In the last few years, social media has opened up many avenues for you to articulate your expertise and market yourself as a professional. Never before have there been so many venues for you to broadcast from – and for free.
These platforms allow you to communicate with a defined global audience. Sharing updates, links to blog posts, opinions, websites, and other valuable information, tells this huge audience a story about you as a professional.
You don’t have to be on social media 24/7, however, consistency helps deliver a brand message to your predetermined audience. Yet it can be challenging to keep thinking of new things to post.
Here are some suggestions:
Re-share from your network
Take a moment to browse updates from the people in your network. You’re bound to find some useful gems that your audience will appreciate. I find Twitter in particular quickly delivers a wealth of information that you can then share on the other platforms.
Search keywords with hashtags
Hashtags are a tool for organizing the massive amount of data that’s added to social media every minute of the day. You can use them to find and share links on highly targeted topics that your audience cares most about.
These terms should match the career keywords you have defined to differentiate yourself from your job search competitors.
Find experts on Twitter lists
When you find one expert who shares valuable content, they can lead you to others. Check that person’s Twitter profile to see if they’ve started any lists of people with a particular specialty, or if they’ve been added to any lists.
You can browse the most recent tweets from these lists as another source of content that will demonstrate that you’re on top of the latest industry trends.
Report on your day
As you travel through your day, look for examples of people doing things right (related to your industry), as well as mistakes that people can learn from.
Watch your own activities as well, for things that will show your audience more about who you are and how you operate. Just take a moment to ask yourself whether what you’re about to post crosses the line between professional and personal. You don’t want to leave a trail of digital dirt you’ll have to clean up later.
Sharing strengthens your credibility, and your willingness to relay other people’s opinions and insights. It’s called social media for a reason. People want to see that your social media stream is not just about you. It’s about sharing the most pertinent information, compiled by the best and brightest minds in your network.