our ideas

It is pertinent to remember how important it is to market yourself when trying to build a brand or business. Many people think they need to focus all of their marketing efforts on their business, but really, it will be you who is selling the business and the marketing that comes with it!

As always, it’s a good idea to clean up your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Instagram and every other social account you have think of before jumping into the business world. (Potential employers/customers really don’t need to see how many parties you went to your Freshman year of college) Check your privacy settings and regularly Google yourself to check for things you may have missed.

It’s also a great idea to create a LinkedIn profile. For those of you who don’t know what LinkedIn is, just think of it as your digital resume, where people can see your employment and volunteer history, skills and qualifications and more. Launched in 2003, the site continues to grow in popularity with a population of over 238,000,000 users in over 200 countries and territories.

There are many benefits to having a LinkedIn profile:

1. Increase your personal SEO: LinkedIn profiles will increase your personal SEO and usually comes up early in searches. When I Google myself, my LinkedIn profile comes up first.
2. Search for jobs: LinkedIn has a fairly extensive job search function, where you can look up positions anywhere in the world, for any company and will any title. It is also easy to post on business pages and conversations to let everyone know you are looking for a job.
3. Keep in contact with all those people you meet at networking events: After collecting business cards from networking events, do you just through them in a pile on your desk? Take those contacts and add them on LinkedIn. You never know when they’ll be “that guy you need to know” to get a position with the company of your dreams!
4. It’s more than just a resume: It has your full list of work history, groups you are involved in and a list of your skills–but that’s not all. You can also get ‘recommended’ and ‘endorsed’ by people you know. You can attach files of projects you’ve worked on, link to personal websites, and much more!
5. Post updates: Similar to Facebook and other social sites, you can post updates about you, your blog, your job and more. The updates show up on your connect’s home page news feeds. This is also a great place to post you are looking for a new job or that you’ve put a new blog up on your site.

LinkedIn profiles are great for building your personal brand and it’s important to have one as you enter the professional world, search for new jobs or are looking to start your own small business.

Do you have a LinkedIn profile? What are your favorite benefits?

Until next time!

~Melissa