Your Personal Brand Makeover – LinkedIn

How congruent are you when it comes to your online persona(s)? In other words, would a viewer who googled you be surprised by anything on your social media or professional (LinkedIn) sites? Would they be puzzled by the online you versus the real you — the person they know and experience in life or at work? Is your online presence congruent, i.e., in agreement or in harmony with the authentic you?

As a national speaker and executive coach, I’ve discovered that many of my clients are unaware of the power of the messages they are sending online. For example, a missing picture on LinkedIn or worse, your picture is over 10 years old. This could signal an ego challenge or it could mean a missed opportunity. What if someone revisits your business card today, from a Chamber meeting a few weeks ago, and tries to remember who you are — so, they go to your LinkedIn profile but find no picture.

Making great use of the valuable professional real estate you have been given on LinkedIn does not have to take expertise or a great amount of time. In fact, partnering with a team member who does personal branding well may be all the help you need to update your profile. They can become your personal branding advisor.

The opportunity to showcase your credentials and offer a platform to help people get to know you better, read your career path, watch a company video, see recent pictures of your new store opening, read about volunteer activities you have in common and and make new connections through your connections. I submit that this professional platform, LinkedIn, is worthy of a minimal upfront expenditure of time — about two hours — and a weekly investment of about 30 minutes to stay connected. The returns will astound as you “intentionally” manage your professional presence.

Be yourself. Use your 120 character Headline (located under your name) and your Summary wisely. Talk in first person and help me get to know you. Remember, we’re all a kid from somewhere. Tell me … and show me … Where have you been? What do you value? What can you teach me? Who do we know that we can connect with and help each other grow?

Give yourself a gift of personal branding time this weekend — take time for an intentional LinkedIn makeover — navigate and explore the gift of this virtual space and the roadmap that can professionally tell others your story.