“I like to say that Twitter is like a bar, Facebook is your living room and LinkedIn is the local chamber of commerce.” - BSStoltz

As of this moment, these three in my mind make up “The Trinity of Social Media” and you should be engaged and engaging on all three in some fashion. Keep in mind, that there are various other websites and programs out there for So-Med® communication; probably one for every interest known to man. These are the foundation on which “Personal Branding” is based (these plus an amazing blog) and a way for good reputations to become great, and the unknown idealist in a field can gain a following and become known.

Reputation in personal branding through the social media world is tricky. You must be willing to convince others of your knowledge in a particular area with only your words and your ability to research; to combine the fine art of original conversation with the even finer art (and more mis-understood) of curation. Now by curation; I’m talking about sharing all the cool facts and articles that one person can find on the internet on a particular subject, with a larger audience (built over time) that may be interested, just not enough to do all the legwork. A great program for curation is called Scoop.It. That, along with Paper.Li, sets you up on a fast-track of sharing by giving you the tools you need to start newsletters of merit. If the topic is solid, and you credit your information (anything less would probably be plagiarism) your audience will grow.

Now back to the Trinity: Twitter allows for short thoughts (limited at 140 characters..more are available if you use a link shortener like “tiny.url” or “bit.ly”) to be spread quickly. Conversations or meetings have been accomplished on Twitter by using a hashtag (#) and a program like “tweetgrid” as a basis for the get-together. Some popular ones to look out for include #radchat #tchat #hrdrivethru #rbchat . Those four just came off the top of my head; many more are out there, have a look based around your interests. What I think is super-cool and challenging with Twitter is the simplicity which it operates. People get immediate access to your thoughts or beliefs on a subject; and either agree and re-tweet (repost your tweet) or don’t and let the thought drop (insert cricket noise here). The larger your following, the larger audience you have to work with. Grow your audience by following other like minds..(I know no two people think alike, but it is possible) and learn the art of contribution. Content is King!!

Facebook is a medium that comes across like a personalized photo-book where you can open up your world as much or as little to the viewing public. Popular choices include sharing videos from “Youtube” or other sites of your choice; to sharing photos you come across during a search for ideas to blog about; or how the big dogs live (and use their lives as a surreal example you could live by), to updating your “status bar” and giving people an idea of where your mind is at any one particular point in time. It is a little more in depth and has a higher learning curve than Twitter; but that shouldn’t matter much as you are sharing stuff on your favourite topic—You. Invite people into your life, give them a sense of how you rock, or relax after a hard day at work.

The last of the three is Linked In. This is a program that could be classed as ideal for those looking for business networking; without all the bells and whistles. This program allows you to set up a profile (make it as complete as possible; as the more complete it is, the greater the chances of networking) and join various work or professional groups- all in the interest of furthering career aspirations. The key to Linked-In is the options of future networking with industry leaders over time. The more you offer (as in any program or site), the more comes back to you in return.

This is a brief, brief outline of the Trinity; plus a couple of freebies which I found incredibly useful over the last while. If I had one piece of advice for the newbie, it would be to take your time, set up all your profiles COMPLETELY the first time; afterwards share what you want- just stay relevant to the conversation. Pop-quiz: What can be considered king? The answer of course, is content…. The more original you are, the more you stand out from the masses and someone just may look and see what you have brought to the table. Relationships have been based on less.

Class Dismissed….

I Am The Sourcers’ Apprentice

Daniel J. Smith

©2012 thedanieljsmith