4 ways to build your personal brand online

If you are interested in personal branding online and how you can build your digital footprint to become more visible in the online world, it’s important that you understand how everything you say and do online – every status update, tweet, mention, like, +1, blog post and even a comment adds value (positive or negative) to your brand.

The same with traditional marketing, online you should always put your best foot forward and there’s a couple of rules you should always follow to make sure it doesn’t backfire on you. We are all human and we literally do judge a book by its cover. With this, you don’t want to miss out on some great opportunities online by not building and optimising your personal brand. I follow a couple of simple rules on a daily basis so that everything that I say and do online adds value to my overall digital footprint.

Always be your genuine self

This is the most important rule of them all. Always be genuine and yourself with everything you do online. This means being real, truthful and transparent about who you are and what you believe in. Even though self-promotion can be powerful online, never attempt to only promote yourself in everything that you do online.

Networking online is very similar to traditional networking. If you are yourself, genuine and provide value to your network, you will form long-term relationships with your connections. It’s important that you focus on building trust and credibility for your brand.

Always respond to comments and mentions

It’s good practice to respond to direct messages and emails with a personal tone and in a prompt manner. On public social media channels like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook to a name but a few including your own blog, if you receive any mentions or comments, make a point to respond as soon as possible.

When you mention or refer someone on the social web, link to them and acknowledge them publicly. Everyone is in the same boat and trying hard to build a name for them online. Whether it’s through writing, sharing content or online networking, they want to be recognized for what they are doing.

Sharing is caring

By participating, commenting and being present online rather than just trolling about, you can build credibility and trust with your brand online. When you share and engage other people’s content like status updates, comments, tweets, blog posts, etc., you are paying it forward. Trust me, at some stage it will come back to you.

Always be helpful and add value

The more you are adding value to your target audience online by being yourself and helping them with their problems, the more credibility you are building for your name. Be different and share magnetic content and answer questions. The more you are helpful, the more help you will receive in what you want to achieve. I know it’s easier said than done, but there’s no better time to start with this than now. What problems are your target audience experiencing and how can you help them? What questions can you answer for them? How can you help them?

When you are young, one of the first rules that you learn is saying please and thank you. Be mindful of your manners online and thank people for sharing your content with their own social connections. When you value their efforts they will feel appreciated.

Who you are online and what you say says a great deal about who you are. Start building your personal brand online.

Do you have any specific personal branding strategies?