Is your personal brand present? Are people able to find you? When your brand is called are you there?
You are being Googled all of the time. Whether it is a potential employer, a new client, or even a random person you met at an event, your personal brand is being researched online. The stronger presence your brand has the faster you will be discovered. Start by clarifying for what you want to be known and create a communication plan to clearly, consistently, and constantly be present. Here are 6 tips you can apply immediately to ensure your personal brand is present.
1. Start your own blog
Ideally you should have your own blog as it becomes the ‘hub’ for your brand online. If your blog’s URL is your name, even better as it will be highly optimized on Google and people will find you. Keep in mind that once you have a blog you must maintain it, add regular content, and share it with others. If not it will get lost in the blogosphere and you will run the risk of being absent.
Related: How Blogging Will Boost Your Career [Video].
2. Share your thought-leadership
Without your own blog you can still keep your thought-leadership present by doing the following:
- Search for blogs on Technorati in your area of expertise, add to your RSS feed, and make it a habit to comment on blog posts.
- Use Quora to respond to questions.
- Join groups on LinkedIn and add ideas to generate discussions.
- Use Google+ Sparks as a drill-down tool for news and for keeping up on subjects you’re really into.
3. Join or start a ‘Meetup’
Meetup is online social networking portal that facilitates offline group meetings in various localities around the world. Meetup allows members to find and join groups unified by a common interest. Find a gap in thought-leadership in your vicinity and start your own Meetup. It is the perfect way to take your online brand and make it physically present in the real world!
4. Create a video presence
Video is an excellent way to ensure your brand is visually present. Ideally you want to create a video series to post on YouTube, Vimeo, Vidcaster and other sites, but a simple and great starting point is videoBIO’s DIY tool. Content is king and the DIY tool from videoBIO provides an easy to use dashboard and branded video page to easily create and post self-produced videos. I am currently hosting a 30-day Vlogathon in September where all contributors are using the videoBIO tool to record quick video posts to share their tips, strategies, and thought-leadership.
5. Communicate in ‘real-time’
Be active in social media. It is not necessary to communicate on every social media channel. In other words, don’t be present everywhere just to be present as in the end you will wind up spreading yourself too thin. Determine which ones work best for you. Make your life easier by joining Hootsuite or Hellotxt and use them as a central platform to spread your presence across all the channels with one a couple clicks.
6. Be a resource for others
Once you find other blogs to follow and comment on, take it a step further and contact the blog owner to ask about writing a guest post or being a featured expert. Bloggers are always looking for good content. Use this as an opportunity to be present across an already well-established blog community.
Do you have any other tips to make sure your personal brand is present when it is called upon? Please share below!
Image: Shutterstock
