Personal branding – when less is more

How much of an online presence do you need? Some advise you to be on as many sites as possible so you increase your chances of being found online. I disagree. I recommend that you have quality content on a few sites.

Focus on the mainstream sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Zoominfo. Focus on niche sites for your industry. Forget the rest for now.

Here are some tips to get you started:

1. Take time to construct a complete profile on the mainstream sites.
For LinkedIn and Zoominfo, this means:

* a descriptive tag line
* a clear summary of what you can bring to a company
* results you achieved in your jobs
* keywords that will help you get found in searches
   Not sure of what keywords to use? Look at job descriptions for your desired jobs.
* recommendations (for LinkedIn).

For Facebook, this means:

* clear summary of what you can bring to a company
* brief summary of your education and experience
* interesting personal stuff, e.g. do you have any unusual hobbies, have you read any interesting books lately?
**But remember to keep it professional!

2. Be active on niche sites for your industry.
For example, if you’re a creative type, post your photos on Flickr and don’t forget to create a profile.

If you’d like to work for a start-up, create a profile on a site like JobNob, which specializes in matching start-ups with talent.

3. Spend your time on activities which will enhance your marketability.
You will get much better results by becoming active in a professional associations. Many of these have websites that list their committee members. This type of listing gives you more credibility than yet another profile on a lesser-known social networking site.

Volunteer to speak at conferences or events. If public speaking isn’t really your thing, offer to speak on a panel. What better way to showcase your expertise than by speaking about it? The speakers are usually listed on the event website.