Whether you’re an established business owner, budding entrepreneur or an accomplished professional, social media can be a great way to open up new doors and opportunities. However, just as a business can’t create a profile, share a few links and then expect a stream of quality customers to come from that social platform, branding yourself in a meaningful way through social media is going to take some work. Fortunately, once you know where to focus your attention and effort, the personal branding work you put in on social media can be enjoyable and very rewarding.

With that in mind, I want to share some tips I’ve used to build a strong brand for myself across social media, as well as clients who have hired me for social media consulting:

Keep It Consistent and Clear

If you already have profiles on multiple platforms and the way your name is formatted in the URLs differs slightly, it’s not the end of the world. For example, I have twitter.com/michelle_hummel and pinterest.com/michelleshummel/. But if you’re setting up all your social profiles for the first time, it’s worth using a tool like Namechk to find a consistent username that’s available across all platforms.

Consistency is also very important in how you describe yourself. Since many people get anxious at the thought of describing themselves in a short bio, it helps to have a formula to follow. A popular recommendation for social media bios is to answer three questions and then weave those answers into a compelling bio that you can use on all your profiles. The three questions are: what do you do for a living, what are you passionate about and what value do you give to people?

Don’t Underestimate Local

Although the Internet is a global platform, there’s still a lot of value in using social to connect with people in your local area. You can do this by filling out the location field in your profiles, as well as occasionally sharing local links as part of your social media content strategy.

Use a Great Picture

First impressions matter just as much online as they do offline. That’s why it’s essential to have a great picture that you can use on all your profiles. As mentioned above, using the same picture is a good way to build consistency for your brand. If you don’t currently have a great headshot and are worried about having to pay quite a bit to get one, you can get an awesome picture at a reduced price by looking for a up & coming photographer who will be happy to offer a discounted rate in exchange for being able to build up a portfolio.

For more advice on using social media to build a strong personal brand, be sure to look at my online learning program offered through Web Media University.

Michelle Hummel is CEO of Web Strategy Plus a full-service digital marketing agency focused on Franchise Marketing. She was recently nominated for the Woman-Owned Business of the Year! She’s a passionate Social Media Trainer with 15+ years of successful online business development, sales, and marketing experience. She also holds a valuable Internet Marketing Degree however with the ever-changing world of web marketing she strives to learn something new every day. 

She travels Nationwide visiting her 22 Social Media Enthusiasts Chapters delivering in-depth social media training. She also provides Social Media Certifications through founding Web Media University. A current contributing editor to The Franchise Dictionary Magazine and she has written 3 books in her series called, “The Social Media Magnet: Everything You Need to Know to Attract Customers with Social Media”, where she shares her best-kept secrets to success. She also specializes in helping Franchisors and Franchisees develop an integrated web marketing program to drive leads. She’s available for interviews via email, telephone, Skype video, news segments on location and more. Just let her know how she can help!