21 LINKEDIN STRATEGIES AND TACTICS TO GROW YOUR PERSONAL BRANDby Jay Palter

Chief Engagement Officer, Jay Palter Social Advisory

21 OCTOBER 2014

Presented to:

Overview

This presentation will cover:• The power of personal brand.• What is social capital and why do you want to accumulate it.

• Tips for using LinkedIn to develop and leverage your personal brand.

What is a brand?

• Visual identity• Experience • Value proposition• Reputation• Goodwill

What is a personal brand?

• Identity • Experience • Value proposition • Reputation • Goodwill

= YOU, your smiling headshot

= Your satisfied customers= Your niche/specialty

= Your Google SERPs= Referrals/recommendations

Your personal brand is the intersection of your talent, passion and experience

Dr. Seuss: not only a great storyteller, but also a personal branding guru.

Your “you-ness” is key to your

personal brand.

Your personal brand is not defined by what you say, but how you act.

Personal brand is what people say about you when you leave the room.~ Jeff Bezos, Amazon

What is social capital?

The value/benefit that accrues to a person, business or organization by virtue of their social relationships.

People do business with people they know, like and trust.

Social capital, along with financial and human, are major drivers of business.

Social networks are economies of influence in which social capital is the ultimate benefit.

Here are 21 LinkedIn Strategies and Tacticsto grow your Personal Brand

1. A smiling professional headshot.

Smiling headshot

Too many people

Default icon

Too personal

Face too small

XX

XX

Avoid these types of headshots:

2. Craft a professional headline.

Professional Headline

“Business writer” or…

“Advisor” or…

3. Complete your profile.

Summary of what you do

Multimedia

http://ca.linkedin.com/in/jaypalter

4. Customize profile sections.

Reorder your profile sections

Your LinkedIn profile does not need to look like a boring resume.

5. Customize your skillset.

Choose the skills you want people to endorse you for

Making Connections on LinkedIn

6. Customize your connect requests.

• Follow up within 24 hrs• Customize message• Be personal

7. Ignore some connect requests.

Do CONNECT:• People you’ve met• People genuinely reaching out

Don’t CONNECT:• With complete strangers• Geographic outliers

Listening and sharing

Adopting a proactive giving strategy – paying it forward – is the key to online social engagement and building social capital.

8. Mind your LinkedIn feed daily.

• Like, comment & share

Why?• Show people you are paying attention

• Learn something

9. Find and share great content.

• Helps solve too much information problem• Adds value and creates meaning• Demonstrates your knowledge/expertise• Creates touch points for clients/prospects• Shares your personality

Why?

Four E’s of content curation

EDUCATE

ENGAGE

ENTERTAIN

ENRICH

Sample topics:• Personal finance• Happiness/quality of life• Productivity & life hacks• Fitness/health• Networking• Community-building

Topics to avoid:• Politics• Religion

10. Help people understand.

• Ebola is a relevant topic on people’s minds and this infographic helps us understand it’s contagiousness.

11. Share what you find compelling.

• Everyone is busy and the Eisenhower Box simplifies the concept of prioritizing tasks. It helps me, so maybe it will help someone else too.

12. Make people smile.

Men with real bodies posing in underwear seems to make people smile.

Do not under-estimate the power of making people smile.

13. Inspire and affirm.

14. Publish long form articles.

LinkedIn is becoming a blogging platform:• Write for your reader• Add a footer to your articles linking back to your site/blog

• Include images in posts and use subheadings

• Tweet with “Tip @LinkedInPulse”

Finally…Give until it hurts.

Give. Serve your network.

15. Give back and pay forward.

16. Give credit where it’s due.

17. Pay attention. Pay. Attention.

18. Be generous of spirit.

19. Invest your time.

20. Read and share other people’s content.

21. Be helpful.

Stop focusing on what you’re getting…

If you’re not getting benefits from using social networks, chances are you’re not giving anything of value.

Focus on what you’re giving and serve your network.