The Top 5 Personal Branding Mistakes Online

The digital age has made personal branding an extremely important strategic initiative for any professional.Personal brands are now broadcast louder and faster than ever before.You can be proactive and manage your brand effectively, or you can ignore it and let the rest of the world dictate your reputation.
Your digital presence tells a lot about you.Do you know what it’s saying? Here are the Top 5 Personal Branding mistakes that people make online.

1. No Social Presence at all

In my upcoming book on Personal Branding (co-authored with Larry Linne), we tell the story about a guy who said, “you can’t find me”.He was proud of the fact that he had no social media profiles.After a quick discussion, he was convinced that his strategy was telling the world that he was old, outdated and traditional.
If you have been avoiding social media, you are behind!  Do yourself, and your brand, a favor by setting up a profile. Start with LinkedIn and begin connecting!

2. Multiple Profiles on the same site

If I search for you on facebook and see two profiles, that is a red flag.I know several executives that have two profiles - the ‘one I use for work’ and the ‘one I use for family & friends’.If someone searches for you and finds one profile that is ‘all buttoned up’ and one with a picture of you at the beach, that is a problem.It says, I do things and post them that are inappropriate for my professional connections.

The lines between professional & personal are blurred.For me personally, I want my professional connections to see me - the real me.It helps them know me, know what’s important to me, and allows them to get to know me better.What’s the harm in that? 

3. Profile Image

If you are the shadowy figure or the egg, then that is not good!That tells people that you are ‘out there’ but you don’t really understand it or use it.Put a good profile picture up there!

4. Company/Personal confusion

Yes, you should connect to your company especially if you are a principal.No, that should not be your identity.People tend to get creative, which eventually creates confusion.
Don’t represent your name as:
Patrick SiliconCloud -or- @CompanyName for your personal account.
People want to find you!  Make it easy for them to do so.

5. Existing

Great, you have profiles set up.But, you haven’t updated it in months?Does it list old information?  Does it say that you still flip burgers (your first job) when you are now CEO of a great corporation?
Update your information often and set a schedule to make consistent posts.
Connect, interact, and get social - don’t just exist out there.  
Social Media and your Online presence can be a great personal branding vehicle, or it can be your worst enemy.  The choice is yours...


Posted by Patrick Sitkins
http://www.siliconcloud.com/blog/bid/85415/The-Top-5-Personal-Branding-Mistakes-Online