More and more businesses and business owners are using social media sites to promote their business and their brand. Social media is a great way to market yourself and your expertise, to network and stay connected with your customers.
LinkedIn and
Twitter are excellent sites for low-cost self-promotion.
However, no matter which site you chose to use, you need to be wary of how you use social media sites to promote yourself professionally.
Consider the following tips when using
LinkedIn: • Make sure everything on your LinkedIn profile is written well and represents you in a professional manner. Take the time to make sure there are no spelling mistakes or inappropriate comments.
• Make sure your headline effectively makes use of the 120 available characters, represents you professionally and contains key search terms and words.
• Make use of the three free hot links option, and link to different pages within your site or that link to your business site.
• Ensure your summary adequately defines you, your business, and demonstrates what makes you unique. In essence, this is your elevator pitch.
Consider the following tips when using
Twitter:
• Ensure all relevant information on your account has been updated, completed and is professional sounding.
• Twitter is a bit more informal and social than LinkedIn and can contain more casual language. But be wary of saying anything in your Twitter account that may negatively impact your reputation and your company.
• Compare your LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. They should be similar in the information and branding that you are presenting.
• Take the time to customize your Twitter account (i.e. photos, graphics, etc). Twitter has a number of free background resources available to help you personalize or better brand your page.
Regardless of which social media sites you choose to use, remember the most important thing is that you represent yourself and your businesses in a transparent, honest and trustworthy manner.
(Content in this article has been adapted from:
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/prospect-for-business-connections-using-linkedin-and-twitter/#more-4641) and
(
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-create-a-custom-twitter-background-design/#more-3595)