There are countless ways to build your personal brand, but these facets are merely just single snowflakes expected to melt in your fingertips if they lack the connectivity of a unified personal branding platform.
Your personal branding platform is your raised surface above your competitors allowing you to share your voice and establish leadership. By adding consistency into the mix, you can present a unified personal branding platform to further engage your audience to facilitate lasting relationships.
Before getting into how to merge together your online presence, be sure you have set up a solid foundation for your personal brand by conquering these first two tips:
Step 1: Find your strengths
Recognizing your strengths from the very beginning will allow you to realize the ways in which you want to present your brand. Rather than focusing on your current role, pay special attention to what you can do better than others. Roles are temporary, especially in this economy. Your strengths, not your title, are the foundation of your personal brand. You may already be well aware of what you are good at, but take the time to ask others you have worked with to either confirm your own opinions or to create new ones. Asking for recommendations can help you discover what others see in you. Your unique qualities will be the backbone of your unified message.
Step 2: Establish a theme
Even if you have multiple endeavors occurring simultaneously, be sure to have a consistent overall mission or theme. There is nothing wrong with branching out into new territories, but stay true to your goals, your brand, and your industry. Ask yourself what you want to be known for and go from there. Once your theme is visible, you can unify your message throughout all of your mediums. Share your story through your social media accounts in a consistent way, addressing different needs with each outlet.
Fusing your social media strategy
Once you have determined your strengths and overall theme, begin considering the four major social media platforms and what their main purposes are:
LinkedIn. This platform allows you to showcase your skills and expertise by presenting your professional history and background.
Twitter. Join the conversation by letting your voice be heard using #hashtags specific to your niche or industry.
Facebook. With Timeline, you can visually express your brand by choosing a thoughtful profile picture and cover photo. Also, “like” pages in your area of expertise and join relevant groups.
Blog. This is your central hub to share your very own personal insight. Your personal blog is your content creation providing original tips, advice, and opinions.
With each social media account you have the opportunity to diversify your message.
Here are some tips to successfully merge your connections in a strategic way:
- Keep bios consistent. Think of your online “about me” as your brief elevator pitch describing who you are and what value you have to add. Incorporate certain keywords specific to your area of expertise and include these defining words in all of your bios. Also, be sure your website is included in your biography sections to provide more information.
- Distribute your original content. If your goal in mind is to become a thought leader in your industry, use your blog to your utmost advantage. Share your original content through all of your social media accounts to filter your targeted audience to you and your brand.
- Link to connect engagers. Linking is the simplest form of guiding your viewers to where you want them to go. In addition to linking users back to your own content, give credit to other experts, as well. This ever-connecting network can be developed by sharing links throughout your personal branding platform. Also, you can track traffic created by your links with bitly.com and other online sharing tools.
- Leverage your platform. There are many online tools to help you better manage your social media accounts to keep them consistent and fluent. Try tools like Hootsuite to make the unification process a little easier.
Build your personal brand from the ground up. With a solid foundation from the very beginning, unifying your personal brand can be a simple and enjoyable task!
