Branding

Personal Branding Mistake #22: YOU'RE LEADING A DOUBLE LIFE

Watermelon Social. Stephan Partners. NYC personal branding agency. NYC social selling agency. George Stephan. Branding. Digital marketing. Social media. Online branding. Social selling. Personal branding and digital marketing. Personal branding and …

How can your audience get an accurate view of you if your brand appears differently on your social media platforms? Be consistent and make your LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook professional pages communicate a synchronized message.

Research shows that personal brands with well-managed and harmonious social media platforms are 40% more effective than brands with inconsistent platforms. Your audience offers huge new business opportunities if you manage social media platforms correctly. There are more 350 million LinkedIn users, 645 million Twitter users and 1.39 billion Facebook users. Make sure all of your platforms are consistent and reinforce your brand promise. 

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Personal Branding Mistake #23: YOU'RE ANOTHER BLUR ON THE SCREEN

Watermelon Social. Stephan Partners. NYC personal branding agency. NYC social selling agency. George Stephan. Branding. Digital marketing. Social media. Online branding. Social selling. Personal branding and digital marketing. Personal branding and …

Don’t underestimate the importance of a good headshot. A profile picture that's clear and professional can give you character and credibility  – not to mention 11x more engagement.

Happy faces come off as more trustworthy and likeable. Chemistry is everything in business so why not start with a friendly portrait on your social platforms. Keep in mind that people remember only 20 percent of what they read and 10 percent of what they hear, but retain 80 percent of what they see. Visuals matter when it comes to social media so keep your content interesting to keep it working hard for you.

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Personal Branding Mistake #24: WATCH YOUR BACK!

Watermelon Social. Stephan Partners. NYC personal branding agency. NYC social selling agency. George Stephan. Branding. Digital marketing. Social media. Online branding. Social selling. Personal branding and digital marketing. Personal branding and …

Although a great profile picture is key to your personal brand, don’t forget about the imagery directly behind it. Incorporating some background art is an easy way to harmonize the look and feel of your brand and support your promise. 

Visuals are the most engaging type of content on social media. For instance, adding a photo URL to a tweet can boost your engagement by more than 25%. Video works even better as an engagement device. Approximately 40% of online users have a better and more favorable response to outreach when visuals are used over text. Visuals are processed 60,000 times faster by the brain than text. LinkedIn, for instance, offers great opportunities to customize your personal brand with background, portrait and downloadable visuals throughout your profile. It’s said that people are not reading these days. Make it easy on your visitor and boost your profile with visuals. 

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Personal Branding Mistake #26: GRAINY BE GONE!

Watermelon Social. Stephan Partners. NYC personal branding agency. NYC social selling agency. George Stephan. Branding. Digital marketing. Social media. Online branding. Social selling. Personal branding and digital marketing. Personal branding and …

Grainy profile pictures look bad and show a lack of effort. Lose the grainy picture and pick one that's flattering, professional and clear. 

Over 25 million LinkedIn profiles are viewed daily, so you want to be sure that your picture will stand out. The first step is to include a professional and attractive profile picture. Investing in good photography will pay long-term dividends. According to a recent survey, 89% of recruiters look at your profile picture first. Get a good one! 

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Personal Branding Mistake #27: YOU'RE TIME-TRAVELING

Watermelon Social. Stephan Partners. NYC personal branding agency. NYC social selling agency. George Stephan. Branding. Digital marketing. Social media. Online branding. Social selling. Personal branding and digital marketing. Personal branding and …

Make sure your picture is relatively up to date. You looked great in your high school yearbook photo, but employers want to hire you, not your seventeen year-old self.

Think about it this way, would you put a baby picture in your LinkedIn profile? Keep it current and keep it real. Don’t surprise people when you finally meet them in person by not having them recognize you. Misrepresenting your portrait is bad for your brand and bad for business. 43% of all professionals found new business connections via LinkedIn. Keep their trust and don’t time travel.

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Personal Branding Mistake #28: NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OUR PERSONAL BRANDING ASSESSMENT

Watermelon Social. Stephan Partners. NYC personal branding agency. NYC social selling agency. George Stephan. Branding. Digital marketing. Social media. Online branding. Social selling. Personal branding and digital marketing. Personal branding and …

Great personal branding starts with an assessment of how you stack up to competition. Do you stand out from the crowd? Check out our complimentary personal branding assessment.

Personal branding is all about your promise, what makes you different and better than competition. It’s tough to have a unique brand promise without a competitive audit. Stand out from the 97% of business executives who use LinkedIn. 43% of employers hired a candidate because they were creative on social media. Harness your creativity and show your audience why you are different and better than your peers; Be a purple cow in a field of brown cows.

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Personal Branding Mistake #29: MAKE NEW CONNECTIONS BUT KEEP THE OLD

Watermelon Social. Stephan Partners. NYC personal branding agency. NYC social selling agency. George Stephan. Branding. Digital marketing. Social media. Online branding. Social selling. Personal branding and digital marketing. Personal branding and …

Maintaining strong business relationships is just as important as making new ones. Increase the scope of your network but don’t forget your old connections.

Almost half of LinkedIn users now have 500+ connections in their professional network. There are, on average, eight new LinkedIn discussion groups created each week and 200 group conversations per minute. Use relevant LinkedIn groups as an opportunity to make new connections as well as maintain your relationships with your old ones. Connections work best when you work hard to keep your brand top of mind.

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Personal Branding Mistake #34: FIRST THINGS FIRST: YOUR HEADLINE

Watermelon Social. Stephan Partners. NYC personal branding agency. NYC social selling agency. George Stephan. Branding. Digital marketing. Social media. Online branding. Social selling. Personal branding and digital marketing. Personal branding and …

Your professional headline is a critical piece of your profile. A proper headline determines how you’ll be categorized in a search and how you’ll be perceived by other users.

A strong LinkedIn headline and summary is important. A headline’s optimal number of words is 6 and a summary of 40+ words makes you more likely to turn up in search. Your headline should deliver your brand promise in a compelling way and use strong keywords for search engine recognition. Your picture and brand story work together to support your headline to further engage your profile viewers. Headlines matter on LinkedIn in the same way they matter in a successful advertising campaign.

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Personal Branding Mistake #35: DON'T MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS

Watermelon Social. Stephan Partners. NYC personal branding agency. NYC social selling agency. George Stephan. Branding. Digital marketing. Social media. Online branding. Social selling. Personal branding and digital marketing. Personal branding and …

Keeping your eyes open is important on any social platform. Check out profiles of professionals you admire, see what works and what doesn’t, then update your profile.

Looking to peer professional profiles is a great way to pinpoint best business practices that will benefit your brand. The average time spent on LinkedIn is 17 minutes so make sure the time spent on your profile counts. Eliminate practices that have proven ineffective for others and implement the ones that have helped build strong personal brands. 74% of all Internet traffic in 2017 will use video as a medium so consider creating, posting and sharing video content on your pages. Keep your eyes open for great personal brand profiles to learn how to improve yours!

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Personal Branding Mistake #36: YOU'RE UNREACHABLE

Watermelon Social. Stephan Partners. NYC personal branding agency. NYC social selling agency. George Stephan. Branding. Digital marketing. Social media. Online branding. Social selling. Personal branding and digital marketing. Personal branding and …

If you don’t leave an email or a phone number in your contact information how can connections reach you? LinkedIn users are more inclined to reach out to an accessible email address rather than use LinkedIn messaging. It's more personable and direct – so make sure yours is listed!

LinkedIn reaches a total of 200 countries and 350 million plus users so make sure you are reachable! Listing your email, contact information and websites in the contact section near the top of your LinkedIn profile is critical. 93% of recruiters use LinkedIn and usually need to get in touch fast. Make it easy for them.

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Personal Branding Mistake #37: YOU'RE HIDING YOUR BEST QUALITIES

Watermelon Social. Stephan Partners. NYC personal branding agency. NYC social selling agency. George Stephan. Branding. Digital marketing. Social media. Online branding. Social selling. Personal branding and digital marketing. Personal branding and …

Although you never want to be too personal on LinkedIn, listing organizations and causes you’re affiliated with can definitely give you an edge over the competition. Employers want to hire real people with interests and passions, not just a picture and a resume.

58% of employers hire people because they got a good feel for the candidate’s personality on social media. 42% of LinkedIn users update their profile regularly to keep it fresh and showcase their brand’s value. Visuals, organizations and causes are great places to get your visitor interested in your brand personality. 

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Personal Branding Mistake #38: YOU'RE TOO HUMBLE

Watermelon Social. Stephan Partners. NYC personal branding agency. NYC social selling agency. George Stephan. Branding. Digital marketing. Social media. Online branding. Social selling. Personal branding and digital marketing. Personal branding and …

Get out of your employee mentality! Although it’s great to promote the company you work for you need to promote yourself too. Don’t be so modest; at the end of the day YOU are the bigger brand. 

Get out there and promote your brand! 44% of hiring managers look at your social media pages to determine your level of creativity and to learn about your qualifications. LinkedIn members that include skills get 13X more profile views than those who don’t. So if you’ve got the goods it’s ok to brag. It will support your brand promise, separate you from the herd and get the phone to ring. 

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Personal Branding Mistake #40: THE CLOCK IS TICKING

Watermelon Social. Stephan Partners. NYC personal branding agency. NYC social selling agency. George Stephan. Branding. Digital marketing. Social media. Online branding. Social selling. Personal branding and digital marketing. Personal branding and …

Start reassessing your image now, not when transition inspires you or calamity strikes. Don’t wait until the final hour to revamp your personal brand; you might just miss a great opportunity.

Waiting to take action on your social media profile may cost you a valuable opportunity. For instance, adding an industry to your LinkedIn profile can get you 15X more views. Establish your personal brand and constantly update it. Active social media users follow brands that interest and engage them. 51% of user profiles on LinkedIn are 100% complete so make sure yours is one of them!

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Personal Branding Mistake #45: THE MORE THE MERRIER

Watermelon Social. Stephan Partners. NYC personal branding agency. NYC social selling agency. George Stephan. Branding. Digital marketing. Social media. Online branding. Social selling. Personal branding and digital marketing. Personal branding and …

Be sure to list all relevant companies you’ve worked for, schools and credential programs. Make sure all your experience points to your brand promise. 

LinkedIn users who have education listed on their profile receive an average of 10X more profile views. Adding an industry to your profile can you get 15X more views. Adding keywords to support search will generate further engagement with your platforms. With personal branding for social media, more is more.

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Personal Branding Mistake #46: YOU HAVEN'T REACHED YOUR FULL POTENTIAL

Watermelon Social. Stephan Partners. NYC personal branding agency. NYC social selling agency. George Stephan. Branding. Digital marketing. Social media. Online branding. Social selling. Personal branding and digital marketing. Personal branding and …

LinkedIn gives you the option to list three sites under your contact information – make sure you’re maximizing your outreach capabilities by listing company sites, personal sites, and social pages. 

Instead of using the default “Personal Website” on your LinkedIn page – type anchor text links in your LinkedIn profile. You can change the anchor text to make those links more appealing to people who view your profile. Promote your company’s LinkedIn presence by adding the Company Follow button to your website. Include content such as your contact information, websites, articles and slideshares to cultivate your network connections. 

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