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Social Media and Your Professional Brand
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Whether you’re starting a brand new job search or are well into your career, you have an incredible opportunity. Never before has it been so easy to build – or destroy – a professional image of yourself using digital media tools. Your social media channels can help you ensure that you are laying a foundation for your personal brand. Sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Quora, Facebook, YouTube and Google+ are all available to stream your qualifications and showcase what you know.
Even if you are a social media pioneer, it’s important to follow a few simple steps to help maximize the benefits and be aware of the risks of social media as you build your professional brand. Ask yourself if you are using the right medium for the right activity Chances are you already have a presence on many channels. If you haven’t already, it is important to determine which tools are going to be used in a professional capacity. LinkedIn, Quora, Twitter and blogs are all good ways to showcase your talents and the value you can add to a company. You must be able to be found online, and the things you post help define that you have a brand beyond your resume and cover letter. At minimum, your LinkedIn account should be robust with a professional picture and showcase your professional highlights. If you haven’t already, consider using Twitter to share industry-specific information, link to articles and join in on job seeker chats. Also, check out Quora to answer questions and show your expertise on a topic by topic basis. These tools will help you maintain contact with your network and could potentially help you connect with like-minded professionals. Conduct a full analysis of all of your promotional channels and digital profiles All social networking profiles and personal interactions all must drive engagement and buy-in from others. Read through your social networking profiles to ensure that they are concise and contain action words and achievements to convey high energy. Clean up imperfections, misspellings and get rid of irrelevant information. Take out extra words and negative phrases. Have a trusted friend or colleague read through your primary profiles and give her impressions on what she thinks you are trying to convey. Align your profiles to your brand and update regularly to ensure that you are actively promoting yourself and putting your best image forward. Determine what needs to be kept private, and what you want to share A primary benefit of using social media is that you can help build rapport by engaging your network through personal anecdotes and experiences. There is also a great freedom in candor – you allow your values to come through and help engage the kind of people that will identify with your priorities. At the same time, you are at risk if you haven’t decided where your privacy boundaries lie. Determine what needs to be kept private and then ensure that your privacy settings on all social media channels match your strategy. It is acceptable to set your Facebook and Google+ accounts as personal profiles and not allow public access through use of strict privacy settings. Be authentic in all interactions Throughout all online interactions, be yourself - but be your best self. Authenticity is a key differentiator in personal brand and is more than just being honest in your digital realm. It’s about showcasing your true talents and abilities using the context of your personality and values. It is ok to relate personal experiences and show your humor, just do so in a professional manner. Social media channels are beneficial as they help you to develop your brand interaction by interaction. By aligning your brand to your digital profiles and ensuring that you are positive, concise, authentic and appropriate – you will be well on your way to guaranteeing every interaction reflects your best you and highlights the brand you want to achieve. Is this helpful? Please let us know in the comments your thoughts on this as well as other ways we can help you with your career and training. About the Author  Michelle Mercurio is a career marketeer and strategist for helping people navigate real-world careers. That great idea you have? She wants you to go and do that…NOW! Follow her on Twitter or at http://careermarketeer.wordpress.com. blog comments powered by Disqus |
