Personal Branding Mistake #48: YOU'RE WALKING ON A TIGHTROPE

So you want to transition into a new field or career? Make sure the content on your profile builds a connection between where you are and where you want to be. Make your transition happen with a strong brand promise.

Live in the present, create content for the job you want, not for the job(s) you had but make a strong connection between the two. 50% of LinkedIn users have a Bachelor’s or Graduate degree, so make sure you link your education to a strong brand promise to build value for potential employers. Consider making that link come to life in a video. It’s 50X easier to get a video to rank on the first page of a Google search than any other content.

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Personal Branding Mistake #49: NOT TACKLING TWITTER

LinkedIn has been good to you, but Twitter can be generate great business too – 42% of account holders use Twitter to learn about products and services. Give your personal brand a boost and tackle Twitter!

Twitter can enhance your professional life. There are 500 million tweets sent per day. There are 305 million monthly active visitors on Twitter which is significantly more than the monthly visitors on LinkedIn. If Twitter were a country, it would be the 12th largest worldwide. Twitter supports over 33 languages. With Twitter size does really matter. 

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Personal Branding Mistake #50: YOU FORGOT YOUR TWITTER "BUSINESS CARD"

Don’t have a Twitter avatar and completed bio? A profile without a personal brand is like going to a meeting without a business card. Forgetting your business card may make for a sad ending – no business! 

80% of world leaders use Twitter so make sure you are a leader in your field by having a complete and solid profile to actively engage your audience. Tweets with image links receive 2X the rate of engagement of those without. The average number of tweets sent per day is 3, as user engagement slightly decreases after the third post. After LinkedIn, Twitter is the platform of choice for CEO’s. Add it to your business card.  

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Personal Branding Mistake #51: YOU DON'T KNOW THE TWITTER TRUTH

95% of marketers say they have generated business leads though Twitter. Don’t believe it? Revamp your personal brand with a sleek new Twitter profile and try it yourself!

Twitter is one of the primary platforms for engaging your audience and showcasing your personal brand’s value. Link clicks account for 92% of user interaction on Twitter, so tweet content that includes links to drive engagement. Consider including words in your posts that prompt action such as “Download” to increase clicks up to 13%. Don’t be afraid to actively drive attention by asking your audience to retweet. Tweets asking followers to “retweet” receive 12X higher retweet rates than those that do not. Include Twitter as part of your professional outreach plan. 

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Personal Branding Mistake #54: SILENCE IS NOT GOLDEN

Before you join a group, check to make sure its members are active and discussing. A silent group isn’t a group worth joining. Get your personal brand going by joining highly active groups.

Build brand awareness by joining and participating in LinkedIn discussion groups. With 1.5 million LinkedIn groups, there are plenty of options to choose from. Join groups that open up meaningful relationships and opportunities. 81% of LinkedIn users belong to at least one group. And 40% of all social media users socialize more online than they do face-to-face. Do lots of first online meetings to connect with those individuals you normally wouldn’t. Participating in group discussions is a great way to grow and optimize your brand. 

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Personal Branding Mistake #55: YOU FORGOT TO SHOW AND TELL

Are you telling but not showing? Consider using LinkedIn Showcase pages. A Showcase page can be an effective tool for presenting your product as well as your personal brand.

Every minute 684,478 pieces of content are shared on social media, so post interesting and relevant content in unique ways to build brand awareness. Consider LinkedIn showcase pages as an extension of your company page to shine a spotlight on your brand. Use this feature to drive traffic and attention to content that you’re proud of. 61% of LinkedIn users use the platform as their primary professional networking site. Make it more effective with showcase pages.

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Personal Branding Mistake #56: YOU’RE HEARING CRICKETS

If you’ve been actively posting without success, it’s time to try something new. Switch up your branding strategy by changing content, posting time, or group involvement.

The same old song only gets attention for so long. The most common reason to unlike a social media page is uninteresting posts, so change it up and make it interesting with new stories, visuals, videos, etc. When you post is important as well. The best time to post on Twitter is Mondays-Thursdays between 9am-3pm. TrackMaven analyzed over 1.7 million tweets and found that the best time of day for a retweet is after hours, between 10:00 pm and 11:00 pm EST. Friday is the worst day to post on LinkedIn. Create, share and post relevant content during prime time to get the attention your brand deserves.

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Personal Branding Mistake #57: DON'T BE SO COLD

If a connection comments on your post be sure to respond! The point of posting is outreach. If you’re not responding you’re not communicating your personal brand story.

Engaging with your audience is the key to creating and maintaining meaningful connections. By responding to a comment, answering an InMail or simply liking a post, you are positioning your brand as responsive. Questions have proven to drive more engagement than statements. Posing a question or responding to one will benefit your brand. Emails with social sharing buttons increase click-through rates by 158%, so think about including social sharing buttons on your social platforms to drive engagement. Take the time to get ahead of competition and interact with your audience!

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Personal Branding Mistake #58: DON'T BE A BULLY

If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all. Poor behavior on social media means a poor perception of your personal brand. Don’t be rude, play nice.

Your online reputation is critical to building your brand. Using inappropriate language, making rude comments or posting opinions on highly sensitive topics can hurt your brand. 35% of recruiters have rejected a candidate because of online slander. 26% of employers react negatively to overly religious posts and 18% react negatively to political posts. Keep your online presence professional and appropriate. Your brand will thank you for it.

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Personal Branding Mistake #59: YOU'RE HOGGING THE FEED

Sharing content is always encouraged. Drowning the feed in posts is not. Try to find the happy medium. If you get the sense you’re over posting chances are your intuition is right. 

While regular posting is helpful to building your brand, drowning your audience in content is not. 59% feel that over sharing on social media sites is a huge no-no. 53% of social media visitors say they dislike those who share information that they consider private. LinkedIn recommends 5 posts per week. Consider creating a posting schedule to help monitor your activity. HootSuite is a great way to distribute and monitor your posts.

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Personal Branding Mistake #60: BE MORE VISIBLE

Want people to know you’re checking them out on LinkedIn? Make sure to change your visibility settings so people can see who you are and what you’re about when you view their profile.

Make your online presence more visible by actively searching for connections and checking out their profiles. Social networking sites were created for users to see and be seen. Use the publish post and activity feature on LinkedIn to allow your audience to view your activity. 75.7% of LinkedIn users have found the “Who Viewed Your Profile” feature to be the most helpful. Make yourself more visible by using industry specific keywords in your profile. Adding keywords helps your audience find you.

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Personal Branding Mistake #61: NOT WEEDING OUT YOUR NETWORK

Keep expanding your network, but make sure it’s the right kind of network! Don’t simply establish new connections – weed out the weak and remove any unwanted connections.

The number of your connections matters only if they are relevant to your brand. While LinkedIn recommends you invite connections that you know and trust, having a network strictly made up of your closest contacts may not be enough. Most optimized LinkedIn users have between 500-999 first degree connections. Don’t make connections and build your network just for size, but do search for connections that positively impact your brand.  

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Personal Branding Mistake #62: BE MORE SNEAKY

If you’re looking into jobs or prospective clients and you don’t want either to know that you’re looking for them, make sure to switch your visibility settings to anonymous. This allows you to look at other profiles without being seen – very sneaky!

LinkedIn includes the anonymous feature for a reason. Recruiters are able to check out prospects prior to contacting them without blowing their cover. Recruiters use InMail as the primary way to contact passive candidates so make sure you regularly check InMail. Just like recruiters, if you’re checking out prospects and companies make yourself anonymous so they don’t see you coming.

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Personal Branding Mistake #63: YOU DON'T CONGRATULATE YOUR CONNECTIONS

LinkedIn notifies you when a connection lists a new job. Use proper social media manners, don’t forget to congratulate your connections and wish them the best with new endeavors.

There are many ways to engage with your audience. Congratulating connections on their accomplishments is one of them. And when you do send congrats by all means avoid generic messages. Make it personal to best support your personal brand. While LinkedIn does pre-populate message fields, take the time to personalize your message. Your connections are one of your brand’s strongest assets so make sure to recognize their updates and milestones. Don’t connect and forget.

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Personal Branding Mistake #64: THE BIGGER THE BETTER

Did you know that if you upgrade to premium LinkedIn your profile picture gets 30% larger? Greater visibility can mean more business for you and your personal brand. 

Visuals are key to maintaining a strong brand presence. The vast majority of online users are visual learners processing visuals 6,000 times faster than text. Upgrading your LinkedIn subscription increases your visibility and visitor engagement. Background and other imagery also add to engagement. So use visuals to compliment text throughout your brand profile.

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Personal Branding Mistake #65: NO LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

If you’re using InMail, focus on commonalities and try to sell a meeting or call, not your service or product. Don’t bombard LinkedIn members, ease into it and let them get to know you and your personal brand first.

InMail is an extremely effective tool for communicating and forming new connections. InMail messages have an 85% better open rate over regular email. InMail should be highly personalized and not viewed as a broadcast messaging tool. Overselling your brand and offer turns people off with this tool. Keep content personal, showcase your personality and find commonalities to discuss. Don’t overwhelm your connections with InMail, be thoughtful about both the message and the recipient.

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Personal Branding Mistake #66: GETTING SUCKED INTO THE VIRTUAL VOID

Use your social pages to connect, but try to do business in person. Go belly to belly with your network to increase the depth of your connections. Whether it’s coffee, lunch or drinks, be sure to put a face to your brand.

Connecting with fellow professionals via LinkedIn is one thing but forming meaningful relationships with your connections is another. Meeting with connections in person adds a lot to your relationship. LinkedIn members who connect outside the platform tend to be more successful than members who operate exclusively online. Take the lead to create long lasting relationships with your connections. Invite them to interesting events, coffee, lunch or drinks. Your brand will thank you for it.

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Personal Branding Mistake #67: GET GROUNDED

You want to communicate your personal brand on a spectrum of social sites but make sure you’re doing it consistently! Pick a home platform like LinkedIn for content development then turn your other pages into social media mirrors.

Each social media platform offers different ways to connect. Develop you brand on LinkedIn and mirror that content on your other social outlets. A survey conducted with 900 social media users identified consistency as one of the most important factors that determines whether people continue to follow a person or brand on social media.

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Personal Branding Mistake #68: FINDING YOUR SOCIAL SWEET SPOT

You already know not to post too much professional content. So how should you post? When you’re building posts think value-oriented content. This mindset fosters new relationships and gets to the heart of you and your personal brand.

The content you post online should be brand driven. Post interesting content that supports your brand promise and story. Try to post content that evokes awe. According to LinkedIn, out of the top 10,000 shared articles and posts on the web, approximately 25% evoked awe from viewers. Content containing video, lists and infographics receive more than average views than other content types. Don’t be afraid to mix and match, integrate visuals with your text and show your audience your value in an engaging format.

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Personal Branding Mistake #69: YOU THOUGHT WRONG!

Thought LinkedIn and Twitter were enough? Think again! The business powerhouse is your website; your social platforms should point towards it. 

There is only so much you can control online, particularly when it comes to your branding. While your social media outlets are important, your website is your most important online platform. 75% of people are likely to share content they find interesting online with colleagues and friends. The chances are high that a strong website page will be shared and recommended to others. Cross-link your site to all of your social media platforms. Be consistent with your branding on your website and social media platforms.

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