Being highly visible online – in the right way – can open more doors offline, too. They can set you up nicely for awards, accreditations and features in print and broadcast media.
Here’s some steps to take to build your online/offline Profile:
1. Be YOU online. Don’t hide behind a brand or logo, develop your personal brand based on the values you want to be known for. Pay attention to the photos and words you associate to your profile. Rather than appearing one-dimensional, incorporate your personality and wider achievements into your profile.
Action Point: Update your profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram to reflect your highest values.
2. Engage based on your highest values and not on superficial or irrelevant topics.Respond as if your family, friends and clients are being notified and shown what you are writing – they probably are – and that everything you do online is recorded for all time and distributed to every part of the planet.
Action Point: Clean up any recent activity that isn’t reflective of your values. If there’s anything recently that you wouldn’t want to show to your clients, delete it.
3. Remember that there are a variety of personalities you will encounter online and each has a different communication style. Learning about these communication styles will allow you to connect with a wider audience.
Action Point: Attempt to identify the preferred communication style of important people in your network, and look for ways to get in sync.
4. Connect with a variety of people without any short-term agenda. You never know where an opportunity will come from, and having a wide and diverse network yields a greater flow of opportunities.
Action Point: Follow another 250 individuals across your profiles, and be a little random in your selection.
5. Respond to posts and comments that relate to your areas of interest. When you spot conversations unfolding online about topics you want to be associated with, get involved, share some insights and answer questions.
Action Point: Search fo 5-10 #hashtags that relate to what you do, and chime in on some existing discussions.
6. Broadcast your best-thinking. Share some of your insights in the form of blogs, articles and videos on the major platforms. Your business needs to “put on a show” by educating and entertaining people. It’s this behaviour that allows people to get to know, like and trust you before they buy. It’s worth broadcasting “evergreen content” where possible that will continue to add value for years to come (and create a date stamp on your ideas).
Action Point: Publish 6 blogs on the major platforms (this can include excerpts from your book). Repurpose these blogs for video and test your skills in recording videos that share some of your key ideas.
7. Associate with people and brands that enhance your own. Be sure to capture, document and publish magic moments from events or special occasions. When you meet one of your heroes, get a “selfie” with them. If you’re visiting a prestigious university campus or attending a workshop, turn it into several moments on social media.
Action Point: Get a selfie with one of your heroes and post it to your Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Here are some tactical moves that are very current:
– LinkedIn is currently pushing video on the platform and will give thousands of views to any piece of native content (i.e. uploaded directly onto LinkedIn, not shared via a YouTube link)
– Facebook and Instagram LIVE video get great organic reach, too.
– Following 1000 people will normally yield 350 who follow you back. If you’re in the back of a cab, you could do some following of others in order to build your own following.
– Instagram has just built in new features into their Stories that you can use to not only get content out there, but also get to know your audience. Try setting up a poll or using the Ask Me Anything feature to engage with your followers and attract new ones.
– Twitter is cleaning up and wants original ideas. You can’t repost the same thing over and over again. Create a list of 20-50 draft tweets so you’ve always got something to share.
– Commit to one or two platforms and run deep rather than spreading yourself too thin with all of them. Any of the major platforms will have thousands of conversations you can engage with.
– Connect with ALL of your KPI Group, share and comment on their posts and generally support each other.
Taking action on the tips above should help you lay a good foundation on your profile, and can make any further profile-building activities even more effective.
