Raising Your Social Profile And Why It's Important!

I often say if you raise your profile in life by definition you raise the profiles of those around you too. Unfortunately, the opposite is true as well so be careful who you run with.

Your profile is all you have. It is defined primarily by who you associate with, your actions and how you communicate your thoughts and beliefs. That's about it.

To raise your profile, there is simply no more effective way than using social media. If you are not an active user of social media, you will need access to the press or some other kind of platform on which to stand to make yourself known. It also helps to be successful in your career which often draws attention and people to you.

Social media is highly cost effective and really just requires your time. If you go down this path it will take real time to do this right so getting some help is a good idea. There are consulting firms like John White's Social Marketing Solutions who can add valuable strategic and tactical components to your social media efforts as well.

Always be thinking of ways that you can give back to your network by sharing your knowledge for free, providing valuable links, insightful videos, thought-provoking quotes, and being helpful. If you read a post and find it useful click the "like" button. If it moved you in some way, "share" it with your network, they will appreciate the new insight and view you as a thought leader.

In May of 2015, I began a crusade to raise my profile and that of the company I worked for. I started to write posts just like this one on LinkedIn Pulse and have published 82 times through this outlet. My topics range from business to social and humor. I have also begun to publish outside the platform. A friend suggested I submit my work to The Good Men Project, I have and am featured in each of my submissions.

So here is what has happened to my social profile since I started doing this. My connections and followers across platforms have risen 33x to approximately 33,000. I think these are some good results but here is the question some people ask me.

Why is this important?                                                                                                    

Some of these followers and connections are sticky. They come back for more and over the past year the number of them has risen substantially. People have asked me to help or write for them too. For me writing is therapeutic, so it doesn't feel like work. In fact, it is fun. As my plan is to become an adjunct professor in retirement I think it will be helpful to have my syllabus complete before I do. My business related posts will become just that. Addressing Millennials is key for me as that is a group I want to influence and connect with. There is no better way than sharing the experiences of a long and successful career as they begin their journey through work and life.

Again, why does it matter?                                                   

If I raise my social profile by definition, I will have risen the profiles of everyone in my universe of connections on social platforms. I went through the effort to connect with every person in our company so I could raise their profiles on the back of mine. We are effectively building a communication platform for the business to talk to the marketplace. You have to do this first before you begin a dialogue; then the market can talk back. Once this happens it becomes real marketing, which is my job.

What do you need to get to the next level?

Enterprise commitment. If I can have such an increase in connections and followers, the potential across the company will have a multiplier effect that reaches into the millions. I did the math here. As a marketer, do I want to reach millions? Hell yes. In those millions is our target market. Once our range is vast and comprehensive, there are segmenting techniques that will unearth the target market and create the dialogue that will be for the benefit of my company and everyone connected to me.

My best, Chris