I thank you for your comments regarding last week’s blog regarding building a consistent online brand. As requested, I’m trying to provide a few more ideas on the topic.

Let’s begin with the question of how do you want to brand yourself?

As a job seeker, what are you trying to stress about your expertise, experience, or accomplishments. If you’re only brand is that you are a job seeker, then there’s nothing about your brand that is distinguishing you from the millions of other currently unemployed people out there. Ask yourself, “what “uniqueness” do you want to highlight? Perhaps I should spell that “YOUniqueness” (copyright 2009, 10/26/2009).

Capture the unique brand everywhere you post online.

Just as Nike includes its classic swoosh, or Under Armour includes its intersecting “U” on every product they sell, you need to brand yourself similarly everywhere online. You could think about creating your own personal branding statement, philosophical quote, personal question, graphic, or alter ego. (Careful about creating an alter ego as you don’t want to present yourself as someone you’re not!) Regardless of what you use, connect that brand to everything you post.

Present yourself as an expert.

The expertise that you share and experience that you bring to the table is what will set you apart from the other job seekers. Business quickly learned that the internet is a powerful and relatively inexpensive marketing tool.  As a job seeker, harness the same power to sell yourself and your skill. You are a commodity and expert in your field and you should realize this.

Do you need a way to get a lot of information out? Why not start a blog? This is a great way to brand yourself and share your information too.

Join or start a public interest group on one of the social networking sites.

Ask questions on Linked In, answer questions on Linked In.

Twitter useful information on a topic.

Read articles, link to articles, and find a site for which to write articles.

If you’ll notice, I even use some of these same suggestions, and in other ways I need to take my own advice and practice it more extensively. So on that note, pick and choose which method will work best for you, because it can and will take up more time than you realize.

Assign a value to your work and experience.

As you leverage your online brand, you will be assigning a value to yourself. For example, if you’re a computer programmer and you’re only discussing basic facts that most any entry level programmer would know, what will people assume about your programming capabilities? They will assume that you know the basics and you won’t bring significant value to anyone looking for a senior level programmer. On the same note, if you’re branding yourself as a senior level programmer then you will bring more value to yourself if you discuss matters of a more senior level technical programming nature.

The same is going to be true for any industry out there. Information and knowledge are valuable. Nobody will ever be able to take away your knowledge…and you can leverage the value of your knowledge as you build your personal brand. Let’s face it, employers aren’t supposed to discriminate on the basis of your weight, race, religion, political affiliations, or evidence of a handicap. What employers discriminate on (or a less harsh phrase) base their hiring decision upon, is the value of the knowledge and experience that you will bring to the company.

Wrap Up!

So as the headline states, “Consistent Online Branding Builds Value” As you continue building your online presence to market yourself in this job market, give yourself a value. The next thing to understand is how to take that value from the virtual world and relate it to the person to person world. That will be another article.

Thanks for reading.

While recently sitting in a seminar on social networking, it occurred to me that job seekers have a tool today that didn’t exist a few years ago; Social Networking. With so many opportunities out there to increase your online presence, it’s crucial to make sure that your online presence is consistent.

Let’s face it, employers know about these tools and regularly use them to research candidates as part of the reference check. If you’re on LinkedIn and have a professional presence but have information about you on your Facebook profile that contradicts the professional presence you established on LinkedIn, employers may question your character.

So as to ensure a consistent social presence, try applying these tips:

CHECK YOUR PROFILE ON EACH SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE
Ensure you’re sending the same message about yourself by reviewing your profile and sharing the same information.

SET GOOGLE ALERTS ABOUT YOURSELF
This is one of the easiest and most effective ways to make monitor yourself online. This way if someone else posts something about you, you’ll receive an alert and can take action quickly.

CHECK WHO YOU “FOLLOW”
If you’re on Twitter, who are you following and who is following you? Check to see if you’re following industry experts relative to your field so it will be evident that you stay “in the know.” Also, are others who are considered industry experts following you?

CONTRIBUTE TO GROUP DISCUSSIONS
What kind of information or questions are you posting into various groups? LinkedIn and other web sites offer the opportunity for you to be in groups where you can ask and respond to questions. Build up your professional profile by asking relevant questions and providing helpful responses to questions that others post.

AVOID THE DESPERATION MOVE
I can’t tell you how many posts I have seen that say Professional (fill in job title) seeking job in (fill in area). Are there any jobs left out there and why won’t anyone hire me? I’m not sure if people who do this just don’t know any better, think they’re being funny, or are really that desperate. Let’s face it, whining doesn’t work for most people or in the work place, so avoid making a total desperation move like that. It’s ok to post your credentials and to alert your followers that you are actively seeking work, just be professional about it.

FOLLOWING THESE SIMPLE STRATEGIES will help you maintain a solid and consistent web 2.0 presence. If you don’t have an online presence there are many ways to go about creating one, but that’s another article.