Terry, Author at Terry League

Personal Branding Tip: Stand Out with Visual Content

Visual content gets some of the highest engagement on social media (see research from Social Bakers via eMarketer here). So if you want to stand out, you’ll need a plan for using photos, graphics and videos in your personal branding strategy.

While I recommend using professionals for company photos, logo design, and promotional materials, there are many ways you can use tools available for more “casual” visual content that helps your personal brand stand out in the crowd.

Here are a few tips, ideas, and tools to get you started:

1. Use Free photo editors to easily create graphics

PicMonkey and Canva are two of my favorites. Personally, I feel like PicMonkey has a shorter learning curve, so if you are not that comfortable with graphic design (like me!), then you may want to start with this one.

Canva does offer some great tutorials on using the tool and graphic design, though, so I recommend checking it out as well when you have a little more time.

2. Use Instagram to show a more personal side of you as a business owner

Put keywords and phrases in your bio that attract your target audience, as well as a summary of what you’ll be sharing.

Connect your Instagram account to your Facebook Page to easily share some of your photos that fit well with your personal brand.

For more tips on using Instagram, read my post on the LCS company blog here.

3. Optimize photos of yourself for Google Search

Do a Google search on your name and take note of what photos show up. If you don’t see any, or you don’t like the ones that appear, then there are a few things you can do to improve those results.

Use Google+ to upload photos into albums that document your business history, highlight important milestones, or illustrate your personal brand to get the photos you want to show up in Google Search out there.

Create a page on your website with images that document your history, client testimonials, etc. to impact the photo search results.

I read a great post recently about making sure that the photos showing up in a Google search are the ones you’d want the public to see – you can click here to read it.

4. Include videos in your branding strategy

I’ll admit that I haven’t made the time necessary to get my video marketing up and running; but it’s at the top of my to-do list right now!

Many people feel like creating videos requires a professional studio (and again, I do recommend using professionals for specific promotional videos), but with the Apps and tools available today, we can all start using video more.

Instagram (15 seconds maximum) and Vine (6 seconds maximum) are two easy-to-use Apps to start creating quick videos. The short length of these types of videos can make it much easier to find a way to incorporate their use into your schedule.

There are also Apps that allow you to create short videos of photos – I like Flipagram – so you can use photos you have already taken.

Want to create a short video of your desktop screen? Screenr is a free tool that gives you a maximum of 5 minutes to record whatever you’re doing on your desktop, and then save or share.

And don’t forget to set up a YouTube account if you haven’t already, to create a site for your instructional, inspirational or creative videos.

So there are a few quick tips and tools to help you put a plan in place for using visual content. If we take the focus off of ourselves (worrying about what we’ll look like on video), and start thinking instead, of how a quick video (of tips or inspiration) can help our target audience, then it makes a lot of sense to start using visual content in a personal branding strategy today!

Photo Credit (derived from): Instant Vantage via Compfight cc

Personal Branding Tip: Share Useful, Valuable Content on Social Media

Build up your personal brand by becoming a valuable resource to your target audience. If you want people to do business with you or buy your products, they first have to “know , like, and trust” you.

The content you post on social media is a terrific opportunity for you to demonstrate how your personal brand can be a valuable resource. Sharing content that helps your audience – instead of promoting yourself – is one of the best ways to build a positive relationship with your target market.

Choose several topics you are passionate about, and then share content related to those topics. Unless you have a team, you probably won’t be able to build up your brand with 100% original content. You’ll need to “curate” content as well.

Curate in this context means to find, choose, and then share valuable content with your audience.

Content can be blog posts, videos, images, Infographics, podcasts – and you may find that mixing up the type of content you share results in bigger reach and better engagement. Some people prefer reading, some like watching videos, while others like to listen to podcasts on their daily commutes.

Experiment with different types of content on your social sites, take note of the reach and engagement rates for each, and get feedback from your audience – ask them what type of content they like best.

Consistency is important! Post on a regular basis, using a content calendar and free scheduling tools like the Buffer App or Hootsuite.

Follow these steps (see the image below for a quick summary) to get positive results for your personal brand.

Top photo credit (derived from): shaire productions via photopin cc

Personal Branding Tip: Choose a Username Wisely

When you are creating social media profiles, take into account your personal brand (you), and how professional your username will appear to others. I could easily use the name TLcrazycatlady on my social media profiles, and my family would know where to find me. But, while it may accurately describe me (according to my family), it’s not the best username for personal branding.

Be consistent across social media profiles

I recommend that if you are new to social media, you start out with a consistent branding approach when choosing usernames. For example, I purchased the TerryLeague.com domain before I started blogging; then I set up my Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook Page, and Google+ accounts with the same username (TerryLeague). That way, when someone tries to find me on social media, I’ve made it easier for them – and given myself a better chance of showing up in search results.

If you’ve already created accounts with a variety of usernames, you may want to consider changing them all to one, consistent name. But note that with Facebook Pages you may have to go through a review process to prove you are who you say you are.

Also keep in mind that you’ll have to update any links on existing profiles and sites/directories when making a username change.

Do some research

You may want to do a Google Search on your name (or the username you want to use) just to see what comes up in the results. If you share your name or username with a public figure or celebrity, consider customizing the username so you don’t have to share the spotlight.

I usually have to share the spotlight with John Terry, captain of the Chelsea football (soccer) team and member of the UEFA Champions League, when doing a simple search on my name. One area I personally need to improve upon is images – I need to post a few more of myself for better search results.

If you look at the image search results for Terry League, you’ll find a whole bunch of John Terry, with one of me popping up in the mix (see below for a screenshot I took from Google Search)…it’s a good thing I like soccer, and don’t mind sharing results with John Terry 😉

But images are definitely an important part of personal branding, so make sure you keep them in mind as well when setting up your username and profiles.

Brand your visual content

Speaking of images, when you create visual content for your personal brand (Image quotes for example), brand them as well by putting your username on them.

For example, if I create an Image quote like the one below and put @TerryLeague on it, I’ve made it easy for people to find my account on Twitter or Instagram, since TerryLeague is my username on both accounts, and the @ sign is a way for others to tag me or Tweet me.

So there are a few things to keep in mind when setting up or editing your social media profiles when it comes to usernames. Even if your business has separate profiles with its name prominently featured, you’ll want to make sure any of your personal accounts are identified with the best username for both yours’ and the business’ appearance.

Top Photo Credit (derived from): Kuba Bozanowski via Compfight cc

Why I Love Social Media (A Personal Story)

As a small business owner and social media manager for other business owners, I spend a lot of my time online doing a “job”: focusing on social media as it relates to things like reach, ROI, client retention, strategy, and sales.

But it’s nice to be reminded every so often of the human power behind social media, and how it can have such a positive effect on our lives.

My personal story starts with a local Florida friend, Cheri, whom I met many years ago when our children were young, and we were looking for other moms to connect with in our community. We spent several years together as members of a local Moms Club organization. As our kids got older, we stopped attending club events, and sadly, lost touch, as our lives were busy with older kids, jobs and the like.

When I started using Facebook in 2009, it was initially to keep an eye on my teenage daughters. But I soon realized it was also a great way to re-connect with local friends like Cheri, as well as family and friends from my hometown in Maryland.

Through our interaction on Facebook, I noticed another one of Cheri’s friends, Deneil, who lives on the other side of the country in California. Cheri “formally” introduced Deneil and I on Facebook, as she thought we would be a good online friend fit.

So here’s where it gets interesting: Deneil noticed my maiden name (Tracey), and asked where my family was from. When I told her my father’s family was from the Maryland/Pennsylvania area, Deneil did some research (as she is a geneology superstar!), while I took a look at some family tree documents in my files as well…and Deneil informed me that we are 6^th cousins! How amazing is that?!

But that’s not the end of my story: my oldest daughter has decided to attend graduate school next Fall. She had been researching schools all over the country for the past year – I thought her top choices were in Colorado, Indiana, and North Carolina. She lives in Ft. Myers, Florida, while I’m in the Tampa area, so I haven’t been around her to know the details of the day-to-day search process.

My daughter applied and was accepted to several schools, and her final decision came down to two schools: one in Boston and one in California. She wanted to attend the student orientation at each one to make a final decision, and asked if my husband and I would like to go along (and of course, we said yes!).

Due to work schedules, we decided it was best to split up the trips: he went to Boston (where it was cold, snowy and rainy), and I went to California (where it was warm – with no humidity, and sunny). I think I got the better trip!

I have never been to California and had no idea where this graduate school was located. But guess what? The school is only 30 minutes from my cousin and friend Deneil! What a small world, in such a big state as California!

So even though we were only in town for a day and a half (which is not what I recommend when travelling across the country), I made sure to leave time to meet Deneil in person.

Meeting Deneil for first time — Sam, me, Deneil

As we concluded our trip in California, my daughter made her decision, and is planning on attending the grad school out there. As a mom, I’m happy to know that I have a friend and family member close by who my daughter can call if she needs something. And I know my husband and I will be travelling out there at least several more times while my daughter attends school – which means I’ll get to see Deneil again!

Without social media, I may not have re-connected locally with Cheri, and I definitely would not have connected with and gotten to know Deneil. It’s been exciting to work with clients and customers through social media all over the country, and internationally, but it’s really something special to make a connection with a new friend and family member across the country in the same area as my daughter’s grad school!

It wouldn’t have happened without social media, and it’s one of the reasons I’m such a fan of the social networks that have become such a big part of our lives!

Do you have a good social media story to share? I’d love to hear it!

Top image courtesy of pschubert/Morguefile.com