The bubbly college girl, the bored employee, the voracious reader, the talented photographer, the sex expert – This is how some tweeps have branded themselves. Everything they do here speaks volumes about how they want the world to see them. However, is this aim of branding?
But why Twitter?
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We have come across loads of articles touting the greatness of Twitter as a social networking platform. We have read how fast its user strength is growing and how the world is here right now. We are aware how everything spoken on Twitter can have huge repercussions from personal, corporate, or brand perspective even when the concerned person, corporation, or brand is not on Twitter.
It has even disturbed the government! Twitter is a breeding house of opinions, arguments, critics, and even observers. Hence, taking this medium seriously is not a matter of choice anymore. This is the platform to build your brand. In times, when introducing self by their Twitter handle over their real name is a common fad; there is no doubt that personal branding has found its way into this medium.
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What is this ‘Personal Branding’ that you are talking about?
Personal branding involves building individual presence on a medium (in our case, Twitter). It is infusing your personality into your Twitter avatar and carving a space of your own. Many users just dust off this topic saying they are not celebs or are here just for fun, so why would they require personal branding. However, unknowingly every tweep is constantly in a process of branding themselves.
Hmmmm. So how do I go about doing this ‘Personal Branding?
Everyone has a different reason of being on Twitter. Since every person is unique, there is no formula for personal branding. Though, these simple tips can help you with it.
Review your reason of being here - Are you a writer looking for work or are you here to socialize? Your reason is the key to your personal branding.
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Ramya aka IdeaSmith is a very well known tweep and blogger. She is very well known because she is very clear about why she is on various online platforms including Twitter. Her Bio on Twitter clearly states the same and contributes volumes to her personal branding.
Design your twitter account - Choose your handle, pick your background design, write your bio, and think about the content that you will talk about based on your reason. You can insert relevant links in your bio and background design for better visibility.
Interact with the right crowd - Twitter is just like a party. If your reason is to have fun or tap potential clients, you will always choose the crowd accordingly. Likewise is the case here.
Display your style - Do you have a funny bone or are you the dreamer? Share your style with the users. This way, you capture their mind space. In addition, whenever they need you, they will reach out to you.
Use the right keywords - In the age of SEO, keywords are important even in tweets.
Create Twitter touch points - Business cards, websites, blogs, personal sites, email signatures – Display your twitter avatar everywhere.
Be you - It is your Twitter profile. It is your space. The best branding that you can give it is being yourself.
Never,
Ignore people unless they trouble you – You never ignore people when they speak with you, then why do it here.
Spam – You have things to say, blogs to share, information to give out but that does not mean you spam or troll people and force them to hear you or read your content. This will just lead to users exercising their right to block you or ignore you.
Be a bot – Just sharing links with no interaction, or having an incomplete profile is a ‘bot’ characteristic. You are a human and an interesting one. Surely, you would not want to be classified as a bot.
Ignore behavior check – Never act as if you are an expert if you are not; keep your behavior in check. Maintain basic ethics same as while you are socializing in a party.
And these tweeps have carved a mind space for themselves on Twitter.
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Sahil Jatana aka @TheCoffeeNazi is an entrepreneur. He is his own brand ambassador on Twitter. His discussions are all about coffee, related questions, answers; meet ups, get together events and much more. He is himself (Sahil as a person) as well as coffee connoisseur (Sahil as Coffee Nazi) on Twitter. Thanks to this, he is the first name that comes to mind when anyone has coffee queries.
Sahil feels that people come to voice their opinions on Twitter and in this way, unknowingly create their own style, which with consistency becomes a brand. Though having said this, he feels there is no right or wrong here. What suits one user might irk the other!
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@Vidyut is a thinker who is fearless and doesn’t shy out from thinking or speaking her mind on subjects that people normally want to be diplomatic about. To quote her, “I am the silent majority's one man answer to all the manufactured opinions”. She believes in talking openly about everything.
Majority of her tweets are centered on human rights, environment, nuclear science, laws, inequality, social analysis of society, and politics. According to her, being the real you is the most justifiable thing to do.
The quest should always be identity. She believes that branding is a static concept but it is best to be as real as possible. Without a doubt, be authentic. Her thoughts on personal branding are,”If on the route of personal branding, user should keep in mind that it should be based on what they truly believe in and stand for. It should always allow individuality."
We rest our case now.
We hope we have made personal branding a bit easier for you. However, we want to know something from you as well. How important does ‘Personal Branding’ seem to you? Drop in your tweets/comments and let us know!
Image source: steve-lovelace
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