Social media can be a fantastic way to build your personal brand. But, if handled incorrectly, social media can erode your personal branding efforts in a hurry. Here are 8 social media mistakes you must avoid.
1. Incomplete Profiles
Believe it or not, incompletely filled out profiles are quite meaningful. They mean one of two things:
- Your background is so empty that you can’t even complete a simple profile.
- You are lazy.
Neither of these are true, right? Keep in mind that your profile is your “digital first impression”. Make it count, make it complete, make it memorable.
2. Inconsistency
Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin…these are all micro-networks that form your overall network. Are you confusing your connections with different messaging, names, and images across all these sites? The most powerful corporate brands know that a consistent image is key to building a memorable, identifiable brand. You should strive for the same consistency.
Tip: Use precisely the same name as your handle on all networking sites, and implement a single “Gravatar” as your profile image.
3. Taking the “Social” Out of Social Media
Social media is not an advertising platform, it is a conversation platform. Are you speaking with your connections, or are you speaking to them?
Tip: Check your last 20 tweets – how many @replies, ReTweet’s, or questions are included? Now check a prolific tweeter and true networker like Gerald Weber, @the_gman. How do you compare? (When I checked, he happened to be 20 for 20!)
4. Not Interlinking Your Profiles
The simplest mistake to fix. Take 10 minutes, make sure all your social network profiles link to one another. Why? The more touch points that exist to connect with your network, the better. The folks I run into over and over across social networks are the people that really stick in my mind.
5. Being a Robot
Never, ever send a Linkedin request with the stock message that reads “I’d like to add you to my professional network on Linkedin.” When I receive a message with this request, I actually see, “I’d like to add you to my professional network, but I don’t have the courtesy to take 10 seconds to include your name or a personal message.”
6. Irrelevant, Unfocused Messaging (Thanks to @slachapelle for pointing out this social media mistake)
A first-time viewer of your Facebook status stream or Twitter timeline should be able to instantly tell “what you are about”. Don’t mistake frequent posting with relevant posting. Every once in a while, logout and review your posts as if you were a visitor. Is your messaging “on-brand”?
Tip: Check out the Twitter timeline of @stevewarto for a perfect example. How long did it take you to figure out his area of expertise?
7. Automated Direct Message
The automated direct message on Twitter is the biggest personal branding disaster that I see on a daily basis. You’ve just met me, and you want to spam me with your blog or product? Epic fail, and a sure way to lose followers quicker than you gain them.
Tip: Instead, send a personalized DM or @reply with someone’s actual name and a message relevant to their area of interest. This one message may lead to a lasting connection that might not have occurred otherwise.
8. Tunnel Vision
Do your postings scream, “ME ME ME”? 
A solid rule of thumb is the 90/10 rule by Jack Humphrey (@bendtheweb). The 90/10 rule states that:
“90% of what you share…should be made up of personal insights and thoughts along with a heavy dose of helpful links, while 10% should…directly benefit you.”
Keep this rule in mind the next time you want to Tweet about your site or product. I guarantee that the 90% of the time you take to help others will increase the attention paid to the other 10%.
What do you think – have I missed any major social media blunders? If you found this post helpful, leave a comment, send me an @RyanRancatore, or ReTweet and share with your network. They will appreciate it, and so will I!
Stop sign by Sonomabuzz. Robot by thewhitestdogalive. Tunnel by nikpawlak.
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