Twitter
Facebook
What to Have in Your Online Personal Brand Building Toolkit
As there is for a beginner carpenter filling up his or her first toolbox, there are some essential tools and services needed for one’s online personal brand building toolkit. From a domain name to social media accounts, a well-stocked toolkit will make managing your own reputation online that much easier.
Whether or not you can afford your own website, you can establish a personal and professional presence on social media tools with no cost. Make a Twitter account, a Facebook page, a LinkedIn profile – and make sure all of them maintain a professional and appropriate air if you ever plan to apply for a job, keep the one you already have, or build your own company. Also consider a presence on newer sites such as Google+ and niche sites in the likes of deviantART and ModelMayhem.
Outside of the presence you’ve established for your own brand, you need to monitor and be an active participant in your presence as created by others. Monitor if anything is being said about you via Google Alerts. Have a reasonable voice in your given expertise in online forums and on community blogs. Watch what comes up in a Google search when you look for your name and considering employing SEO to push positive content about you to the top.
If you’re willing to make the investment, one of the most important pieces of your personal brand toolkit is your own domain name – and creating a website around it. There’s usually a relatively inexpensive yearly fee to purchase your domain name – and another fee, often monthly, to host your live site. And for those with less funds to devote to their brand, consider a personal blog through a free service such as WordPress.
Online reputation management requires lots of tools other than your fingers, eyes and keyboard. Filling your personal toolbox with the basics “items” listed above will help you both build your brand and protect it as it expands and changes.
