RMG CEO Kris Ruby was thrilled to speak at “Entrepreneurship Week” at Microsoft’s Flagship Store on Fifth Ave. Speakers included Stephen Hersh, Mark Gold and Kristen Ruby.
Use social media to build your personal brand.
How do you use social media to build a personal brand?
Personal branding Makeover
Here are 5 tips to build your personal brand on social media and give your brand a personal branding makeover:
1) Archive old posts on Instagram that no longer align with your brand identity. For example, maybe an old post was way too filtered and no longer fits your brand aesthetic. Or perhaps the photo is blurry or had minimal engagement or likes. Archive it for now on Instagram and clean up your feed. Your Instagram feed should showcase the personal brand you want to be aligned with.
2) Check to make sure your old Twitter accounts haven’t been hacked. Recently, I searched my name on Twitter and found an old account with my name, photo, and company name that had been hacked by another user. The user changed the handle name but was still using my name and personal details and Tweeting from it. I emailed Twitter right away and they suspended the account. Search for your full name on Twitter and make sure none of your accounts have been compromised. Make sure you aren’t sabotaging your personal branding efforts if someone else is tweeting with your name!
3) Clean up your LinkedIn profile. When was the last time you updated your LinkedIn profile? Set aside a solid chunk of time to do this because it is pretty time intensive. Organize all of your latest projects and professional achievements and update your profile so that it reflects who you are today in your career- not who you were when you first joined LinkedIn.
4) Update your Facebook cover photo. Maybe you created a Facebook cover photo for your personal brand when you first started a public figure page. However, if you are using an outdated headshot, it is time to update it! Personal branding photos should be taken within 1-3 years. I know it can be hard to let go of a photo you love from 8 years ago, but when people meet you in person, the photo you use to market yourself online should be indicative of what you look like today.
5) Remove yourself from online directories. There are several different online directories that share your personal data that you may not have even thought to check. Just because you aren’t checking them doesn’t mean others aren’t! The good news is that some of these directories will allow you to remove yourself by sending an opt-out email. The bad news? It can often be an arduous process, but it’s worth a shot! Again, make sure you aren’t sabotaging your personal branding efforts if online directories have negative things to say about your reputation. Do your best to clean this up so that your personal brand is in alignment with what can be found about you on the Internet.
All of these strategies are worthwhile when developing a personal brand. I have personally used these strategies for building my own brand as a PR strategist and national TV commentator. We also deploy these strategies for our PR clients who hire me to help define and build out their personal brand.
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