Getting clear on your personal brand is about as easy as trying to get a flight out of Western Europe at the moment! And like getting up in the air too soon, jumping in to communicating and publishing your personal brand online could mean that your brand ends up spluttering a little, not performing optimally or at worst causing you to stop all together and come tumbling back down to earth.
In the last week I have spoken to a group of professional communicators, worked with some clients in senior postions at large corporations, been booked to speak for two organizations about the negative impact of social media for both employees and customers and completed evaluations of online presence and personal brands for a number of students on a post graduate PR diploma.
The theme that seems to be prevailing through all of these interactions is FEAR!
Fear of doing the wrong thing online or not doing enough on line or communicating an unclear message, fear of the unknown.
My advice is STOP!
Just because the latest fad is Twitter, or Facebook fan pages or LinkedIn Groups does not mean you have to rush and do it tomorrow or even next week or month. At least not until you have got very clear on what your personal brand is. Build the foundation, understand what it is you do that is different and valued, then you can start to determine what are the best mediums to get heard.
Horror of horrors, it might not even involve being online at all! Now that would send the 15,740 social media experts on Twitter in to a tizzy! Or would that be Twizzy??!!
What do you think? Add your toonies worth here.
The fear of doing/saying something wrong is very genuine because digital footprints are quite permanent on internet.
On the other hand instead of stopping at all begin gradually – by identifying yourself and interacting with others – instead of highlighting or promoting yourself. Then, as Paul suggest, only after building a strong foundation and identifying your unique value – which you are going to offer to other – that when you start singing the song about you.
Imran M. Ismail