Week 70: Personal Branding 101 – #AlphaFemaleFriday
“ WEEK 70 / 133 – 133 WEEKS TO SUCCESS ”
Have you ever Googled yourself and been surprised with the results, or lack thereof? You shouldn’t ever have to be surprised. We can’t always control what is posted about us on the internet, but we can control what WE post. This is the art of personal branding. When it comes to personal branding, keep these 5 key points in mind:
- Always Complete Your Profiles
Incomplete profiles can be a red flag to potential employers or new connections who might otherwise want to connect with you. They might wonder why it’s so blank, optimistically hoping you just didn’t get around to completing the task or were technically unware of how to do so. On the other hand, they might think you’re just downright lazy. Don’t let them think the worst of you or have to make excuses for you. Completing a profile to its fullest is the first simple step to personal branding.
- Keep Your Names Consistent
Do you have varying handles throughout your social media accounts? Keep it professional and consistent, and if you’re rather paranoid (although I hope you would never have to be), keep certain profiles private or limited to who can view or comment on it.
- Link Your Profiles
When I write a post on Alpha Female Society, I also link it to post on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Tumblr. By posting on one site, I can effectively post on all of the social media outlets I am on through simply linking the profiles. Don’t be a stranger, and the way to not be a stranger is to complete your profiles, keep your names consistent, and thereby effectively link your profiles.
- Personalize Your Messages
I do love getting LinkedIn requests. I do not love getting vague, impersonalized requests to connect with them on LinkedIn. Whether you’re connecting with someone on LinkedIn or bidding for a client’s business, make it personal. It’s something that you would appreciate and notice, and it’s an easy way to make someone else’s day.
- Tunnel Vision
You can catch the Central Park horses walking down busy avenues in Manhattan with blinders on their eyes. At this point, I wonder if it’s even necessary to shield them with the plastic blinders when they can clearly hear (and smell…oh boy, that smell…) all the cars, pedestrians, and bikers weaving around them. Either way, you don’t want to be that Central Park horse on 11th Avenue, completely out of their element and galloping along. All of your senses need to be open in order to absorb the world around you and have key insights about that world. Keep that in mind when it comes to social media and personal branding, and always make it about the “personal” and in personal branding.
Cheers,
Kelly
@AlphaFemSociety tweets by @KellyRGonzales
About:
Each week, I take a tip from Lois P. Frankel’s book, Nice Girls Still Don’t Get the Corner Office, and explore how each of these tips affect myself and other women in similar positions on the road to becoming the women we want to be. There are far and few between who are a few steps behind me, and many more who are far advanced. I found that Lois P. Frankel’s advice applied to novice, intermediates, and experts alike. It helped me see that I was already doing right, served as a reminder to keep on doing what I was doing and how to keep that momentum going. The book also showed me areas where I could improve, and gave realistic tips to jump on board. There are a total of 133 tips, and explore one tip per week in a program I call: 133 Weeks to Success.
Join the movement using the hashtag #133WeeksToSuccess with posts which are posted every #AlphaFemaleFriday.
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