1. Use a professional photo of yourself and use it
consistently on all of your online profiles. Using the same
photo helps potential clients and the media recognize you. Using cropped or
unprofessional photos can really hurt your image. If it was taken on your cell phone,
it shouldn't be your profile picture. Also, use a picture of you, and not your logo on
the accounts with your name on them. A photo of you makes you more approachable.
If you have a company page or account, logos are fine, but make sure they are correctly
sized and clear.
2. Use established social media sites. These include
MerchantCircle, Facebook, Plaxo and LinkedIn. The idea behind using social media is
for you to be reachable and visible on the sites where your clients and customers
already are. You might personally find an up-and-coming social media site to be great,
but the majority of your potential customers are on the major social media sites and
may not want to join you on a lesser known site. Don't forget the Yahoo! and Google
local business directories which can help you show up to local searchers. Beware of the
business directories that solicit your business, wanting you to pay for your listing and
promotion on their unknown site.
3. Sharpen up your resume and experience, and be
consistent. If someone is looking for you on the Internet and gets three or four
different versions of what you have been up to these past few years, they are not likely
to call you or visit your establishment. Be honest and straightforward about your
experience, awards and purpose.
4. Tweet professionally. You may have a personal Twitter or other
microblogging service where you keep up with friends and family. That's fine, but make
sure you keep your personal tweets, like the fact that you had a miserable time at the
company picnic, to yourself. Keep a separate account for your professional updates and
share information that is helpful to your readers, not just memes about how great you
are. Share tips and advice that make your readers' day better and they will return to
you when they need your professional service.
5. Use privacy controls. You might already have personal accounts on
social media sites, but these should not be synonymous with your business persona.
Use privacy controls to make sure your personal conversations and activities are not
getting in the way of your business. You can “like" a political party candidate or post
those pictures that show what a great time you had out on the town last night on your
own account but make sure you limit who can see that information.
6. Put your best foot forward by having a short
summary of who you are and what you offer. Many professional
sites have space for a summary, which allows you to highlight your strengths. This is
a great spot to point out how you are unique and how your experience and skills work
to your customer's advantage. Be creative and catchy in your self-description, but don't
sound like a braggart or unprofessional. This is your career, not a dating ad. “Licensed
Financial Advisor and Youth Volunteer" is far more likely to get you a call than “Perky
Fun Video-Gaming Gemini."
7. Consider a video interview or demo. Many sites like VisualCV,
MerchantCircle and Facebook have the ability to host short videos. These can help
highlight your abilities to your clients. For a retail location, shoot a short video
showing your establishment and describing your services. For a service-based business,
include a description of what you do, and how you do it. Trainers, coaches,
salespersons and anyone who delivers presentations as part of their job can use a short
video to show their effectiveness, humor, clarity and style. Showing your comfort
working with various groups, and your ability to deliver a message effectively over
video, is important to many career paths and for clients who want to see who they will
be working with.
8. Remember to offer information you would want to
receive as a customer. When building and reviewing your online profiles,
remember to think like your potential client or customer. Is your contact information
readily accessible? Did you include a link to your website or address of your location?
Do you clearly state the purpose and offerings you and your business have to offer?
Ease of finding information on your social media profiles is what starts the client or
customer's experience of working with you and your company. If your profiles are only
half completed or don't offer helpful information, your potential clients and customers
will assume the same is true about you and your business.
Before you start building your online presence, make sure you have the tools to do
the above steps at hand. Gather them all in one place so you can reference them
quickly. It is also better to have a few well-done social media and online profiles than
to have a multitude of incomplete profiles.
If you work in a niche market, search online to see where your competition or
similar organizations or professionals have online profiles and view their pages. That
way you can make note of what you do or don't like about their profiles, and what
seems to be working for them as they interact with their customers.
Most importantly, if you need help, find someone to help you. It may be hard to
admit that you need help with all this technology, but biting the bullet and asking for
assistance is much better than the potential of ruining your professional or business'
online reputation.
Pam Lontos is the of author of I See Your Name Everywhere: Leverage the Power
of the Media to Grow your Fame, Wealth and Success. She is president of PR/PR, a
public relations firm that has recently placed clients in The Wall Street Journal,
Cosmopolitan, Forbes and USA Today. As the former VP of Disney's Shamrock
Broadcasting, she knows how to get you great publicity to boost your business.
Martha Ciske is the Technology & Social Media Account Executive of PR/PR Public
Relations.
For a free consultation, e-mail Pam@prpr.net or call 407-299-6128. Sign up for a
free publicity tips e-newsletter at www.prpr.net.
Affluent Magazine, Steps To A Online Professional Presence
E-Commerce developer and website designer since 1995 offering the world's best guaranteed return on investment program in Internet marketing and search engine optimization.
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