Managing your Online Reputation - Things you need to know about your Online and Social Presence
Your Brand = Your Reputation.
Your Reputation
=
Your REP
=
Reason everyone pays.
If you don't feel you get paid what you are worth, it's probably time to invest in your Brand and take control over it!
People google you. No matter your industry, role, seniority ...
It's up to you what they will find and the eprception they get.
We know that word of mouth is the most powerful way to advertise because we trust people close to us to give us a good recommendation so we can avoid disappointment.
With technology available to most of us, we have now more access to knowledge and information than ever before and we are not limited anymore to our next door contact for recommendations.
From my own experience, I can tell you that
investors, recruiters and hiring managers,
but also official departments like Government Grant officers and decisions makers for any form of recognition (rewards, awards etc)
do exactly the same -
they check you out and make up their mind about you BEFORE they meet you in person.
And this is often the make or break for someone to get what they want to get.
Is your Brand
DIGITALLY DISTINGUISHED, DAMAGED or DEFICIENT?
An easy way to find out where you sit on the scale is to take the test:
Google yourself in 3 ways:
1.) Type in your first and last name and go onto images and see how often and how recent you come up in images
2.) Type in your first and last name and quotes (Petra Zink quote)
3.) Type in your first and last name and see how relevant and recent the links are on the first page relating to you
Why is it important?
Clients who come to me for coaching usually struggle with the same problem:
They get overlooked for opportunities, miss out on pay rises, feel invisible for bigger and better things like promotions, board roles, speaking engagements ...
YOU CAN'T BE THE BEST KEPT SECRET
IN A WORLD OF ABUNDANT CHOICE
'I'll just work and get results - they will recognise my effort.'
'I'm just a 'get the work done' kind of person.'
'I'm not an expert enough yet to talk about xxx.'
This is exactly where we have the problem...
It's YOU!
And you alone that's holding you back from getting what you want.
How can you ever get what you want when you can't communicate
a) what it is that you want and
b) how you can contribute to someone else so they see the value you bring to them?
This is exactly what your Social and Online Footprint does for you - representing you in the way that it makes it clear for others why and how they can engage (with) you.
IF YOU DON'T CONTROL YOUR (ONLINE) REPUTATION, SOMEONE ELSE WILL DO IT FOR YOU - FORE SURE
You will have realised that from your Google search for your own name, LinkedIn is highly likely the first or second link that comes up.
Given it's a professional platform and I'm pretty sure you're ambitious and want to get ahead in your career and life
(otherwise you wouldn't read these blogs)
then it makes sense to start there!
If you want to succeed on LinkedIn, key is to make your profile not only more visible but also more appealing to those who you want to be seen by.
How to achieve it?
In 3 steps:
1.) BE VISIBLE
If you want to be considered, you need to be able to be found and become visible for the right reasons.
Make sure you don't just have a full profile (name, industry, background image that represents what you stand for or what you do) but also use the right key words that people would type in when they are looking for your area of expertise.
In this blog I shared some tools to find your key words and phrases people would look for if you missed it.
2.) BE VOCAL
The easiest, quickest and 'safest' way to get active on social media is by engaging in other people's content.
Whilst you may not be ready to share your own content and still figure out your message and how you can consistently deliver value without burning out or sending mixed messages, engaging in other people's content is a great way to still be part of the conversation.
You want to share, like and comment on people's posts and/or start a conversation by curating someone else's content and adding a comment to make it more personal and relevant to your audience.
3.) BE VALUABLE
The highest and most effective way to build your reputation and thought leadership status is by sharing your own content.
Whilst sharing other people's content is a great way to quickly and easily participate in social media, it only showcases you in a limited way.
Creating your own content, based on your personal experience and personal twist is what really sets you apart from others and helps people to buy into what you stand for (or not).
Ideally you contribute in 2 ways to not only showcase various angles to your audience but also to increase your reach and engagement:
1.) Posts (short-form content)
2.) Articles (long-form content)
Key is to not only talk about your area of expertise as it doesn't only become boring but also limits you to a very small number of people who are interest/in need for this at this moment.
You want to showcase who you are in a more personal way and take your readers onto a journey on what you have been up to.
Document rather than just create - one of Gary Vaynerchuk's recommendation is exactly that - don't wait to 'have arrived' or to only report on what has been done already.
Let people be part of your learnings and insights as it makes it more engaging, compelling and interesting to follow.
If you want to learn how you can build your (online & offline) Reputation effectively, efficiently and sustainably and a Personal Brand you can monetise, get in touch for a free 30-min Consultation.
