Social Media is the new Buzz word. Everybody’s talking about it. But more than talk about it, some people are using it to their advantange. But how, you may be asking yourself. First, Social Media was first used to SOCIALIZE. Stay in touch with your family and friends through the internet. It was easy… using tools like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and let’s not forget those infamous web logs called blogs.

Today, we will move from just socializing to creating a brand for ourselves while still socializing.

First Question is, what do you want to be known for? Who are you? What do you like to do? How would you like to develop yourself? What makes a “Great” you.

Now that you have all that figured out, here are 5 things you must remember to do as you begin to brand yourself and establish credibility and trust.

Be Yourself

  • Don’t forget to always user your own name and use a real, human voice as you interact on the different social media platforms.  Do not forget the reason why you are there. It is to expose yourself, the real you and you can only do this by being social. Remember to communicate with other and let them know who you are but be mindful of getting too personal.   Do not show pictures of you looking drunk or half naked in some beach.  However, you should include photos of yourself that show you have real interests; and fill out the personal profile to reflect some of your genuine interests.  Do not forget to have fun. No one likes “boring” or “dry”

Be Responsive

  • Respond, respond, respond! Its call social media for a reason. You are there to socialize and respond to your raving fans. When people comment about you, it’s a good idea to acknowledge them. Make sure that you accept all friend requests or follow up with any messages. You need to be able to spend enough time on your social media sites that you can explore the profiles of your friends and contacts, make comments to them, and notice when they add a new photo of their pet or a link to a particularly interesting article. Personal Messages mean alot and add that human touch.

Be Regular

  • If you are going to commit to using social media, you must take the time to spend time on the site regularly.  You must have regular and constant exposure to your new audience even if its 15-20 minutes per day. This will allow you to respond to your messages, check out what’s new on your friends; profiles, and make your presence known.  If you can only commit to 15-20 minutes per day, then you should start with 1 or 2 social networking sites until you have the time or energy to manage them all.  A solid plan of regular, consistent, and thoughtful participation on your social network is the key to gaining a loyal following and promoting yourself and your business.

Educate

  • Educate others and teach them something they may not know about themselves. There is nothing better that when your audience can connect with you. This adds a lot to the trust factor. If you are an expert in a related field or industry, leverage your knowledge to establish credibility and authority in your field. What better strategy than to use your talents and skills to help and educate others and in the process become the expert that everyone will respect.

Give Away

  • People love giveaways. Whether its a small lesson coming from a Youtube video or an E-book, people just want to feel like they are important and should get something in exchange for them even looking your way. Everyone loves something of value and they are waiting for you to hand it to them. The most popular giveaways come in forms of contests, videos, e-books, software or links to cool websites you probably would have never found any other way. Brand yourself by being the guy or gal that loves to help others out by giving away great content.

So now that you know how Social Media will help you brand yourself, go out there and start registering to one or two social networking sites and start socializing and “branding” yourself. You will have raving fans in no time and you will become an authoritative figure and one that everyone can trust.

If you would like more information on this topic, go to the top of this page on the right hand side and put your name and email in the box that starts with a BIG D.

Or, What the heck, I’ll just make it easy for you and you can put your name and email right here :-)

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