A Brand 'YOU' Experience in the Social Media Age

Social Media, an Introduction

In the day and age of the Social Media Revolution in our Lives; which I like to demarcate by these two eras; BC-Before Conversion and AD- After Devotion; we are often struggling to keep up with the ever evolving technology & the stream of social network updates not only to stay Socially Savvy but also to just belong to this ever growing Social Tribe!

This revolution has been a blessing in disguise, as it allows the common man to reach out to the furthest corners of this world, add value to the world as well as himself in the process, thus enriching and evolving the Brand YOU!

The expanse of Social Media & its applications has undoubtedly enhanced and enriched our pre-digital lives beyond gratitude, but I personally believe that the biggest beneficiary of this Fabulous Media has been the Brand YOU!

That’s twice in a row that I have mentioned-Brand YOU; and it’s time to throw light on what exactly is Brand YOU, before I delve deeper on how you should manage the Brand YOU across social media.

Brand 'YOU', demystified

Brand YOU, is a beautiful mosaic of who you are; what you do; whom you do it for; and why only YOU can do it for them.

The beautiful and strategic conception of such a Unique Value Proposition is known as your Authentic Personal Brand Proposition; and the process of building, communicating and living your Personal Brand Proposition is the Soul of Personal Branding.

In a nutshell, Personal Branding is the art of creating a unique brand identity and positioning for the Brand YOU and the science of building and managing the desired reputation of the Brand YOU in the Industry.

Personal Branding and the Social Media

There are multiple connotations of Personal Brand and Social Media Presence; but what some people often fail to understand is that Social Media is just a Media, after all, not the authentication of your Brand Promise; the authentication of your Brand Promise comes from the Experience of Brand YOU!

Your presence across the Social Media is NOT your Personal Brand; but the experience you offer to the world across Social Media is just one of the dimensions of the Brand YOU.

However, the power of Social Media does present you with the Golden Opportunity to enlighten the world with your Iconic Personal Brand Experience; and to do so, there are a few mandates-or what I like to call as my Golden Rules- that one must follow in order to stand out from the sea of me-too brands out there!

Build your Personal Brand Today, by the early adoption of these 10 Personal Branding Golden Rules:

10 Golden Rules for a Brand YOU Social Media Experience:

1. Build an active presence across 3 major Social Media Platforms: LinkedIn, Twitter & Facebook
2. Make your brand stand out by publishing interesting and engaging content on Pinterest, YouTube and Google Plus; using youtube and g-plus will also boost your SEO and actually help your personal brand to stand out
3. Don’t be an Egghead: Use a consistent professional headshot across these social Platforms
4.  Get relevant and sensible vanity urls on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook page; plus your own branded blog/website to build your web-gateway
5. Brand your profile on LinkedIn: Brand your headline with your personal brand positioning in 120 characters or less.
6. Seek worthy LinkedIn recommendations from the most credible contacts that you have in your network; and watch their credibility enhance yours!
7.  Become a guest blogger as often as possible; it establishes the thought leadership for your Brand. TIP: Claim your own Gavatar before indulging into guest blogging.
8. Add a personal touch to your brand experience by personalizing the LinkedIn & Twitter invites
9. Weave an emotional experience whenever you interact across the digi-sphere; learn to make people happy, excited, eager, curious etc. to interact with you and your brand!
10. Add value (in terms of enriching content, actionable tips, insights, facts, know-how etc..) to your Brand community on a regular basis-do your Brand Karma today, and watch the circle complete itself tomorrow!

Remember, this is just the beginning of the Brand YOU experience in the Social Media; and with the advent of novel technology, the percolation of the digital world in our real life is only going to surpass our mundane imaginations of today, which will then leave no room for ignorance of this Social Media Revolution.

Today’s revolution will go on to become, tomorrow’s way of Life. So unless you want to be left eons behind in the game; Brand Yourself today, before the World Brand’s You-Insignificant!

Featured Image: Free Digital Photos