Ever thought about yourself as a personal online brand? If you were to take a look at your online footprint, what would it say about you or your business? Would it be a true representation of who you are? Would it be full of personality?
Ensuring your online personal brand is positive, appropriate, yet full of personality is crucial. They say that first impressions count - well this saying has never been more appropriate!
There are three main reasons why you should ensure you create a positive online brand:
- Employment.
- Employment.
- Employment.
Why? When employers consider hiring you they check social networking sites and do simple Google searches.
Personal Professional Accounts
One easy step is to set all your online profiles to private. Only your friends or followers have access to your profile. It makes finding personal information via Google harder.
But social media has become an invaluable instrument for sourcing and networking for employment. That's why it is often appropriate to create accounts for professional use. For example; you can keep Facebook private and use LinkedIn for professional purposes. By doing this you are able to create an online footprint while you have some control over what information others see and access.
LinkedIn is perfect for creating a personal yet professional footprint. It even lets you include personal achievements, which can add personality. (See How To Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile)
You often have to use social networking sites as part of your work. In this case you also need to think about the online brand you create. Some top tips to ensure you are able to carry out effective personal branding are:
- Make sure you are active. Take inspiration from other social networking sites.
- Familiarise yourself with what is professional to talk about in your industry.
- Focus: What do you want to become known for online?
- Always check what works and what doesn't work in social media, learn from your mistakes and repeat what works.
Conclusion
When interacting on social networking sites, remember context; input personality when and where suitable.
As an individual create a true representation of yourself that is positive. All it takes is a simple Google search to uncover things you had forgotten you had posted!
If you use social media to network, familiarize yourself with the etiquette of your industry.
Inject as much personality into online profiles as you can. After all, personality is often the key negotiator, isn't it?
What do you think? Do you have a different opinion or do you agree personality is the key to creating a great online brand? If so, let us know!