Brand YOU: Making Social Media Your BFF

By: Rochelle Moulton

Your on-line personal brand can be one of two things to your career: Catalyst or Saboteur.

Catalyst is better.

And nothing revs up that engine faster than some savvy social media.

Done right — it’s the bomb.

You can make social media your BFF with a few (mostly) simple tips.

BFF Social Media Tip #1: It’s All Strategic Baby

Would you job-hunt or start a business without a strategy? I didn’t think so.

Starting with a clear goal in mind will keep you focused when the last thing you want to do is tweet. Keep it simple. Building a platform for your ideas and thought leadership. Igniting relationships with high-octane people in your field. Gathering insight into an industry, a specialty or the competition.

Develop a quick and dirty way to rate how you’re doing. Where possible, track your monthly visitor stats—what social media posts drove readership and engagement? What business or new relationships came your way? What are they worth? Yes, follower counts matter as a proxy for success, but it is most often your engagement with a select few that produces tangible results.

Just because it’s social doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be strategic. Your time is too precious to waste.

BFF Social Media Tip #2: Live Your Personal Brand Out Loud

I want to be able to distinguish you from a mindless bot or a corporate shill. I want to remember you, I really do. So have an opinion. Dare to provoke discussion. Maybe create a little (strategic) controversy.

Find your voice. It may take some trial and error, but keep engaging and you’ll discover what works best for you. You will encounter some trolls along the way—those pesky critics who live to tear others down. Disconnect from them (never, ever engage a troll) and focus on your message, your tribe and forward momentum.

BFF Social Media Tip #3: Content Is King

On literally every single social media platform, content is king, queen, heck it’s the whole royal family. Killer content drives people to you. Look at Twitter maven Kelly Oxford (https://twitter.com/kellyoxford) who closed a book deal and movie script through her comic musings.

It’s not like your every utterance has to be a perfect gem (talk about pressure), but you need to make your audience feel something. Ideally, the emotion reflects your personal brand. Let’s say you’re an innovator at heart. Then get people excited about a new idea, a new designer or a new technology. If you’re a creative, share what you’re working on or someone else’s brilliant work you admire. Use images and video—showing a little heart and soul alongside your business wit builds connections.

BFF Social Media Tip #4: Romance A Big Kahuna or Two

Why not go after the big game? Not only your idols (I’ll never forget the thrill when I saw my favorite author’s note in my blog), but those you think just don’t get it right. Is there a big name in your field who regularly gets media coverage, but perhaps has a wildly divergent view from yours? Consider following them on Twitter, setting up a google alert to track their utterances and publishing an opposite viewpoint.

Oh and the karma principle is at work here. Social media is about helping, not just shameless self-promotion. You are someone’s Big Kahuna and it serves you well to offer help to those who look up to you.

BFF Social Media Tip #5: Consistency Matters Did I Mention Consistency?

Nothing is sadder than a page with sporadic activity. Ever visit a blog where the last post was two months ago? How did you feel about their reliability? Would you go back for a visit.

No, you don’t have to post daily, but you do have to look like somebody’s home.

Set a schedule—and stick to it—for updating and engaging in social media. Use some of the great tools that allow you to preload tweets and posts across various platforms. It’s much better to go deep on a couple of platforms than wide on many. Consistency builds trust, it builds respect and it ultimately builds commerce.

Make social media your BFF. You may just find yourself in a whole new sandbox.

Rochelle Moulton is a Consultant, Coach, Speaker and Shoe Maven. She helps her clients build emotionally compelling brands that expand their reach, influence and revenue. Connect with her at RochelleMoulton.com, follow her on Twitter @ConsultingChick and find her on Facebook.
 

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