Social Media has brought about a paradigm shift in the way we see the world, however it faces more criticism than appreciation and negative connotations are attached to it. Many of us till date have not realised its true potential and we call it as waste of time or a pompous show of wealth and beauty. Do you really believe that a virtual thing is capable enough of creating such atmosphere or is it the actions of human which is bringing defame to it? The truth is that we have failed to tap the power of social media. When we talk of ' PERSONAL BRANDING', there can be no better platform than social media. In my previous blog, I have dealt in length with the nature and functions of 'Personal Branding' and how it can be summarized in 3 key words, AUTHENTICITY (In Action, Words and Behaviour), UNIQUENESS and VISIBILITY (Both Online and Offline). The best place to start your branding is social media.
If we go back by 50 years from now, let us imagine a situation that there is a person who possess some unique skills but how will he promote himself? By running behind the successful connoisseurs of that field or being at the mercy of his fate? That was the only option at that time but now with social media firming its foot, with one click you can make yourself visible to the entire world.
Whether we love posting for fun or for something serious in nature, we are branding ourselves and people out there are branding us too! With social media, we are always visible to the world and our walls are always making a statement about our lives. In quest of visibility, some people tend to overdo things which create the opposite effect. Just like in our day to day lives, branding also happens online. The world that we occupy will first check our profile before engaging in a dialogue with us.
If Branding is always going to happen, then why not become conscious of what information we are projecting out there?The problem is that we all use social media but very few of us know the correct way of using it. In this blog I would like to provide the viewers with a handful of tips on branding ourselves on social media.
CREATING A PROFILE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
The first step to brand ourselves online is by creating accounts on all social media sites like TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, LINKEDIN etc. The more sites you are active on, more is your visibility and more is your exposure to the world. One must be well versed with the kind of social media site we are using, for instance, if we are using LinkedIn, it has its own way of expression where we usually share blogs on business strategies and the expression is more intellectual while if we are using Snapchat, then the expression becomes more personal and colloquial. Your profile can be used to promote both personal and professional ideas.
CREATING AN AUTHENTIC PROFILE NAME AND PICTURE
The next step is to create a profile name which must be unique and short but not pompous or vague, it must be easy to pronounce. The name must be close to your original name or it can be even your name or close to the idea you are promoting and must not be easily available specially in your area of expertise. Same must go for profile picture which first of all should be yours and not any fake image copied from Google. Your picture need not to be a formal one but can be casual but decent and your face must be clearly visible.
SHARING YOUR AUTHENTIC INFORMATION
While sharing your information, one must share authentic details including your date of birth, your qualifications, experiences and your personal likes and dislikes. For instance, while creating a profile on LinkedIn, we must give certain keywords like the area of our expertise, our accomplishments and if not then our aspirations and also our experiences which might inspire others.
SHARING IDEAS AND BLOGGING
We must select our area of expertise and must share new ideas on food or business strategies or even spirituality. Whatever we may share, it must be unique and not merely a repetition of what others have already said. We must differentiate our work from others and our ideas must not be contradictory. If possible, then we must take on weekly blogging as a regular intellectual exercise.
BLOGGING CONSISTENTLY
Social Media poses a lot of competition and if we are not consistent in our say then people wont follow us and we will be projected as a erratic person. It must be not like we are posting a dozen ideas in one day followed by a long absence. Also too much variety of thoughts also confuse the viewers, so we must go for limited but impactful ideas.
POSTING AUTHENTIC PHOTOGRAPHS
The pictures you post must be true to life and filter free. Unnecessary pouting must be avoided and one must keep pictures as natural as possible. However there is nothing wrong in knowing the science behind capturing captivating photographs but they must not be too pompous.
MAINTAINING GENUINE RELATIONSHIPS
Your friend list must include people who are genuinely connected to you in some way or who follow you diligently. Social Media is a scanner, it reflects your life better than anything else. The more consistent your relationships with friends and family, the more impact you create on others. Ofcourse you must form new relationships but there can be nothing more mesmerizing than the set of those special people always being present on your walls.
SHARING YOUR PERSONAL MOMENTS, BOTH GOOD AND BAD
Your profile becomes rich when your personal and professional life reflects you in the same way, for instance, Deepika Padukone not only shares her professional life but also also some moments from her personal life which makes the process so real and beautiful. She recently shared a video of her mother imitating some cousin of her. She is also proactive in sharing some sad moments of her life like how she fought against depression. The true essence of using social media is not to show how flawless your life is but also to share the dull moments and hardships of your life so that others can learn from it. Your profile walls say a lot about you, whatever you are sending out there is becoming you, you are making a powerful statement about your life. The next time you post something, then do remember that it is becoming you!