You can build an online community which can lead to real money. For example, two months ago I got hired to do a paid speaking engagement solely because of my blog. I've also gotten paid consulting work through my blog. After that, you need to get involved in online conversations. Start a twitter account, get on Linkedin, and get a hootsuite account. Hootsuite allows you to post simultaneously to twitter and linkedin, and you can link your new blog posts, and get people to start reading your writing. Try to tweet at least once a day about your niche. My traffic soared when I started following a lot of people in my niche on twitter, and having conversations with them. Finally, start leaving comments on blogs and news sites. Try to leave 10 comments per night. Get your name known as a person to be trusted in your field, whether you're a lawyer or a nonprofit office manager. If you have any ambition at all, start to get known in the field you're in, or the field you WANT to get into, whether it's managing a law firm, coaching others on business success, photography, light manufacturing, or anything else you might be interested in. The more thoughtful comments you leave, the more people will find your website, and you can capitalize on the audience of these other websites. Conclusion: When you've done the above, you'll be all over the internet. You'll be able to control the first three pages of google results about you, which is the most that people will look at. In a nutshell, once you become more transparent and available online, people will know you, like you, trust you, and eventually buy from you. About the Author Mazarine Treyz Consultant, Speaker, and Author  Mazarine Treyz is a social media consultant, nonprofit management consultant and speaker, and author of “The Wild Woman's Guide to Fundraising,” a book about how to change the world through raising money for your cause. She LOVES to help women succeed in business, social media, and careers! Read her blog. Check out some free stuff to get you started in self-promotion. Follow her on Twitter. Get more information from Mazarine on social media coaching. blog comments powered by Disqus |