If you were wondering if you could become a social influencer in the current and modern times we are living in, you would definetly need to take these steps? These steps will help to build your personal brand online.
The boundaries
In the past, our professional and personal lives were mostly kept distinct and separate and would not influence each other. The time you spent at your office or job from 8.30 am to 6.00 pm was strictly work.
Lunch was the sacred hour when you could have been acting as who you really are, either with colleagues or friends. While your colleagues or friend knew a thing or two about your personal life then, their knowledge was often not clear and didn’t know every aspect of it.
These days, this subject or we can call it habit of separating your professional and personal self has been compromised and the boundaries aren’t there anymore.
Now you are armed with ever green connectivity of smartphones and mobile social networks, you are viewing YouTube videos shared by friends and colleagues, updating your status on Facebook, and sharing photos on Instagram at all hours of the day. Increasingly, you’re also taking work home and communicating with each other on work matters in the evenings and on weekends.
Like it or not, our online activities play a part in contributing to our professional reputations. People will judge you based on the sum total of what you have shared online. And the Internet never forgets – even if you attempt to delete what you have posted before or ask Google to delete it.
Social media has been your Avatar and will evolve much further into Virtual Reality, etc. But let’s not get carried away and let’s get back on the topic of how should we manage our online activities to grow our social influence.
Step 1: Create and organize your profiles
The first and most important thing you need to do is to create compelling personal profiles on all the social platforms you’re hanging out on. This almost certainly includes LinkedIn (the first place potential employers or business partners would look), Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+.
If you are in igaming, online casinos or sportbetting, a Facebook and Instagram account is a must. With the growing proportion of people accessing social media through mobiles, Instagram will only grow in importance and new ways of promoting will arise.
Similarly, if you’re in the business of webdesign or stats, it’s probably useful to have a Pinterest account complete with boards that showcase the breadth and depth of your interests and capabilities.
The trick here is to present yourself in an interesting manner. This varies from platform to platform. It is important to include a well-taken photograph of yourself which shows you in the best light. Profiles without photos tend to be viewed less favourably.
Step 2: Present or showcase your content
Now that you’ve got stylish social profiles set up, it is time to show the world what stunning content you’re capable of creating and posting to your audience.
In case you don’t already know it, social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are the world’s largest and most extensive “show and tell” platforms for content. Naturally, this should be something that you’re proud of – a detailed review of a casino or online poker room which you’ve just written, a unique screenshot of your jackpot winnings, or a preview of an upcoming event in tennis or soccer you’ve just thought of.
Content which educates, entertains, or encourages usually work better than self-serving product pitches. Which brings us to the next step to implement.
Step 3: Share the stage
Nobody likes an arrogant person who endlessly spams others on his “masterful creations”. Nor are we enamoured by a person who constantly talks about his awards, achievements and accolades.
Periodically, you should give others the stage. Share the good work of others or acknowledge those who contributed to your success. Give a shout out to a partner or a colleague who made a difference, acknowledge the role which your business played in your success, or thank a great client who helped you with your first sale.
Step 4: Participate in Communities
Indeed, the importance of relationships cannot be over emphasised. Always remember that social media is social first and media second.
Don’t be an online hermit. Instead, participate in online communities where you can both give to and receive from. This would vary depending on your professional or personal interests of course.
Step 5: Be fair and considerate
One thing you can see as a common in many of the successful social influencers is to make it a point to provide value to the communities that they participate in. They generously choose to share knowledge, news, or useful tips which help others to do better wherever they are.
It is also important to reciprocate the kindness of others by paying it forward. Offer to help others when the occasion arises. This spirit of giving and sharing will ultimately pay dividends for you.
Step 6: Be rational and dependable
Beyond giving and sharing, you also need to be consistent. This will influence your identity both online and offline, and affect how others view and perceive you.
Being consistent means that you will commit to a certain schedule in publishing content regardless of how you feel. Not cutting slack. It also requires you to have the discipline to engage with and respond to others in a manner that is in line with your persona.
Step 7: Keep disgusting thoughts private
Some of you may keep anonymous blogs with private profiles that can only be viewed by family members and friends. The idea behind this is to allow them to be present online without the seeming danger of being seen by the snoopy eyes of colleagues, non-friends, competitors and bosses.
This can be tricky. While there are different levels of “security protection” which you can afford yourself, you never really know who your real friends and enemies may be. It could turn out to be your best friend of family member.
What happens if you mistakenly updated the wrong stuff on the wrong channel? Moreover, with hacking becoming so prevalent, it is impossible to stop somebody intent on uncovering your identity from doing so.
The best way to approach it and believe us it helps, is to adopt the policy of ensuring that whatever you choose to publish online should be fit for public consumption, regardless of the circumstance. This makes it certain that you wouldn’t commit an online faux pas which you may regret later on in life.
Hopefully this article will help you become the next Social Influencer across Social Media Channels.
