3 Easy Ways to Strengthen Your Online Brand Identity

Your personal brand is nothing more (or less) than the image you project to others.  It’s the whole (although abbreviated) picture of who you are and what you do–professionally.  Online, it’s the sum of the parts.  A large (maybe the whole) purpose of creating and maintaining an online brand is so that people who don’t know you (employers or potential clients/business partners) can discover you, evaluate whether they wanna meet you/work with you/recommend you.  And that’s why it’s a big deal.

Be the candidate who stands out from the crowd.

Your online brand is your first impression for people, position leads, or opportunities that you might miss if it’s not anything it could be.  And, it’s definitely a piece of the puzzle for these who have met you in person and are looking to discover out more.  If you don’t think a hiring manager is going to look around online for more information about you before they make the offer, you’re seriously misguided.

So, what can you do to make sure your online brand identity is a strong recommendation for why someone should hire you?

1.  Use every territory to establish a presence. Although LinkedIn is my favorite online networking site, you should also incorporate Twitter, Facebook, Visual CV, and others.  (One article says that you should “cybersquat as much social real estate as possible” to both strengthen your online brand and to combat social identity theft.)  Make totally certain that every site provides a professional profile with dynamic words that describe who you’re and what you do.

2.  Make sure your pictures are professional and consistent. Attach a head-and-shoulders professional photo to each of your online pages.  Having the same photo on all sites will help those who don’t know you recognize you.  And please remove the too-personal images of you with your friends at the party, or you at your political function, or anything else that could cause controversy.  If you’re trying to land a job in clinical or health care sales, you want potential employers to concentrate on your position skills without everything else getting in the way.

3.  Participate. Join groups and discussions, and try to share something of value to help others.  Always keep your brand in mind as you contribute your thoughts and ideas.  (It’s not hiding the “real you,” it’s simply keeping a public face that’s separate from your intimate one.  Or, to put it another way…there’s a lot you wouldn’t say in front of your grandmother that you wouldn’t hesitate to say in front of your friends.  Think of cyberspace as your grandmother. )  You decide how you want people to see you, and develop a consistent theme.  It presents a unified, clear, positive image to the rest of the world that will pay off for you in your career.

Article courtesy of  Peggy McKee - Owner / Senior Recruiter at the nationally
recognized medical and pharmaceutical revenue recruiting team of PHC Consulting.
© Copyright 2008 PHC Consulting | All rights reserved

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3 Easy Ways to Strengthen Your Online Brand Identity