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6/8/09 11:16 AMExploring Social Media: Establishing Your Online Credentials | The Blog Herald
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Exploring Social Media: Establishing Your OnlineCredentials
Filed as Features on November 25, 2008 11:52 am
by Lorelle VanFossen
Yesterday, I wrote about how to win at the social media gameand how it begins by establishing your online credentials. Basically, it’s how to createa virtual business card and resume that establish your web presence and history. Fromthis information, people can get a glimmer of who you are, what you do, how you doit, and how they can use you to get the job done.
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What Are Your Online Credentials?
I talked about the basics you probably already have in place, the social media tools ofemail, blog, and so on. Don’t have a blog? Get one.
In today’s world, you have to have a blog or social site like Facebook or MySpace. Itmust include a biography (bio or profile) about who you are, what you do, and howyou can help others. Some history, like resume credentials, is appreciated as it setsyour qualifications as an expert in your field.
There are a variety of other tidbits of personal information you may want to providethat may or may not be of help to others looking for you as an expert or to establish apersonal or professional relationship with.
Age
Many bios and profiles include age information. Generally, I recommend you do notpublish this information unless you wish to attract a specific age group or berecognized for your age.
For those proud of their 30 years of experience, then their age says a lot about thatexperience - if they have been doing the same job for all of those years. If they havetwo years experience and sixty years of living and working a totally different job,then some questions may arise, arousing curiosity.
For someone proud of what they have accomplished by the time they are 16 years old,then they might also want to promote their age.
For the rest of us, if it isn’t important or relevant, don’t include it.
Sex
Does it matter if you are male or female or other? If it does, then share thatinformation with the world.
If it doesn’t, then why bother.
One of the problems this part of a profile form presents is when you are your businessand your social profile is your business, not you personally. If you putting together aprofile page on your blog, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc., what should you list forthe sex?
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If the social service offers “other” as an option, then choose that. If not, and theygive you the option to hide the sexual identity on the public profile, then choose oneand hide it.
If not, in some cultures, it is just part of the language and culture to select “male” asthe identity of a business. It’s not male or female, just a masculine noun.
If you want to represent the company as you, then choose your sexual identity.
As more and more businesses join social networks, expect to see “other” to show upon the sexual identity options.
Geographic Location
For many people, identifying their location is very important to them and theirbusiness.
Because people want to do business with people they know and trust, they also wantto do business with people who live and work near them. If your business requires orcould have physical meetings, then it helps to work with people near you.
If someone is searching for a real estate agent, doctor, lawyer, plumber, electrician,trainer, or other personal trade, then their search will be for someone who lives intheir area. You could be that someone. By entering your geographic location, you arehanding out an invitation to those who live and work near you.
If your geographic location isn’t important to your work nor reputation, then whatshould you type into the form? I travel extensively and live on the road, so my answerhas been “the world” when asked to fill in my location. It isn’t very helpful, but Ididn’t have a better answer.
Recently, we just set up a permanent base outside of Portland, Oregon, so I’mchanging all my social media tool services to that area, though I’m still travelingextensively. I want to do more business with those who live in my new “home” so I’mhanging out my shingle in my neck of the woods.
Where do you want to hang your shingle?
Professional Experience
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The professional experience you share in your bio and profile is the supportingevidence to who you are and what you know.
We live in a culture where you are your job. At the least, you are your training andexperience.
And we tend to believe those who have the training and work experience to back whatthey say and do rather than just someone shooting off their mouth as some know-it-all, don’t we?
I believe that you are a measure of all your life experiences, but if you want yoursocial media efforts to result in income and business referrals, your professionalexperience better match your qualifications for the job.
What do you include? Like a professional resume, sometimeswhat you don’t include matters as much as what you include.
A friend of mine, like me, has had a wide and varied career. We call it our“checkered past” but it works for us well in our virtual businesses today. Between thetwo of us, I think we’ve occupied just about every stereotypical job you can think offrom cook to exercise coach to public speaker to ditch digger. Do these job skillsmake us the experts we claim we are?
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When filling out my resume for a client or job, should I include my time in collegespent as a bartender and cook in a pizza parlor? Time spent managing clothing stores?Apprenticing as a professional model and fashion photographer? Working as areceptionist? Secretary? Accountant? Teacher? EMT? Tour director and guide? Printer?Advertising and marketing consultant? Graphic artist? Comedian? Producer? Radio andvoice personality? Actress? Singer? Web developer and designer? Technical writer?Author? How about the years I’ve spent working as a water aerobics instructor?
Through it all, I’ve always been a writer, photographer, public speaker, consultant,and trainer, teaching what I know to others. The rest were odds and ends jobs thatgot me through various economic down times and changes in my personal andprofessional life. Second jobs and in-between jobs.
If my resume featured all of those, and more, it’d be extremely long, a bear to read.Interesting, but overwhelming. And confusing.
What matters is what skills I’ve learned from all of the work and experiences I’ve hadover the years and my travels.
As a water aerobics instructor, my medical training as an EMT and nurse’s aid came inhandy, working with various medical conditions and physical disabilities. My sales andteach experiences gave me the social skills to not only help train people of all abilitylevels to get the right exercise for their ability, while uniting the entire class as asingle group. My advertising and marketing degree and experienced made me realizethat if I wanted them to keep attending the class and program, they had to enjoy thewhole process as much as they liked me as a teacher, so I put together social eventssuch as lunches, picnics, walks, dinners, and speakers to give them social time in theirclothing, not just in their bathing suits.
The students enjoyed the whole process so much, they brought friends and family,until my water aerobics classes were the most popular of all the classes in thefacility.
As a result, my classes increased, the facilities benefited from increased enthusiasm,attendance, and membership.
And I brought all that energy and the lessons I learned into my advertising andmarketing business, as well as my writing, training, and public speaking programs.Years later, I still rely upon all these skills in every project I work on.
It isn’t necessarily the traditional resume structure that people can depend upon for
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understanding my abilities. It’s the skill set I bring to the table based upon myprofessional experiences and expertise. Maybe your skill set is more important thanyour job descriptions.
The information you choose to share with the world must support your end goals anddesires. It must paint a picture of what you can do, what you know, and what youbring to the table as an expert. Share that information via your social media bio orprofile.
Hobbies
While what you do in your professional life is important, especially if you expectrevenue from your social media efforts, what you do in your personal time is often abetter reflection of who you are as a person as much as who you are as a worker.
When you leave work, what do you do? Do you race home and lump in front of thetelevision? Or do you do something else? What do you do?
Are you a hiker, biker, walker, jogger, skier, or adventurer? Do you read or writestories or poetry? Do you knit, crochet, scrapbook, paint, woodwork, or create thingswith your hands? Do you volunteer your time and skills for others? What do you dowhen you clock out of your pay check?
These things speak loudly to others as the type of person you are. Remember, theywant to work with people they know, but more importantly, they want to be aroundpeople of like minds which means like interests.
You, too, want to work with those of like minds and interests, so letting the worldknow who you are outside of your job helps define the type of people you want to bearound.
Proof and Evidence of Commitment and Perseverance
A blog, be it full blog or microblog, is a commitment. It requires participation. Itrequires regular feeding.
How long have you been blogging? That’s an important question. As much as peoplelook for your professional and personal experience, they also like to frequent storesthat say, “Since 1954.” Aren’t you a little nervous about shopping in a store that says,“In business since 2008.” A marketing expert once told me that no business should adda “Since” clause until they’ve had ten years under their belts. He makes a good point.
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If you are proving your worth and value, the historical perspective helps. Over time, ablog is proof of your commitment to a project, your follow-through, yourperseverance and conviction. Blogging for one or more years tells the world a lot.
It says:
You have more than three points to make.You have long term enthusiasm for your subject matter.You like to look at your subject matter from a variety of perspectives.You know how to write.You know how to respond to feedback.You understanding how an audience and community works.You understand how to start a conversation.You understand how blogging and all this “social stuff” works.You can handle negative feedback, spam and trolls.You understand copyright and intellectual property issues.You are keeping your fingers on the pulse of your industry.
While some of these points may or may not be true, if you’ve been blogging for atleast two years, they are really good assumptions about your abilities.
If I were hiring someone, I’d want these abilities, wouldn’t you? And if you are lookingto build a relationship with someone, these are really good qualities, don’t you think?
Exploring Social Media Series
Define Social MediaExploring Social Media SeriesExploring Social Media: Social Media ToolsExploring Social Media: It Starts With OneExploring Social Media: Start With the BasicsExploring Social Media: One Size Does Not Fit AllExploring Social Media: The Motrin Moment Impact of Social MediaExploring Social Media: Do You Know How to Use the Social Web?
Tags: authenticity, blog, exploring social media, Facebook, guide to social media,online credentials, online reputation, personality, professional experience,reputation, reputation management, resume, social capital, social identity, SocialMedia, social media tools, visibility, web presence, work experience
6/8/09 11:16 AMExploring Social Media: Establishing Your Online Credentials | The Blog Herald
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This post was written byLorelle VanFossen
You can visit the Author Archive for a short bio, more posts, and other informationabout the author.
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1. By Melissa Donovan, Copywriter posted on November 25, 2008 at 6:33 pm Want an avatar? Get a gravatar! • You can link to this comment
I’m always surprised when I happen upon social media profiles for professionalsand find that they leave out crucial information - like their website URL. You canmake some great business connections through these sites and even gain somevaluable, long-term customers, so these are great reminders!
Warning: You Must Act NowHiring Now: (Online Job) $87/hourNeed Home Computer and BasicSkillswww.Jobs-At-Home.info
Monster - Job PostingPost Jobs & Search Resumes Findthe Right Employees!www.Monster.com
6/8/09 11:16 AMExploring Social Media: Establishing Your Online Credentials | The Blog Herald
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2. By Louisa posted on November 26, 2008 at 10:59 am Want an avatar? Get a gravatar! • You can link to this comment
This is a really great post! I work as a recruiter in Boston for Holliser(www.hollisterstaff.com/?=451) and have been recently encouraging all of myclients to get themselves online. Your tips are very helpful, I can’t wait to startsharing them with my clients! Thanks again!
3. By WebSuccessDiva Social Media posted on November 28, 2008 at 6:39 pm Want an avatar? Get a gravatar! • You can link to this comment
Great information here. Proof and evidence, through the various means yousuggested are all important in building online credibility… the proof is in thepudding, as they say :-)
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