If you are interested in working with your personal brand, the best thing you can do is take advantage of all the resources offered by social networks to enhance it. The personal brand means that relate to your profession, that position you as an expert and you are able to sell. Is it necessary to be present in all? Does the personal brand work in the same way in all social networks? We will answer this and other questions, along with tips to help you boost your personal brand.
What social networks do I have to use for my personal brand?
For this question there is no only valid answer. It depends on the message you want to transmit. We recommend that you, at least, consider these three: LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+. But you could also work your personal brand on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest, for example. Each of them gives you different advantages, so the ideal is to think about your goals and identify the best way to achieve them.
There are a number of guidelines common to all social networks to take care of your personal brand:
- Use your real name and try to create the username is the same
- Choose a suitable profile photo: that it has good quality, that to look good (better face), without objects that distract attention and that is in accordance with the message you want to convey (seriousness, closeness, etc.)
- Place keywords in the description. It will make it easier for you to find you in the searches.
In addition to these general guidelines, each social network offers you its particular options. Let’s see how you can enhance your personal brand in each of them.
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LinkedIn for personal branding
We place it first because it is the social network in which every professional should be. It allows you to create a profile in which you can include all aspects of your resume: professional experience, studies, knowledge, skills, publications, etc. It is important that the information is complete and have it updated.
In each section, you have the option of adding audiovisual content (a photo or a video); take advantage of this option and complete the information with images. You can also take advantage of the header image to provide a differentiating element. You can put some image that represents you or simply use your corporate color as background.
Do not forget to personalize the URL: it adds value and will be much better when you hang up the link. Regarding the privacy settings, we recommend that at least the photo and the summary of your profile be public. If not, you will lose too much visibility and it will be difficult to find you.
The goal is not just to take care of your profile, but also have to be related. In addition to accepting applications that are interesting for your profession, try to contact other related professionals and with referents of your sector. We recommend that you personalize the requests; it will be very useful to differentiate you from others. As in any social network, we must grow our community. In LinkedIn, the best profiles are those that have more than 500 contacts.
LinkedIn offers us the options of having our contacts validate our attitudes or write recommendations. Try to get a few for your profile. They have to be real, of course. To receive validations, a good option is to start giving. Validate some attitudes of your contacts and chances are that more than one will return the favor.
Of course, be careful with what and to whom you valid because your photo will appear. If you validate something that is a lie, your image may be harmed. And you probably do not have to resort to falsifying data since there will be options in your contacts that you can be honest with. If you want to receive recommendations, you can send a message to people who have worked with you and ask them to write you a recommendation.
Another way we have to position ourselves as experts on LinkedIn is to participate in the groups. Look for those that are related to your profession become a member and share valuable content and interact. In addition to improving your personal brand, it is a great networking opportunity.
As you can see, the options to boost your personal brand on LinkedIn are many and varied. You will have to spend some time but the result will be worth it.
Twitter for personal brand
Without a doubt, a very important option to consider for promoting your personal brand. It will allow you to demonstrate what you know about your sector and keep up to date with all the news that is produced. How? Tweeting the most important news every day, connecting with other professionals and offering content of value. It is about managing your profile as if it were for a brand. You must share the articles of your blog but also those of others (always mentioning) that offer interesting content.
You must be very active, posting several tweets every day and interacting with others (responds, retweet and give favorites to others’ tweets). Follow the people that interest you professionally, return the follow to those who follow you in your sector; in short, take care and grow your community.
As for the design of your profile, in addition to the recommendations we gave you before, take the opportunity to link to your website or blog and combine the keywords you include in the biography with a description that is attractive. Do not neglect the header image. Use one that helps you enhance your personal brand (image of something that represents your profession).
As in brands, it is important that you humanize your profile. You do not need to post only professional content. You can also leave a space to tweet other topics that interest you or worry. Always use close language and show your kindest side.
Google+ for personal branding
The main contribution of Google+ to your personal brand is that it is the social network that is most favorable to the positioning and that more visibility is going to give to your content. Whenever you post an article on your blog, hang it on Google+. You can also share content from others by mentioning them.
Do not just hang up articles. Contact other professionals and see increasing and taking care of your community. Comment, share and give +1 to other publications. The equivalents of LinkedIn groups are Google+ communities. Look for those that are related to your sector and be active in them.
As for the profile, you should have it optimized. Add a professional header photo and a link to your website. Although the proportions of the header images are different for each social network, one option is to start from the same design and adapt it to each size. Also look for a corporate color that represents your personal brand and use it.
These three are the main social networks that you must work to enhance your personal brand. You can also consider using others, but if you choose Facebook, for example, keep in mind that you will have to give it professional and not personal use.
The content you share should be mostly related to your profession (although there will always be a space for content of personal interest and to humanize your profile) and the images you use should be adequate. Your contacts have to be mostly professional. Keep an eye on the activity you do with other friends because it can be visible and control what others post in your profile or the images in which you are tagged.
Something similar happens with Instagram. You can use it to humanize your brand but without losing the perspective of professional use. It is good that you share photos of a beautiful landscape of your vacations but it would not party photos or moments of your private life.
Are you trying to boost your personal brand? What social networks do you use?
Image source: forbes, entrepreneur