In today’s web-based society, there is a plethora of information available to us all, with more being generated each day. Posting and sharing useful content from your own blog, and external blogs, website, magazines and other credible sources will drive attention to you.
While there are many tools that help you automate and duplicate your sharing, you’ll get the best results by customizing your messages for each site. Every social media platform has its own unique set of tools that can help you make richer connections.
Let’s look at the three main active social media platforms and how to make full use of what they have to offer.
To me, LinkedIn is the number one content generator and social media outlet for someone who wants to advance their career. It affords you the opportunity to fully articulate your career history in a format similar to a resume.
It also allows you the opportunity to share content from other sources. I am fearless in using LinkedIn not just for business development, but as an educational platform. From the vast resources available on the internet, I select multiple materials that are rich in value to my defined audience, then initiate action and conversation by adding a question to encourage conversation.
Always give credit to the person who created the content. If they are one of your connections, you can start typing their name until a drop-down list appears. When you click on their name it adds a link to their profile right from your post. This accomplishes two things:
First of all, that person will be notified that you mentioned them and shared their content. Second of all, you introduce that person to your network, since anyone seeing your post can quickly view the person’s profile.
Hashtags are keywords with a pound sign added at the front, e.g., #jobsearch. According to the Buffer blog’s Scientific Guide to Hashtags, tweets with hashtags incite twice as many responses as tweets without.
Courtesy costs nothing, in both our daily lives and our social media presence. If you tweet a link to content generated by another person or company, or retweet or MT someone’s post (MT is a “modified tweet,” where you’ve edited the original post), mention their name by adding their Twitter username (e.g., @EliteResumes) to your tweet.
Because of the history of this growing platform, many people are reticent to either join, participate, or let alone share. However, gone are the days when Facebook was only used by the younger generation to post questionable photographs or copy.
The Facebook world has changed drastically in the last few years, and sensible use of this medium will bring tremendous value to your career management and advancement.
Be sensitive to each post and to the audience. Use hashtags prudently to maximize attention. Too many hashtags can clutter your message and damage your credibility, and research found it leads to fewer views of your content. Yet too few or no hashtags can limit the attention you receive.
In the About section of your profile or fan page, Facebook allows you to talk about your current work appointment and past work history. Using the right keywords here can bring dramatic results.
For me, Facebook is an additional venue to talk about my area of subject matter expertise, while using my British sense of humour to capture attention – without going overboard, of course.
Facebook is an excellent place to affirm your thought leadership by sharing timely and relevant content about your industry. Be sure to add a compelling question that gets people talking about the topic.
Another simple yet very effective way of strengthening your presence and relationships on all the social media platforms is to routinely browse through the updates your connections have posted, and find ones to “Like” (on Twitter, use the “Favourite” button), and/or re-share with your own network.
This has been an exciting blog post for me to prepare. May I ask for your comments?