With LinkedIn now becoming a publishing powerhouse for professionals to share their wisdom and expertise, we’re seeing a growing trend of people taking their personal brand more seriously and trying to use social media to make a better, more enduring impression in their niche.
If increasing your professional aura in your industry is going to be on your resolutions list for 2016, here are some simple and creative ways to make yourself heard above the noise.
Think offline to online
When I speak at digital conferences I tell people we are ALL social media.
We’re all there to learn, absorb information and network with each other and the trick is to make sure we’re taking those new relationships online by following each other on social channels like LinkedIn or Twitter.
If you’ve impressed someone so much they feel you may be essential to them at some time in the future, make sure you are carrying cards, or use your smartphone to connect with them there and then so you don’t lose momentum.
The other thing I encourage speakers to do is to reference your Twitter handle during a presentation and encourage people to share what there are saying if they want to.
Why limit your audience to just those in the room when the room can help your expertise be reached by many, many more?
Slice and dice your content
This is a content marketing tip for brands but there is no reason why your personal brand can’t be helped by ensuring your writing gets the very best return on investment.
If you’re writing a blog post or a white paper, make sure you add elements to SlideShare or create a short video to go along with it.
Snackable graphics made with a tool like Canva can help enhance your words and help generate a lot more visibility for your toil.
The idea is to spend more time creating quality content that that your name will be attached to and increase the opportunity of that work being seen not just on a blog but across a ton of different channels.
Be discoverable
My background is in search engine marketing, so I’m particularly hot about making sure our clients understand not just who their audience is, but how someone might search for them online on a search engine, LinkedIn or using any influencer tracking tools.
You may have a fancy job title or a crazy way of describing what you do, but make sure you understand what keywords people might use if they are search for you and optimize your profiles for discovery.
I use Google AdWords to supplement what my profiles and website rank for organically and have ended up getting coverage in sites like Fast Company as a result.
Make LinkedIn a living profile
As stated in my introduction to this article, not everyone needs to set up a blog now as LinkedIn has given you a home to publish your wisdom and share it to your professional connections instantly.
Traditionally the platform had been seen as a place to update your experience if you were looking for a new job, but now it has the capacity to be a living profile where you can update your experiences with new achievements and use it to amplify your thoughts in an authentic way that reaches like minds in droves.
I encourage our clients to create a monthly calendar request in order to go into LinkedIn and make thoughtful updates to their summary and current experiences to keep it up-to-date.
Engage, engage, engage
For digital marketers this might be second nature, but for many professionals embarking on a quest to improve their personal brand and make a better impression online, they forget to engage with people across networks and simply broadcast, broadcast, broadcast.
By engaging with followers – liking, sharing, commenting etc – you demonstrate you’re listening and have an authentic interest in other people in your network. Two-way communication is crucial to your success as an expert as without asking questions, how can your expertise possibly learn and grow.
As you start thinking about what 2016 might hold for you in a professional capacity, start thinking about a cohesive personal brand strategy. Start with these five tips and you’re be well on your way to becoming more discoverable, sharable and memorable.
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