Social networking is not about sales, it's not about self-promotion and sales. Yes, people are making money via social media marketing, but the reason these people are as successful as they are and can make money through social networks is that they do not DIRECTLY try to make sales or promote themselves and their products. They promote THEMSELVES, in moderation. They have built a personal brand for themselves.
I watched a video interview of Katie Freiling at Entrepreneurs-Journey.com today and ended up in Katie's blog. Her post How To Make The Most Money With Social Media had an interesting video in it where she talked about how important it is to build a brand for you, your name, and establish yourself as an expert in your field. The other social media experts have said the same thing, so perhaps there's something to this "personal branding" these people talk about...
Are You Being Yourself?
It’s difficult to sustain writing in a voice and personality that is not your own. Be yourself and you’ll last a lot longer. - Darren Rowse, 18 Lessons I've Learned about Blogging
Being yourself and putting yourself on the line can be scary. It's easy to hide behind the anonymity of the Internet, but in social media, you have to put yourself out there. By being yourself, you will have easier time at it and you will get better results.
The most important thing about branding yourself, and thus your social marketing strategy, is to be yourself. If you go on and pretend you're something you are not, you will fail. That's what scammers and hustlers do, and that's not something to be proud of, right?
If your not genuine and honest, it's very likely others will get that. And like said, it's a whole lot easier too to just be you. Be yourself and you can concentrate on what really matters, doing the things you love and sharing your expertise to others.
Are You Aware How You Display Yourself?
Personal branding is basically the way you market yourself to the world. - Steve Pavlina
This one is closely tied to the first one. If you are not being true to yourself and try to pretend something you are not, you will have hard time controlling how others see you online. If you constantly have to think how you portrait yourself online, you will eventually crash and burn.
By being yourself, you don't have to think "how I should say it", but just say it like you would say it. In some cases, it might still be worth it to ask "how does this make me look", so be aware of things you say and do online.
An important part of building your brand, is thinking about what kind of brand you want to build, how you want to display yourself. This is very likely connected to the things you are good at, things you know and things you do, as you are most likely building your business around those same things too.
Everyone is an expert at something and hopefully you have found what you are good at and what you want do with those skills and knowledge. You should concentrate on the things you are really interested and passionate about and build your business around that. If you already have an established business, your knowledge and skills on that area are probably the most important factors for your personal brand as well.
Personal branding is about concentrating on your strong points that are important to what you do. There are different sides in all of us, so you have to decide which of those skills, characteristics and interests is important to your brand and business. If you are a plumber, looking to establish yourself as the best damn plumber in the world, it's important that you focus on your plumbing skills and sharing that knowledge.
This means, you'll be focusing less on your secondary skills. You might be really good at playing acoustic guitar, but that's not very important to your plumbing business and the expert plumber brand you want to build for yourself. On the other hand, if you'd be interested in building a business around your guitar playing hobby instead of plumbing, your skills as a guitar player and coach would be quite essential to your brand.
Are You Branding Yourself as an Expert?
Everyone's an Expert (about something). - Seth Godin
If you have a business or you are in the process of building one online, it's very likely based on things you are good at and things you are interested in learning everything there is to learn. You are building or have built your expertise on that field, you are good at it and your goals is to become the best. You are an expert. What you know, what drives you and what you are passionate about can be the cornerstone of your personal brand and your business.
Personal branding is about letting others know about things you know and do very well. Your blog and business are means on building up your brand, making yourself known in your industry and establishing your presence at your chosen niche. By becoming an expert on your field and gaining trust and credibility, you have the means to make money with social media.
The Cornerstones of Your Personal Brand
- Be yourself
- Be aware how you display yourself
- Brand yourself as an expert in your field
By branding yourself as an expert and delivering the value your brand promises, you will become a trusted source of information. Do this with honesty and integrity and you can have a personal brand that you can be proud of...
