Authentic Personal Branding: Tap Social Media to Improve Your Personal Brand

2 years ago by Keith McIlvaine 3

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I attended the Social Recruiting Summit in New York, NY on November 16th. Besides being a phenomenal day, it was a perfect for networking.  Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks have a lot of personalities, but wouldn’t it be cool if you could actually meet so-and-so in person?

Like it or not, online personalities have a personal brand. And being able to connect in real life reaffirms that relationship and strengthens that connection.  For those of you who are uncomfortable introducing yourself, social media helps in two ways.  First, others may approach you first if you’ve built your brand. And second, it becomes easier for you to approach someone when you already have a sense of who they are. It becomes much easier to develop rapport.

Social networking is a fantastic tool, but taking these relationships into the real world is where the real value lies.  You really get a sense of a person and feel more comfortable reaching out to them for help or new opportunities.

Social networking also makes it easier for you to prepare for events and conferences. Beforehand, set up a time to meet with others (if you use Twitter, organize a Tweetup).  You could build an entire networking day before you ever step foot into an event.  For introverts, this is a great way to break down barriers that would normally make you feel uncomfortable.

Authentic personal branding is vital, because you do not want to portray yourself as one person online, then be somebody different in the flesh. Meeting people in a personal setting, socially or professionally, will should your authenticity and trustworthiness.

Personal branding will never cease.  It allows you to grow your online relationships and build trust in the value you can provide others.  It provides a platform to share knowledge and increase your social currency.  It helps you develop lasting relationships, the kind of relationships that lead to big opportunities.

Be yourself all the time.  Be genuinely you, on and off the web.  If you don’t, people will notice, and your personal brand will take a hit. Simply being you all the time is more fun anyway, so good luck, and have fun with it.

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About Keith McIlvaine

Keith McIlvaine is a Social Media Strategist within HR and Recruiting for a Fortune 500 company. When he is not focused on leveraging social media and networking, Keith is also a personal branding coach and social media mentor. He is passionate about his family and is a major soccer fanatic. The statements I have posted on this site are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
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  • http://AltaeeBlog.com Mohammed Al-Taee

    I would call Twitter, Facebook, etc. a Social Media tool and what I'm doing now or tweeting on Twitter a Social Networking.

    Yes, be YOU online and offline.

    Thanks!

  • bizdharmaDotCom

    As they say you can fool somebody all the time, every body Some time but not Everybody all the time. Its better to be you while networking. Thats the best way you can attract the like minded…

  • http://changebecomeschange.com/ Gina

    You hit it – connecting offline, in real life, is where you get the most value from social media. It's about finding people that you want to take your relationship to a more personal level for networking, collaborating or friendship…or all of the above! Events and tweetups are great but with people spread out across the country, I've made connections with phone, email and Facebook to develop relationships. It takes time, energy and effort but it's worth it!