Personal Branding Mistake #30: SIZE DOES MATTER

Your LinkedIn network is your key to new business. The more connections you have the greater your chances of striking up new business relationships. 

Each second, two new members join LinkedIn – the equivalent of the entire enrollment of the Ivy League joining every day. LinkedIn now at 350 million users projects 2 billion users by 2017. LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator, its networking mining tool, allows users to leverage their network connections to build new relationships and new opportunities on the web. The larger your network the larger your opportunity so build your connections to 500+. Your brand and your wallet will thank you.

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Personal Branding Mistake #31: A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED

You need your connections and they need you too. Don’t hesitate to give appropriate endorsements or recommendations. They may just want to return the favor. 

Did you know that 35% of LinkedIn users access the site daily? Stay in touch, recommend and nurture your connections. There are over 1 billion LinkedIn endorsements making their profiles 4X more likely to be viewed. The more endorsements you make, the more you will receive and the more attention you will get. So get on the endorsement band wagon!

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Personal Branding Mistake #32: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING

Pay attention to your feed and see what your connections and groups are talking about. Finding out what interests your network allows you to better engage them in your own posts. 

Your social pages work best when you are engaged. Operate like a Fortune 500 brand and pay attention to your social feed. 92% of Fortune 500 brands tweet at least once a day. Check your feed on a regular basis to stay on top of what is relevant to your network. Even if it’s not your top priority, make it part of your day to engage your audience, prospects will notice. 

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Personal Branding Mistake #33: YOU'RE NOT SUPPORTED

What you write on your profile needs support. Attach relevant documents, links and images throughout your page. Keep it fresh and interesting.

94% of people regularly share content online that add value to the professional lives of people in their network. Before sharing, consider sharing only informative and useful content. The average person reads only 20% of text so it’s wise to include visuals (particularly video) to optimize your brand presence. Your social media posts and shares work best when supporting your brand promise and story. 

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Personal Branding Mistake #34: FIRST THINGS FIRST: YOUR HEADLINE

Your professional headline is a critical piece of your profile. A proper headline determines how you’ll be categorized in a search and how you’ll be perceived by other users.

A strong LinkedIn headline and summary is important. A headline’s optimal number of words is 6 and a summary of 40+ words makes you more likely to turn up in search. Your headline should deliver your brand promise in a compelling way and use strong keywords for search engine recognition. Your picture and brand story work together to support your headline to further engage your profile viewers. Headlines matter on LinkedIn in the same way they matter in a successful advertising campaign.

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Personal Branding Mistake #35: DON'T MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS

Keeping your eyes open is important on any social platform. Check out profiles of professionals you admire, see what works and what doesn’t, then update your profile.

Looking to peer professional profiles is a great way to pinpoint best business practices that will benefit your brand. The average time spent on LinkedIn is 17 minutes so make sure the time spent on your profile counts. Eliminate practices that have proven ineffective for others and implement the ones that have helped build strong personal brands. 74% of all Internet traffic in 2017 will use video as a medium so consider creating, posting and sharing video content on your pages. Keep your eyes open for great personal brand profiles to learn how to improve yours!

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Personal Branding Mistake #38: YOU'RE TOO HUMBLE

Get out of your employee mentality! Although it’s great to promote the company you work for you need to promote yourself too. Don’t be so modest; at the end of the day YOU are the bigger brand. 

Get out there and promote your brand! 44% of hiring managers look at your social media pages to determine your level of creativity and to learn about your qualifications. LinkedIn members that include skills get 13X more profile views than those who don’t. So if you’ve got the goods it’s ok to brag. It will support your brand promise, separate you from the herd and get the phone to ring. 

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Personal Branding Mistake #39: SO YOU HAVE STAGE FRIGHT?

You should always be looking for opportunities to discuss, speak and publish what you know best. Answer questions about what you do, step up when you’re invited to speak publicly and don’t fear the spotlight.

It’s time to get active. The best time to post and do outreach on LinkedIn is Tuesdays through Thursdays around noon or between 5pm and 6pm. Your LinkedIn profile is also 5X more likely to be viewed if you join and are active in discussion groups. Hiring managers are looking at your profile during those high traffic times to get a feel for who you are and why you are different and better than your peers. They also look at your social media profile to find out if you fit in the company culture. Showcasing your skills and brand personality provides your audience with a sense of who you are. Don’t be afraid to promote your brand, your next opportunity is just around the corner. 

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Personal Branding Mistake #41: YOU'RE MAKING EXCUSES

It doesn’t take much to get the wheels turning. Take some time today to think about you and your personal brand. Write about it, talk about it - just see where it takes you! Your personal brand will thank you later.

The most successful LinkedIn users engage with connections and discussion groups daily, so join your relevant groups to optimize your brand and your network. Over 5 million professionals now have endorsements for social media skills on LinkedIn. That should give you an idea of how important regular updates are. The challenge in personal branding is to identify your goals then act to reach your goals. Yes it takes time and yes it’s worth it. 

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Personal Branding Mistake #42: IT'S NOT ALL FUN AND GAMES

Don’t be a slave to social media; make it work for you instead. Have it serve as a platform to leverage your brand and increase awareness. You want to build an audience, not a platform of gifs and memes to distract your connections from the service you provide.

LinkedIn powers 50% of the world’s hires, so make sure your audience knows your brand promise and its value. Represent that promise with relevant text, documents, visuals and links. LinkedIn’s power is in professional connections, so keep your professional profile focused and clear of personal information. Puppies work great on Facebook, not so great on LinkedIn.  

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Personal Branding Mistake #44: YOUR HEADLINE FALLS SHORT

Your headline is the single most important written component of your profile. Don’t just list your title and company – heighten the appeal! Bring in new business by adding important keywords.

After your picture, your headline is the most viewed item on your profile page. It’s like the headline on an ad. If people are intrigued, they will go further.  The optimal length of a headline is 6 words. We live in a world where people have short attention spans, so less is more. However, make sure your headline reflects your brand promise. Google displays up to 66 characters of a title tag.  Keep that in mind when crafting your headline.

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Personal Branding Mistake #45: THE MORE THE MERRIER

Be sure to list all relevant companies you’ve worked for, schools and credential programs. Make sure all your experience points to your brand promise. 

LinkedIn users who have education listed on their profile receive an average of 10X more profile views. Adding an industry to your profile can you get 15X more views. Adding keywords to support search will generate further engagement with your platforms. With personal branding for social media, more is more.

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Personal Branding Mistake #46: YOU HAVEN'T REACHED YOUR FULL POTENTIAL

LinkedIn gives you the option to list three sites under your contact information – make sure you’re maximizing your outreach capabilities by listing company sites, personal sites, and social pages. 

Instead of using the default “Personal Website” on your LinkedIn page – type anchor text links in your LinkedIn profile. You can change the anchor text to make those links more appealing to people who view your profile. Promote your company’s LinkedIn presence by adding the Company Follow button to your website. Include content such as your contact information, websites, articles and slideshares to cultivate your network connections. 

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Personal Branding Mistake #49: NOT TACKLING TWITTER

LinkedIn has been good to you, but Twitter can be generate great business too – 42% of account holders use Twitter to learn about products and services. Give your personal brand a boost and tackle Twitter!

Twitter can enhance your professional life. There are 500 million tweets sent per day. There are 305 million monthly active visitors on Twitter which is significantly more than the monthly visitors on LinkedIn. If Twitter were a country, it would be the 12th largest worldwide. Twitter supports over 33 languages. With Twitter size does really matter. 

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Personal Branding Mistake #50: YOU FORGOT YOUR TWITTER "BUSINESS CARD"

Don’t have a Twitter avatar and completed bio? A profile without a personal brand is like going to a meeting without a business card. Forgetting your business card may make for a sad ending – no business! 

80% of world leaders use Twitter so make sure you are a leader in your field by having a complete and solid profile to actively engage your audience. Tweets with image links receive 2X the rate of engagement of those without. The average number of tweets sent per day is 3, as user engagement slightly decreases after the third post. After LinkedIn, Twitter is the platform of choice for CEO’s. Add it to your business card.  

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Personal Branding Mistake #53: NO MANNERS

Make sure to say please when you want to connect, and thank you when you receive an invitation. Manners matter in the digital world. Good manners can get the conversation going!

Using good manners in all online interactions is an important best practice. Simple things such as “Please” and “Thank you” go a long way in the digital world. Just because conversations are brief doesn’t mean your manners should be. Be polite and be professional. With 93% of recruiters looking at your social media platforms be on your best behavior at all times. 

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Personal Branding Mistake #54: SILENCE IS NOT GOLDEN

Before you join a group, check to make sure its members are active and discussing. A silent group isn’t a group worth joining. Get your personal brand going by joining highly active groups.

Build brand awareness by joining and participating in LinkedIn discussion groups. With 1.5 million LinkedIn groups, there are plenty of options to choose from. Join groups that open up meaningful relationships and opportunities. 81% of LinkedIn users belong to at least one group. And 40% of all social media users socialize more online than they do face-to-face. Do lots of first online meetings to connect with those individuals you normally wouldn’t. Participating in group discussions is a great way to grow and optimize your brand. 

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Personal Branding Mistake #55: YOU FORGOT TO SHOW AND TELL

Are you telling but not showing? Consider using LinkedIn Showcase pages. A Showcase page can be an effective tool for presenting your product as well as your personal brand.

Every minute 684,478 pieces of content are shared on social media, so post interesting and relevant content in unique ways to build brand awareness. Consider LinkedIn showcase pages as an extension of your company page to shine a spotlight on your brand. Use this feature to drive traffic and attention to content that you’re proud of. 61% of LinkedIn users use the platform as their primary professional networking site. Make it more effective with showcase pages.

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Personal Branding Mistake #56: YOU’RE HEARING CRICKETS

If you’ve been actively posting without success, it’s time to try something new. Switch up your branding strategy by changing content, posting time, or group involvement.

The same old song only gets attention for so long. The most common reason to unlike a social media page is uninteresting posts, so change it up and make it interesting with new stories, visuals, videos, etc. When you post is important as well. The best time to post on Twitter is Mondays-Thursdays between 9am-3pm. TrackMaven analyzed over 1.7 million tweets and found that the best time of day for a retweet is after hours, between 10:00 pm and 11:00 pm EST. Friday is the worst day to post on LinkedIn. Create, share and post relevant content during prime time to get the attention your brand deserves.

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Personal Branding Mistake #57: DON'T BE SO COLD

If a connection comments on your post be sure to respond! The point of posting is outreach. If you’re not responding you’re not communicating your personal brand story.

Engaging with your audience is the key to creating and maintaining meaningful connections. By responding to a comment, answering an InMail or simply liking a post, you are positioning your brand as responsive. Questions have proven to drive more engagement than statements. Posing a question or responding to one will benefit your brand. Emails with social sharing buttons increase click-through rates by 158%, so think about including social sharing buttons on your social platforms to drive engagement. Take the time to get ahead of competition and interact with your audience!

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