Getting Started With Personal Branding on Social Media

When it comes to social media, should you focus on your business or personal brand?

This question paves the way an interesting discussion. According to Wikipedia, personal branding is the practice of people marketing themselves and their careers as brands. While self-help management techniques were about self-improvement and growth, the personal branding concept suggests instead that success comes from self-packaging. “It usually takes a few years under the belt to get to this question, as most entrepreneurs in the first years of their business don’t really care about a personal brand. However, the bigger the business gets and the more success the founder has, the more opportunities arise that didn’t exist earlier” (Forbes, 2015).

"The bigger the business gets and the more success the founder has, the more opportunities arise that didn’t exist earlier”

So, if personal branding is important, what can you be doing now to build a solid foundation? Start by setting up social media accounts. It’s never too early in your career to claim Facebook pages or Twitter handles using your personal name. The longer your personal accounts are active, the more clout you will have with your target audience. Before your first post however, take time to decide how you want to brand yourself. Everything from your profile information to the images you use should support this overarching persona.

The next step to creating a personal brand on social media is to create a content calendar or posting schedule. This will ensure that you have consistent posts during your target audience’s peak engagement time. Not only will this help you get noticed, having a steady flow of content will help you get established as an expert in your field and a valuable resource to your target audience.

To assist you in your efforts, consider using third party apps to schedule content, track engagement and build your brand. There are a plethora of options out there. We suggest taking proper time to identify these apps that will help you accomplish your goals most efficiently.

And remember, start building your personal branding now – don’t wait. “It has never been easier to get your name and story out there and, most importantly, to connect with others. But do it early on, because while your business name may change, most likely your birth name will always stay the same. Just imagine how far ahead of the game you will be in the future, if you start building your personal brand today” (Forbes, 2015).