digital presence Archives

Sourced from Forbes

Whether you’re applying for jobs or seeking new business opportunities, building a positive personal online brand is key. Potential employers and clients may be researching your social media to get a sense of who you are, so it’s just good practice to present yourself in the best possible light.

The members of Forbes Coaches Council know the importance of developing your personal brand on the internet, and how to use that brand to stand out to your target audience. Below, this group of experts shared 15 steps you can take to build a personal brand that’s both positive and consistent.

1. Audit Your Existing Digital Presence

Conducting a social media audit is a key step in social branding. You should be auditing past posts to ensure that there are no questionable posts. Sites like BrandYourself.com can support this. You should also Google yourself and keywords associated with your brand and/or business to ensure that you come up in searches and the sites you want to highlight (LinkedIn, personal website) appear first. – Jasmine Briggs, Creatively Inspired Coaching

2. Bring Your Personality To It

Building your personal brand means showing who you are, not just what you know. Getting known for something that’s in your area of expertise that can transfer across channels is a strong start. But don’t forget to bring your personality to it. Consider your passions outside of work and the blend of skills and talents that make you stand out and integrate that into your feed. – Sheila Goldgrab, Goldgrab Leadership Coaching

3. Aim To Contribute

Social media just amplifies the brand of “you” that anyone who meets you in person would also experience. My advice is to aim to be a contributor. Ask, “What can I contribute today that will lift a spirit, let someone laugh, give hope to someone feeling hopeless or provide a practical tool that can benefit someone right away?” Authenticity comes through in social media as it does in person. – April Armstrong, AHA Insight

4. Know Your Strengths

When we know our strengths and come from that purview, we show up more authentically. We cannot be all things to all people or situations, and showing up from our genuine selves is unbeatable. This can be seen in our narratives, articles that we choose to highlight and people and companies we follow. – Sandy Lewis, Positive Shift Coaching

5. Go Where Your Prospects Are

To build a positive online brand, you have to be out there on the social media platforms your prospects and clients are using. Establish both personal and company profiles and pages, following best practices, and be sure they reflect your brand and feel engaging and authentic. Then post relevant content you think is interesting. Avoid being sales-y or over-focusing on your products and/or services. Deliver value. – Jennifer Wilson, ConvergenceCoaching, LLC

6. Use A Purposeful Filter

Everything you do on social media contributes to your personal online brand. With that in mind, be very deliberate and purposeful about every tweet, like, post, snap and blog. Ask yourself before you hit enter: Will this contribute in a positive way to my brand? Does this add or detract from the legacy I am creating? Would I want someone to read this about me 12 months from now? – Paul N Larsen, Find Your VOICE as a Leader ™

7. Identify And Communicate The Problem You Solve

A crucial part of personal branding is getting clear about the problem you can solve. If you don’t know, invest the time to figure it out. Don’t use generic fluff words to describe your strengths. Instead, get clear about one or two things you are dominant in and communicate that with consistency throughout your brand. Own your expertise and realize that it is what’s valuable to the market. – Jean Ali Muhlbauer, People at Work

8. Learn How To Engage In Difficult Online Conversations

When you become “internet active,” your opinions might trigger other people. No social media is free from haters. It is easy to lose composure and reply in a way that doesn’t promote your brand. Engage in strong discussions carefully. Try to label their emotions using inoffensive phrases like “It looks like you might…,” “It sounds like you would like to…,” and just kill them with your kindness. – Inga Bielińska, Inga Bielinska Coaching Consulting Mentoring

9. Request Quality References And Referrals

Have others toot your horn. Most of my business is based on referrals from current or previous clients. In my contracts, we require a video and written reference and quality referrals. We often repurpose the video testimonials when we want to promote a particular program. We have our clients post the reference on LinkedIn and speak directly to their experience and why others should work with us. – A. Margot Brisky, ELDA4U, LLC

10. Tell Stories That Help Other People

The world needs more people who openly talk about their ups, downs, successes, lessons learned and funny stories from their business and life. Don’t post to brag and to look impressive on social media. Don’t spread any gossip and negativity. Be human and create content to help other people. Make it about them. Remember: One post can change a person’s life. This should make you show up daily. – Dr. Natalia Wiechowski, Think Natalia

11. Find A Mentor

One practical step is to find a role model that demonstrates a positive personal online brand. Look through your contacts and see who is doing this well. Reach out to that person and ask them to advise you while you develop your social media presence and brand. Recently I’ve been working with a group of colleagues where we help each other evaluate our brand messages and how these show up online. – Cindy Stack, Whole-Life Leader

12. Run Your Posts Through The ‘Job Interview’ Test

If you’re in a job interview or phone screening call, would you feel free to communicate the content of your social media to the job interviewer? Typically what I post on social media I would have no problem communicating in a job interview. If you have to edit your word choices for the purpose of the job interview, then you may need to reconsider your word choices for social media. – Vince Morales, CPC, MCC, Zoe Transformation Coaching & Consulting

13. Know Your Narrative

What are the topics or themes you want to be known for? What kind of ideas or work really represent you —especially the “you” you’re striving to become? Human beings crave clarity, and to help others see you as you want to be seen, you need to know your own narrative, or story line, first. Then, only post, share and comment on items that are consistent with your narrative—resist the rest. – Darcy Eikenberg, PCC, Red Cape Revolution

14. Think About The Emotions You Want Your Audience To Feel

When branding oneself, particularly to be attractive to employers, consider the feeling you want them to experience when they see you on social. Not all emotions are created equal and that’s a good thing. Do you want them to have felt a sense that you are confident, warm, quick-witted, organized or any one of hundreds of other feelings? Start there and back into what you present and post! – Michele Davenport, MOSAIC COACHING SOLUTIONS

15. Create A Real Brand With A Tagline, Mission And Look

Think of yourself as a company. What is your mission (what you are up to)? What is your tagline (how you want to be remembered)? What does your brand look like (graphic representation)? Have your personal business card, social media headers, resume and email signature all match this message and look. – Christy Geiger MCC, CPCC, Synergy Strategies Coaching & Training

Sourced from Forbes

By Michelle Van Slyke

When it comes to business, patching your problems just won’t cut it. Find out how to handle three hard moves entrepreneurs frequently push off.

There’s a lot of pressure for small-business owners to be masters of every aspect of their business. This is especially true when you’re first starting out and are often a one-person shop. A recent survey by The UPS Store found that one of the biggest barriers to starting a small business in 2018 was fear of failure, behind concerns about financial security.

With somewhat limited resources and fear of failing, small-business owners will often push challenging tasks to the back burner. This may work out in the short term, but it won’t lead to long-term success. Think of your business like the roof of a house. Are there problems you’ve been patching up instead of completely repairing? It’s time to invest the time and resources, replace the roof and address your problems head-on. It may not be easy or cheap, but in the long run it will help you be successful.

The three most common holes entrepreneurs frequently patch up include: marketing, recruiting and investing in digital.

Marketing will retain and grow your customer base.

Are you stuck in a rut trying the same marketing tactics again and again? It’s time to branch out and try some new things. If you’ve been unsure how to start, begin by figuring out who your customers are.

The starting point can be as simple as talking to your customers. Find out what they’re watching and reading, what social platforms they’re using, what they are interested in, etc. Once you know them, you’ll better know how to reach them. For example, social media can be a cost-effective and targeted way to reach customers. Using images, videos and other multimedia, you can demo products, advertise promotions and engage with your customers directly.

Start with existing customers, but remember to keep in mind the type of customers you want to attract, too. By doing this, you’ll be able to focus your marketing efforts on things that matter instead of spreading yourself thin.

Recruit the partners and employees your business needs.

Have you put off recruiting or outsourcing to get the help you need to run your business? Don’t be afraid to ask for help!

Start off by clearly outlining the support you need to better run your business. Do you need someone with web design skills or someone to help with your finances? This is support you may be able to find from another small-business owner that specializes in these areas. Local small-business organizations and LinkedIn are great resources for discovering talented partners with desired qualifications. There’s a sea of people ready to help.

Are you looking for support in the day-to-day running of your business? Then it’s time to hire an employee. Once you get a few potential applicants, invite them in for an interview. An in-person interview can tell you much more about a candidate than a phone interview. Once you find the right candidate for your business, be sure to take the time to train her. If you’ve trained her and trust in her ability to run the daily operations, you can take a step back to focus on other priorities while knowing everything is in good hands.

Invest in your digital presence.

How does your front door look? I’m not talking about your actual door — I’m talking about your website.

Research shows that 88 percent of consumers pre-research their buys online before making a purchase either online or in-store. That means there’s a lot of potential for your website to drive traffic to your business.

You can look for a partner to help you, but there are also many cost-efficient and easy-to-use website builders. Most sites make content management simple and come with recommended formats and layouts. By utilizing these, you’ll make it easy on customers searching for your company or wanting to learn more about you. Similarly, make sure your social media presence is up to date — especially as more and more customers are turning to social media for customer service.

Making these hard moves may seem intimidating, but in the long run they have great potential to help your business be more effective and successful.

Feature Image credit: Hero Images | Getty Images