By now, mostly everyone is well-aware of how important social media is. With the successes of Facebook and Twitter, others are now trying to get pieces of this pie. Though in the next couple years there’ll surely be lots of networking sites, it’s important to know the right ones to use in the process of personal building and how to stand out.
Pick and Choose
Just because there are about a million and two different networking sites, doesn’t mean you have to use them all. The most important and frequently-used sites are Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. They’re already well-established and have served as strong connecting platforms on numerous occasions. Many of the new ones popping up are just mirror images of those.
Amazon’s newly patented social media system has basically the same idea as Facebook, and it seems strange to think of Amazon outside of a shopping site. If you already have and make use of a Facebook account, there’s no need to invest valuable time in Amazon’s new Facebook look-alike. Even though it is a smart move for expanding their brand, it may not have much utility. When in the midst of personal building, it’s important to think about not only promoting yourself positively, but also using the right tools to do so.
Take Amazon as an Example of What NOT to Do
The personal building process is important. You need to find people who can really get behind you, engage yourself in conversations as much as possible, and connect with those who use these sites for the same reason as you. Though Amazon realizes that these social networking sites have good things going for them and would like to get in on the party, you should never simply follow in the footsteps of everyone else.
Don’t just retweet all the business leaders you follow and expect them to really care. Retweeting shows you find what they post interesting and that you care about what they do and the things they care about, yet it doesn’t show much about YOU. Personal building, emphasis on personal, is all about putting yourself out there and developing who you are for your personal brand in the chaotic “real world.”
America’s Next Top Employee
Personal building is an essential piece in creating your personal brand. If you establish yourself as unoriginal or just the same old person who wants the coveted open position, you have no real edge over your competition. You need to make a name for yourself online and in the real world. There’s no need to rely on others’ online postings or the work they’ve done in the office. Have your own voice and work ethic to speak for. Take your parents’ advice from way back when: be your own person. Though you won’t necessarily be everyone’s cup of tea, at least you’ll know you put your best effort in and you’re being true to you. Anything is better than being a carbon copy of the person next to you..who’s probably pretty boring anyways.
