Professionally Branding Yourself

Anyone in any profession should understand that in the 21st century you're a brand. In an era where our online presence shares important life moments with people we barely know, we have to realize we

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are painting them a picture of who we are. With this understanding why not brand you in a way that better progresses our future goals? With my goal of becoming a top level executive in a record label, my online presence always includes proper grammar, positive life quotes, educational information, business advice, and of course music. When branding yourself you should make sure to always represent your end goal, only use high quality photos, and follow your industry gatekeepers.

So many businesses use social media to assess the abilities and personality of potential employees. Some companies no longer wait for you to apply; they actively search for employees through social media. With social media being such a huge factor in the progression of our lives we should make a conscious decision to look at our online presence as our digital resume. Some civilian and governmentemployers go as far as to ask for your Facebook password. For a musician you should look like a musician, you should talk like a musician, and you should have music embedded into your online presence. If you look at your timeline you know who on your timeline is a business owner, a club goer, or even a Christian. Your online presence is technically who you are to those who have never met you, represent wisely.

Now that you have the right content you need the right look. When taking interest in anything the first of the five senses you will usually use will be your sight. Being impressive now a days is as easy as a high quality photo. According to socialmediaexaminer.com high quality photos improve you online presence significantly and increases the amount of interactions from followers. One suggestion is to link your photos from a photo social network like Instagram.com. According to ignitesocialmedia.com photo albums receive 180% more engagements than regular text posts on Facebook.

The people on your timeline are watching you, one of them could be the one that has the power to help you take the next step on your journey. I like to call these people hidden gatekeepers. Gatekeepers in the music industry usually consist of radio station personalities and staff; club owners, promoters, and D.J.’s; and of course music artist and staff. But one of your followers could have an uncle that works in a music distribution company, or a friend that manages a major artist you may not follow. Anything can happen in this digital age. Everything is in reach for any one who has the drive to make it happen. According to digitaltrends.com the company you keep online can also affect your credit. Another reason why this is more important than you would think.

The bottom line is, if you’re going to participate in this online life you need to realize it can affect your real life. It is truly your second life and even though social media is the least social thing you could do, it could affects your real life. Whether it affects your world in a positive or negative way depends on how you use it. Professional social media sites like LinkedIn.com make it obvious for you to follow these rules. But even on Facebook, twitter, and Instagram you need to use them wisely. Always represent yourself in a way productive to your dream, use high quality photos, and network with your industry gatekeepers. If you follow these steps you will separate yourself from the crowd when the employers are making their personality assessments. 

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