Effectively navigating social networking is becoming an increasing challenge. Where do you focus your energies? LinkedIn? Facebook? Twitter? Professional boards? Is blogging the new resume? What’s the best way to get the word out about your personal brand?
I recently ran across an interesting blog that describes Twitter as a social media Ponzi scheme. Basically, the argument is that Twitterers are creating a closed conversation loop, re-investing social capital by tweeting at one another but not gaining any real networking traction. The “follow me” numbers are meaningless, in that they have no real social networking value. It’s an argument I have heard from other executives and newbies to social networking who are struggling with strategies to promote themselves online. For many, Twitter seems to be a real time-waster, and trying to promote your brand across in 140 characters at a time seems really restrictive.
Is Twitter a social media Ponzi scheme? You’ll have to judge for yourself, but how you get value out of any social networking strategy is all a matter of how you invest. If you find the right venues to invest your time and effort, where like-minded professionals and recruiters will see you, and where you can cultivate your personal brand, then social networking will yield returns.
The beauty of the web is discussions are threaded, so one connection leads to another. Your challenge is to create a home base to anchor for your personal brand, and then leave a trail of bread crumbs through your social networking sites that leads home to brand central. Some professionals are using Facebook as a platform to promote themselves, others are using LinkedIn, and others are using resources like VisualCV. It’s all a matter of your career objectives and personal preference.
The folks at Alltop.com state that blogging is the new resume. A blog is a great way to build your personal brand and explore/explain your value proposition, one post at a time. (How long have you been following the evolution of the NETSHARE brand by reading this blog?) If you use a blog as the foundation for your personal brand, then you can use the other social networking avenues, like Twitter, to promote your brand. Tweeting about your blog posts is one way to break the cycle of the Twitter Ponzi scheme and drive traffic to check out your brand.
No matter how you approach social media, you need to join the conversation in a meaningful way to distinguish yourself, especially these days when everyone is competing for attention. As you start looking for your next career opportunity, that trail of bread crumbs you scattered throughout the Web will pay off as recruiters and hiring managers follow the thread back to your personal brand.
