Tips & Tools: Building Your Online Brand with Social Media Tools

Silvia Pencak

Guest Post by Silvia Pencak

Social Media tools have an enormous power to put you in contact with thousands of people. But attention on its own is useless, what’s important is what you are going to do with that attention.

If you want to build your online brand you have to know how all your activities work together. You need consistency and congruency. Each part of the social media puzzle builds into a picture people have of you. How you appear to them, what their perception of you is, closely relates to the success of your brand.

If you are approaching social media in a haphazard way, do not be surprised if things do not work out exactly as you hoped or imagined they would.

You Choose Who You Are

We are judged by what we say, how we say it and who we associate with. All choices we make, not things that happen to us by chance.

If you are constantly being seen with the snarky, attacking, abusive people on Twitter, then you will be seen as one of them. When your pictures often appear in the saucier flickr groups then that is the impression people will have of you, regardless of your PHD in nuclear physics. We do not get the whole picture online, we see what is right in front of us, and that means we will jump to conclusions and you will be guilty until proven innocent.

Having been online for some time now, there is not much I can do to claw back what is out there. It’s best to choose now who you are, what your values are, and where you draw the line between openness and TMI (too much information). Thankfully I clued up long time ago some things I would never write about, but still there are aspects of my life I think really ought to have been kept private.

Joining the Social Media Dots

The best way to approach social media is to choose your venues and connect them in some way to your blog. Keep your blog as the main representation of “you” online. That is where your best stuff is going to be, your archive, portfolio or resume. If someone Googles you, this is what you want to appear, not your virtual facebook sheep or your wild party accidental flickr pics.

With a good core blog, you can further reinforce this positive brand. Have conversations on Twitter, share your pictures, guest post and comment. Participate in forums that relate to what you do and your audience. Above all, where you want connections to be made, use a consistent avatar, nickname and style. Connect all the profiles back to your blog, and where appropriate, link to the social media sites.

I link to my Twitter and Facebook accounts and also to my YouTube through my videos. While this helps grow my connections on those services it does mean that I have to use privacy settings on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and I need to be aware of what I am saying!

Are you conscious about the brand you are building in social media sites or do you just try to be yourself and let people take away what they will? Do you connect your online activities or are they in silos?

Author Silvia Pencak is The Magnetic Branding Expert and Mentor. For over 7 years Silvia kept building successful venues in Europe and Canada. She shares her expertise online at http://MagneticLook.com to help other women entrepreneurs build successful brands and extraordinary lifestyle and to support those who don’t settle for mediocrity.

Much like a carpenter, an entrepreneur needs a toolbox. A real workhorse, filled to the brim with the essential tools to do a quality job. An easy to tote, practical, and always-on-hand toolbox.

Consider this yours. Each week, we will offer practical tips and tools to help grow your business.

Have you used any of these tools? We would love your feedback. What worked, and what didn’t? Would you recommend them?

Jo Ann Fore is a certified Life Coach and freelance writer. Visit her at www.JoAnnFore.com.