Social media and
your personal brand

It may sound obvious, but people still need to be reminded that on social media nothing is private. Your tweets, Facebook photos, LinkedIn professional history... all of these are riding the waves of bytes and bits that can be accessed by anyone on the internet. And to anyone who is not careful, your personal brand can be ruined by a social media pr disaster.

Whether you are looking for a job, poised to take a promotion, or trying to get that new client, you should expect that your name will be Googled for information about you. Any digital information can be dug up.

Many hopefuls have been put on the “no” list based merely on the merit of their email addresses. “hotmama_naples@gmail.com” does not really inspire a professional impression. What do you think your angry tweets about your home life will do to your job application for sales representative?

It's a fact of life. Hiring companies or individuals have taken the background check to the next level. It's not just about calling your character references and old employers anymore. The internet will give them much more honest feedback because this information came from you.

When companies hire, they not only look at your resume, but at your entire package. Brand [You].

The sooner you realize this, the sooner you can utilize social media to improve your personal brand, not ruin it. Here are simple ways to avoid social media PR disasters:

Be careful
It pays to explore your social media applications. Facebook and Twitter especially have privacy settings that can protect posts you don't want to make public. A more conscientious person would refrain from any detrimental posts at all.

Part of your personal brand is moving towards a better you, which means regrouping everything about yourself – especially your professional profile- that will support one unified brand.

Clean up
The best time to start is now. Go back to your social media applications and check your privacy settings... and recheck periodically. Recently, I logged in to my niece’s account to discover her custom privacy settings had reverted back to default settings. It happens. It is your responsibility to protect your brand.

Then delete any photos that do not reflect the kind of brand that you are gearing up for. This doesn’t have to be a wild kegger that you don’t want seen – it could be pictures of family, friends playing scenario games, or political statements.

You are free to have a personal life, but if you do it publicly, your personal life will blend with your overall brand. And in today's tough, competitive world, you want to put your best face forward.

Own up
If you do have a social media melt down the worst thing you can do is to ignore it or deny it. The only thing you can do is own up and apologize. Then rush home and delete the offending photo.

How you handle a brand bombing fiasco will strengthen your personal brand and help define it. Red Cross successfully handled their pr boo boo by acknowledging it and responding in a classy and fun way.

Social media is an important tool that you can seek leverage from. Either in building up a strong online presence or handling a pr disaster, it can help you turn things around and upwards.

The difference between YOU and [YOU]
is so much more than you think.

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