A Connected World means A Connected You

A Connected World means A Connected You

It’s no secret that social media is intuitive, global, interactive and most importantly real-time.  Based on this context it is changing behaviors with consumers, individuals and groups spanning personal, government, business, consumer and social networks.  With the power of the real-time communication affecting behaviors there is an overwhelming case for how your personal brand is being fueled.

People need to seize the social media social for five reasons.

• Virtual advocacy of your own brand, driving authentic messages 24/7
• One stop shop - Increases the speed of connection simultaneously with friends, peers, professionals, customers, and the broader public.
• Real-time mean increasing your speed to market on your brand presence.
• Low-cost and low barrier to entry - build your personal brand, communicating who you and what you stand for are both within your personal and professional networks.
• Transparency – Allows you to define who you and consistently shape you brand by providing a platform to learn from instant information, transparency and sometimes brutal feedback.

Branding, Engagement & Learning – Foundation to your Brand

Social media (as defined by social media website Wikipedia) are “media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques web-based technologies to transform and broadcast media monologues into social media dialogues.”

Now that you understand the benefits of developing a social media presence, where should you start?

It helps to look at the two areas of social media activity when building your personal brand—personal and professional. Additionally building your brand through key messages; engagement on key topics that drive your brand and learning from feedback and key themes in how you present yourself.

To formulate your personal brand’s social media strategy, you need to answer the following sets of questions:

• Are your goals personal, professional, or both?
• Do you have similar views or different views between how you want to present yourself in the two areas?  
• Think about the three areas of social media: branding, engagement, and learning, what you are hoping to achieve in each?
• What are the characteristics of your brand will drive authenticity?

The answers to these questions can help you choose the right combination of content, platforms and channels decide how much time to devote to each to build you brand.  Social is about connections, meaningful and relevant connections so continuity is important to fueling your brand.  Once you start you must continue the virtual advocacy of your brand.  Breakthrough the clutter and make a name for yourself.