2011 The Year To Build Your Personal Brand
At this time of year a lot of us are looking back at what we’ve accomplished over the year and we are starting to put our goals together for 2011.
One of the things you might consider for 2011 is to build your personal brand. I’d like to suggest a couple of things:
- Establish a presence on Twitter
- Build your network on Linkedin
Twitter
If you don’t already have one, to set up a Twitter account and send tweets out on a regular basis.
You should include in your goal the number of tweets per year and the frequency in which you plan to send them out. Having an editorial calendar is a great way to organize what your tweets will be about and it will also give you established deadlines so you don’t miss sending out tweets on a frequent schedule.
There are a number of tweet scheduler programs out there to help you manage deployment of your tweets. I recommend HootSuite.
As you start organize your calendar for tweets realize that there are better times and days to send them for the best readership. Think about your own daily work schedule. You’re often checking e-mails just prior to and just after lunch. This is a really good time to send out your tweets. Another good time is right after work at 6 PM.
Weekends are generally not a good time to send out tweets if you want I readership. If you must send them out on the weekend do so at six o’clock on Sunday as many people are checking their e-mail and starting to get back in the work mode.
LinkedIn
If you don’t already have one it’s time to set up your LinkedIn account and to build your network. You want build your network for couple of reasons. First, you really should put all of your business contacts in one central location where you can contact them easily. Second, if you ever find yourself in need of a job it’s great if you already have a network instead of trying to build one while you’re unemployed.
LinkedIn allows you to post your resume online with a business description. It also allows you to highlight your blog posts, associations, groups and other professional activities.
Many employers are either posting their jobs on LinkedIn.com or they’re actually finding candidates for positions at LinkedIn.com.
Building your brand online requires consistency as well as quality. Your tweets and blog posts should be noteworthy and they also should be engaging. That’s why you should have been editorial calendar to help you preplan the categories and the subjects that you write about. You don’t want to be just another boring voice out there in the clutter.
Good luck in 2011. It’s going to be a great year for building your own personal brand and your business.
