Is Your Online Personal Brand Sending the Wrong Message?

You’ve spent your entire career focused on building quality relationships, delivering high quality work, and leaving a positive and lasting impression on your audience (peers, leaders, clients, etc…). Whether you actively considered it in this context or not, you were building your personal brand. However for most, their personal branding efforts stop there. Few take it to the next level and apply that same focus and diligence with the online personal brand. If we value our personal brand and care about the perception of ourselves that we leave with our audience, why do most professionals knowingly neglect their online personal brand?

Let’s explore this for a moment. Our online personal brand is the culmination of every reference to our name and or image online. That’s right….EVERY reference to our name and image. That means that each time we created a social media account (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and the list goes on), whether an individual uses it every day or once every couple of years (like some LinkedIn user when they are looking for a new job), they all point back to us. Why should this matter to you?

Depending upon what your Google Search results pull up as references to your brand, you may be sending the wrong message and here’s why…

1. A Plethora of Incomplete Accounts: These may give your audience the impression that you have a history of not finishing things that you start. If you aren’t using it, delete it!


2. Out-Dated Accounts: Whether it is valid or not, your audience may formulate the perception that you don’t care enough about your reputation enough to keep your professional accounts accurate and current. If you aren’t going to keep it current, why have it open at all?


3. Inconsistent Messaging: For those that have begun to embrace online personal branding, yet have different messaging from one platform to the next and different professional headshots as profile pics for each platform, this may signify that you lack strategy, vision, and focus to deliver a consistent message to your audience. Some may conclude that this is the level of quality and focus that they may expect from you on other projects/initiatives as well. If you want to deliver a clear and concise message for your audience that showcases your value effectively, keep your professional image consistent and your messaging in harmony!

Now, this all seems simple and easy. Yet, for many that read this article, little to no action will be taken to move in the right direction. Research suggests that 60% will take no action and remain in the status quo. With that said, what actions will you take to differentiate and stand out from your competition and build a more consistent personal brand message?

Source: B2C