Northwinds

What Brand of Professional Are You?

Posted on 14. Apr, 2010 by ashley in The Strategist, Web Ready

Personal vs. Professional

When you think of a company like Apple, you may think of innovation. Or when you think of Geico, you might think of a customer friendly atmosphere. Just like a company, you have your own personal brand. When your customers think of you they think of certain traits and qualities that they associate with you as a business partner. With the growing popularity of social networking, it is becoming increasingly important to keep a tight reign over the image you’re sending over the internet. Developing and maintaining a strong personal brand through sites such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs can strengthen the positive image your customers associate with you.

While developing your personal brand it is important to make sure that you are representing yourself in a professional manner, through every portal your clients have access to. There can be a very thin line between personal and professional, however it is crucial to realize the difference. When you are creating an account you need to decide if it is going to be for personal or professional use and make sure that they do not intertwine.

Depending on the personal presentation you wish to portray to your clients, you may be more relaxed and casual. Even if you wish to present yourself more informally, you will want to keep in mind the qualities that your clients value. Clients that value dependability and a strong work ethic will not appreciate messages on Twitter about the terrors of the Monday morning meeting or your score on Farmville. At the same time clients that appreciate a more customer friendly aura may appreciate you letting your lighter side or personal interests show through your social networking tools.

Whatever brand you choose to communicate; consistency is crucial when using social networking sites. If you do not enforce the same message through your Facebook, Twitter, Blog, etc. it can reflect on you as an inconsistent or unorganized person.

Facebook can be a very useful tool for building your personal brand; however it can be difficult to keep strictly professional. Here are five easy suggestions for branding yourself on Facebook:

• Keep separate accounts for your personal and professional Facebook pages
• Add your friends and applications selectively
• Join groups that relate to your professional interests
• Look for networking events
• Network appropriately with friends and colleagues

You should think of your Facebook page and all other social media sites as an online representation of yourself. You should not friend request as many people as possible, instead request those that are in your professional or interested network. You should also think about friend requesting business contacts associated with your target market to create new opportunities.

However if you do have a large number of friends you should develop a fan page so that you can direct some of your friends to that page. A fan page will allow you to have more friends than a profile page. Developing a fan page will also allow you to use your original page for more personal use, while the fan page signifies your professional self. If you choose to create a fan page you should be cautious of the extension of your friends to that page, risking the more personal relationship established on your profile page.

Use LinkedIn and Facebook to your advantage and join groups that relate to your profession or are of interest to you. Joining these groups and events can bring exceptional networking opportunities. It can also be beneficial to join groups or associations that your clients or potential clients are a member of. Learning about the interests of your target market can become very useful. (A value-added feature to LinkedIn also allows you to see who searched and viewed your profile. Worth the nominal fee.)

While interacting on Facebook it is important to monitor your page. As mentioned earlier, you are representing yourself as a professional, therefore you should not have inappropriate photos or comments located anywhere on your page. This does not just include what you are posting, but what your friends and fans are posting to your site as well. These people are associated with you, and inappropriate posts may be reflecting poorly to your other clients. Be selective of your settings as to whether you want to allow people to post to your page or not.

Twitter is another tool that can help build your personal brand. Twitter is not as complex as Facebook, but can be a powerful self-marketing tool when used effectively and appropriately. Like Facebook, you may choose to separate your personal and professional accounts on Twitter. You may include a tweet about your nightlife on your personal Twitter account, while your professional account would include information such as welcoming a new client or product.

If you choose to have multiple accounts you should consider using a tool such as “Hootsuite” to help you manage your accounts. Hootsuite will allow you to schedule tweets, find out what people are saying about your brand, as well as integrate your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts.

To help develop your personal brand on Twitter you can use tools such as hash tags, lists, trending, and list events you are hosting or attending. Hash tagging something is as simple as including the # symbol before a key word, it will allow you to spread and organize your information. Similar to Facebook this will help with your professional networking. Lists will allow you to bunch together other Twitter users so that you can track their activity. Trending will allow you to see common trends within the Twitter world.

Writing a blog can help build your personal brand significantly. It allows readers to connect with you and hear your voice online with more depth than Facebook or Twitter will allow. While writing a professional blog it is important to remember that you are not only representing yourself but your business as well. Where Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter cast your personal brand out, blogs are where you can really show off your knowledge and expertise and set the hook on a prospective customer, business or boss.

When blogging you should represent your business in a positive light. Acceptable topics include business news, activities, and events however it is important to be cautious of your language. For example you would not want to include slang or offensive words and check your spelling and grammar. Blogs are also a conductive environment for voicing and often venting opinions. You should be cautious when doing this on topics that may be regarded as sensitive or controversial to potential customers.

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and blogs are only four of the countless social media tools that can help you develop your personal brand. As long as you use them effectively and present yourself professionally these tools offer great opportunities that you can easily afford since they are free, but cannot afford to miss out on.

Tags: Branding, Facebook, Linked In, Personal Branding, Social Networks, twitter