How to market yourself online

How well do you market yourself online?

Personal branding and having a professional online presence is a great way to create a positive representation of your skills, interests, and career goals. Anyone can build a personal brand and how you’re perceived is based on everything from what you post and share on social media, email, forums or any other online platform to how you communicate with others and present yourself.

Whether you use it to find a new job, gain promotion, grow your own business, or just simply expand your professional network – it’s become an essential part of building your professional reputation and right now, it’s more important than ever.

So what is personal branding?

Your personal brand is all about how you promote yourself. It is the combination of your skills, experience and personality that you’d be happy for the whole world to see.

We are all familiar with big business brands, but you probably don’t think much about having a personal brand yourself. The idea of “personal branding” is unusual to most people but in this online era, where both good and bad things last forever on the internet, personal branding is considered more important than ever.

Know your values

Your values are at the core of who you are as a person and what you believe in. They determine your friends, family, community and business decisions etc. Values are important especially during a job search and if your values match that of a company’s, you are more likely to be hired. If you prioritise your values it will help you determine the vision of your personal brand.

What makes you different?

So what makes you stand out from the crowd? Here are 6 ways that may help. We are all unique and your personality and character traits will help you to shape your personal identity. Make a list of what makes you different and use this in your online bios and social media profiles.

Define your Audience

Do you know your audience? Your target audience will include people like your employer, a recruiter, colleagues or supporters. Define who they are, their motivations and their interests. Who do they follow? Are their values aligned with yours?

Build your Network

By making solid associations with your online audience, you’ll be able to boost your reputation and open yourself up to new opportunities within your network. Join groups and forums and engage in relevant discussions and focus on people that align with your values and goals. Learn how to network online here

Stay active

Apart from giving great value with everything you share online, it’s also key to maintain a consistent online presence. Creating your own blog posts that are relevant to your industry or interests is a great way to stay active, but you can also share relevant articles from 3rd parties too.

Remember your personal brand is how employers and peers see and make decisions about you. It’s no longer just about what’s on your CV. Your presence and actions online will be viewed by potential employers and recruiters to get a reflection of who you are and what you believe in and whether that fits in with what they are searching for.