Claim Your Personal Brand Online

Facebook and Linked In can be a way to build relationships and help people get to know, like, and trust you. Paul Travis from Marketing 2020 describes some ways that you can claim your personal brand on the main social networks.

I don’t normally “tweet” about a new feature in a given company’s product or service. But I know how much our “collateral” affects our personal brand!

For example, when I meet someone whose business card says “Get YOUR free business cards at VistaPrint.com”, I take them less seriously. Business cards ARE your “leave-behind”, and have such impact on making and supporting the first impression you’ve made — that it makes no sense to skimp here.

Same goes if I read the email address on the card is “SmithFamily@comcast.net”. It is so inexpensive these days to get your own domain name (I have one for my family as well as multiple business domains) and forward your email that it absolutely makes sense. Your domain registrar will understand this, even if you don’t.

Similarly, if you are on LinkedIn, I highly recommend that you get a personal link. That way, whether you refer to it in your email signature — or more likely, people point to your LI public profile when making an introduction — it shows as

http://www.linkedin.com/in/paultravis

rather than something like

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ptravis/2/3b/241.

FaceBook just implemented usernames as well (last night!) So especially if you are an occasional FB user, I recommend you take a moment to see if your proper name or favorite nickname is available.

It’s all about taking the time to plan (and then execute) that thing many people struggle with — your personal brand.