Think about the last time you searched for someone on Google. The results you get from your search could have easily influenced the way you viewed that person, especially if you didn’t know them that well. Now think about what comes up when someone Googles you. In the digital era, recruiters are increasingly looking up potential candidates to get a better picture of who they are beyond their resumes and interviews. Believe it or not, your digital footprint is actually a big part of your personal brand and how others perceive you. Managing your online image doesn’t necessarily mean you have to curate a fake image. It means knowing how to build an online presence that speaks the message you want to deliver.
Your Personal Brand
An individual’s personal brand can set them apart from the crowd and tell their unique story. You can leverage your online persona to highlight your perspectives and experiences, establishing relevance with your target audience. The first step is knowing your audience; you must carefully choose and then understand your target audience and what resonates with them. Think about how your identity aligns with that of your target audience. You can then use personal branding to communicate your values and unique ideas that are relevant to your community. When created right, your internet persona can help you reach a much larger audience and build your credibility.
An individual’s brand personality has multiple facets that include their vision, goals, values, skills, and strengths. Each can be developed and disseminated using online tools. Your online image is a great tool to amplify your voice. When recruiters and peers see actual elements of your brand personality showcased beyond a resume, it creates a lasting positive impression.
Your Personal Information
It is important to be mindful of how you people prefer to reach out for networking. You want to be accessible to your network at all times so you don’t miss out on any potential opportunities. Email, phone numbers, and social media profiles are all important examples of communication methods everyone needs to have visible. You must also be careful about the information you don’t want visible to the public. Your home address, for example, is not something you want publicly announced to avoid any mysterious packages or visits. You can easily avoid this by masking your home address to maintain your privacy. Make sure your sensitive information is not found on any web pages that are accessible to the general public. It is not difficult to control the visibility of your information to the general public; it’s only a question of controlling what you’re putting out there. It’s also prudent to separate your personal and professional image and this requires you to pay attention to the content you’re posting on different platforms. For example, Facebook isn’t an appropriate medium to use for professional networking, just like your pictures on a vacation or your pet might be out of place on Linkedin.
Your Areas of Expertise
Your online persona can be utilized to showcase your areas of expertise to the world. Sharing your expertise with an audience on the internet has quite a few benefits. It deepens your understanding of your subject matter and allows you to engage with your community. It invites conversation with your audience and challenges you as you share and debate, allowing you to learn and mature. Eventually, you will want to position yourself as a thought leader in your sphere. Being vocal and sharing your insights lets you give your audience a taste of your expertise without having to point it out.
Professionally, it can take you a long way. Positioning yourself as an expert can make you an invaluable asset to your teams and lead to tangible benefits and rewards. The key, again, is understanding where your target audience has relevant conversations and how you can contribute to them. Your pertinent online participation on discussion forums, relevant websites, and social media can help you showcase your expertise and build a reputation as an industry guru.
In this day and age, almost everyone uses the internet and social media. It is increasingly easier to create written and multimedia content that showcases your personality to potentially thousands of people. Being online invariably means leaving a digital footprint for everyone to see. Most of the population is not conscious about their respective personal image on the internet. Building a curated online presence can prove to be an invaluable asset in the digital era that one can leverage to work for their benefit on a personal and professional level. By identifying and creating a unique personal brand online, controlling your public and private information, and building your niche of expertise in the digital sphere, you can take control of your narrative on the internet.