Personal branding – it’s all the rage. Working hard to make sure that everything that shows up online – social media and everything else – reflects well on you and paints an accurate picture of who you are. But there a few things that often go overlooked when considering working on a personal brand. 6 Personal Branding Must-Dos 1. Updating: Stay on top of your various online presences and what they say about you.
If you have a job title change, be sure to update it in all of your bios. If that profile photo more than 10 years old its time to update it – everywhere. 2. Social media and SM connections: Reevaluate all of you social media presences. Do they all still make sense to tell your story? Are there others you should be on?
Evaluate your connections for quality. Be sure that anyone looking at who you’re connected to is not going to be less than impressed. To read more on this topic, see Quality SM connections for personal branding 3. Blogging: Writing and regularly posting to a blog is viewed by some as a bit of a vanity pastime. They could not be more wrong.
To claim extra internet real estate, show off some expertise or to simply get found in Google search results – it’s hard to beat the power of a blog. To read more on this topic, see Blogging for personal branding 4. Your focus: Yes, you’re focused on things you can do to your personal brand stand out, but ultimately your success in social media is mostly about how social you are and how others perceive you.
To that end make your time on social mostly about others. Be helpful: help others connect, help others learn and most of all notice, and comment on, the hard work of others.
It’s the No. 1 commandment here: 10 Commandments for Social Media 5. Get uncomfortable: It’s easy to stick to connecting to people we know; to interact with people like us. But the real secret sauce of social media is the opportunity to meet people all over the world who have interesting stories to share. Make a point of connecting to at least one intriguing Twitter or other social network account per week and look for ways to interact with the account-holder. You’ll be surprised where this might lead in terms of connections down the road. 6. Get real: Finally, but most importantly you need to turn all this online activity in something in the real world or IRL as the kids say). Massive effort on social media is not worth a hill of beans if you don’t make new connections in the real world. How to do this? Look for opportunities to attend meetups. Suggest your own meetup. If you’re visiting a different city or even a different country let your connections know and offer to buy coffee so you can meet.
It truly is a very gratifying and fun experience to meet someone you’ve been connected to on social media for years to finally meet them in real life…. There you have it: Six often overlooked keys to stronger personal branding wit social media and other online presences. Do you have other suggestions? I’d love to hear them.
Building or improving your personal brand can seem like facing a massive mountain. But some strategic use of social media can help anyone improve their personal brand – or the collective impression online search results speak about who you are. One of the best places to start? A blog.
Now a blog doesn’t need to be a massive undertaking. Think of it as a one-step-at-a-time approach to making a name for yourself or being an expert about something. There are all kinds of theories about how to decide what your blog should be about and how to make it successful for personal branding. Here are some of the best pieces of advice I’ve seen: 15 Tips for a Successful Personal Branding Blog 1. Pick a blogging platform or a free website tool that is easy to work with. For a starter list of platforms see 5 Free Blogging Platforms to Start a New Blog in 2015. 2. Make it about something you care about so you’re more likely to keep it going. 3. Write about an aspect of your industry OR make it about something you can have a lot to say about. Which means as long as you write an informative and enthusiastic blog it will get a following and get you some attention. 4. Keep blog posts in the 250-500 word range. Shorter than that and it may not get indexed. Longer than that and it may not get read. 5. Stick with it. In other words post regularly (something I’m guilty of not doing this year) – perhaps once a week or twice a month at a minimum. 6. Plan how you will share your blog – this could mean via social media accounts and/or via email. And make sure social sharing buttons are always on your blog posts so others can share a post. 7. Join a blogging network – a place where members share each other’s posts- or find another place that welcomes blog sharers. See 15 Places You Should Be Sharing Your Blog Posts. 8. Discover sources of illustrative artwork for your blog. A blog post with at least one image is twice as likely to get attention and be shared by others. For a list of 20 sites and some good how-to-use-art tips see 20 Free Blog Graphics Sites and How To Customize Images For Your Blog. 9. Write out in a single sentence what the blog is about. Then a list of topics it will cover. Refer back to this list regularly 10. Develop a posting calendar. It can be flexible, but it takes a lot of pressure away to know what your next five to 10 posts will be about. 11. Be patient. All blogs take a little time to get established and win an audience. 12. Include two or more internal links to exterior, deeper content. 13. Be sure to include links to your previous posts – two or three per post once you have a catalog of posts. 14. Check to see how the blog displays in various browsers. 15. Interact with those who comment on your blog and, if necessary, delete spam comments. So, do you have a blog? Will you start a blog? Will it be something you’ll add to your social media activities on a regular basis? Related post: Quality SM connections for personal branding Personal branding – don’t leave it to chance The Importance of Personal Branding for College Students #infographic
Using social media to help your personal brand stand out is a smart move, but where do you start? Can I suggest a blog?
Here then is the fourth installment of my personal branding series of blogs (links to the previous three are at the end of this post).
5 key steps to get you off to a good start with a blog: 1. Pick a topic that is uniquely you: Think passion and interests: You will not be able to sustain a blog on a topic that you don’t feel strongly about. And you should define the scope of your topic. Think Goldilocks and The Three Bears: Something that’s not too big and not too small. For example, don’t just decide to write about public relations, but maybe about public relations for non-profits who are looking to include social media. Then you should be able to sum up your blog’s purpose in a single-sentence elevator pitch that spells out why your blog is unique (and therefore worth following).
2. Be authentic: Write about what you know, what you find out and where you find it. Be human and allow your blog to grow intellectually as you grow. Become THE expert over time. Followers will gravitate to a blog that is making a journey they can tag along for. Be sure to link to appropriate sources and give credit where it’s due.
3. Be smart: . Post your best work. There will be posts that need more time for review and rewriting. Make sure you have several blog posts on the go so that you can keep to a posting schedule. But, also, don’t over-second-guess yourself. No post will ever be perfect. Listen to that inner voice. If you think you’ll regret a post a week from now don’t post it. Also make sure your posts inside the magical 250- to 750-word range so that search engine spiders will find and rank your posts.
4. Be interesting and/or newsworthy: This is easily said, but maybe not so easily done, right? What’s interesting? I found this definition at YourDictionary.com. What’s newsworthy? I like the definition here at Merriam-Webster.com. If you can appeal to these main definitions of interesting and or newsworthiness you will very likely gain an audience.
5. Stick with it: A blog can be relatively easy to start and sometimes painful to maintain. You never seem to have enough time. You run out of things to write about. Some solutions? Plan an hour or so a week to write and review. Set a realistic goal (say, posting a 250-to-500-word piece weekly) and stick with it. Start a list of potential topics and keep adding to it. For each idea that becomes a post you should add two more to your list. Jot down ideas whenever they hit you. Maintain this list. Stick with it.
Bonus tips:
• Make it easy to spread share your blog: Add code (easily found in a Google search) that allows people who like your posts to share it with others across social networking and social bookmarking sites.
• Get to know your regular blog visitors: Thank them for their comments (if they leave them) and check out their blogs if they follow yours. You never know where one of these online relationships might lead to a future opportunity.
• Collaborate: Ask others to occasionally guest post on your blog and offer to reciprocate. Your name on other blogs gets it in front of fresh eyes.
• Be patient: It may take weeks or months of posting to build a following and some relationships. Just understand that it will pay off.
So, are you ready to blog? I hope you try it because as the cornerstone of a social media personal branding strategy it is hard to beat. What didn’t I mention? Please let me know.
Ideas for newbies about to jump off the lily pad and into the blogosphere Blogging can be an excellent way to get started in Social Media (providing of course you allow comments and feedback).
It’s the way for a company, organization or individual can show off knowledge, build trust and gather a following.
Here are some blogging best practices to advance your standing in Social Media.
Your own blog:
Content: Pick a niche that you can “own” and always be helpful by offering analysis, tips and useful commentary
Length: Plan to always post between 250 and 750 words for the best Search Engine Optimization (SEO) results.
Headlines: The more intriguing, the better. Consider using numbers as part of your title and consider numbers that resonate with readers. (i.e. 3, 5, 7 and 10) So, for example: The 10 Signs Your Social Media Efforts Are Paying Off
Keywords: Using your top keywords is critical so that your blog post helps with your website’s overall Search Engine ranking. Therefore always try to include keywords in the headline, hyperlinked text and all the key tag fields.
Links: Always internally link (to your own Website content and to previous, related blog content. Also link to other blogs and news that is highly relevant. This cross-linking strategy helps your blog rise up in Search Engine results.
Schedule: Treat blog posting as a routine – no less than one post per week is good; two per week would be better. Create an editorial calendar built around topics that will be of high interest to readers, be timely and be able to carry your keywords.
Photos or Graphics: Including at least one with a post is recommended when possible. Use your keywords in the image "alt" attribute when possible
Review: Always have at least one set of extra eyes – a trusted colleague or friend – review the post before it goes live. It’s your reputation at stake here.
Sharing: Use Social Media platforms, email or other methods to let people know when a new post goes live. Allow visitors to click on an RSS feed so they automatically get notified of new posts.
Comments: Be sure to acknowledge comments left on your blog. Be positive – even when commenters aren’t.
Commenting on others’ blogs
Be thoughtful: Reference what helped you and try to add value to the original post.
Regularity: By commenting regularly on a few blogs you will establish a relationship with that blogger and their audience.
Linking: Add links in your commetns rarely and with great care so you don’t appear to be merely a self-promoter. If you are linking to content of your own, be sure it is very relevant to the topic at hand. Consider including linking to other blogs
Personal branding – it’s all the rage. Working hard to make sure that everything that shows up online – social media and everything else – reflects well on you and paints an accurate picture of who you are.
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