Building Your Personal Brand with Social Media
Posted February 24, 2014 & filed under Job Search
From businesses to entrepreneurs and celebrities, everyone has a personal brand. And as a job seeker, you are essentially a salesperson who is promoting your personal brand to employers. Your particular skills are unique to your experience and accomplishments – they are the primary products and services that you must sell. You can do this by creating an attractive presence on social media sites that leave employers calling out for you to join their ranks.
Marketing and advertising agencies make their living off of building the personal brands of companies, and social media is arguably one of their most powerful tools. But you don’t need a team of graphic and web designers to craft the perfect marketing campaign. You just need to follow these simple tips.
Know Your Goals
Like any marketing strategy, requirements gathering always comes first. To formulate and implement a proper strategy, ask yourself these questions:
What are my career goals?
Where do I want to be in six months? A year? Five years?
What are my strongest skills, traits, and accomplishments?
What are companies in my industry looking for in a candidate?
Market Your Personal Brand by Contributing
Celebrities obtain parts in movies not only because they have the looks and skills, but because they are in the limelight. For many, their social media presence plays a large part in this picture.
But before you go posting inappropriate selfies captioned with random thoughts on life, take a look at the people making an impact in the social media realm. While it is unlikely that you will ever become as large an influencer as Richard Branson or Bill Gates, you can still elevate your presence by contributing on social media sites.
Get active in LinkedIn groups that are relevant to your industry. Write content, industry news, products reviews, etc. that showcase your particular expertise in the industry. By spreading your content using Twitter and LinkedIn, you can effectively broadcast your knowledge and skills to a growing number of followers and contacts.
Start A Personal Website
The content that you contribute to social media sites can lead employers back to your personal website. Your site doesn’t have to be an official news site, and can be as simple as www.yourname.com. It can act as an online resume that employers can explore to learn about what you can do for them. Just make sure that your skills, work history, and accomplishments are easy to find.
Add A Human Element
Remember that although you are looking to sell your skills to a company, your personality must accompany them. When a company hires a candidate, they look for a fit in personality as well as skills. So add an element of humanism to your persona brand to become a likable, qualified job candidate.
By Kevin Withers
