Have you wondered why you don’t have any friends?
No, I’m not talking about friends that you meet for chai,
I’m talking about your “REAL” friends, your “besties”.
You know, the ones on Facebook? 😀
Over the past several months, I’ve been noticing a lot of people on Facebook who are making some big, yet simple mistakes in order to “connect” with people.
Sure, we might feel comfortable hiding behind our social media profiles, but if you are a personal brand or a business and trying to make a connection with your potential customers or clients, some of you have a problem.
You’re not being taken seriously.
Picture this, you come across a post of someone who posted something in a group and it piques your interest.
And if you’re like most people, you’ll hover over their name and see what else you can find out about this person because they could be someone you’d potentially want to connect with whether it’s because you think they might be able to help you or you share some common interests.
But, after you click on the profile, it’s not clear who or what they are all about
and…. you move on.
OK, I know what you’re thinking.
Oh my garsh! Is Faisal talking about me?
Maybe……..Maybe not.
Good news:
Below I’ll share with you 5 simple things you can do to your profiles right now and see a noticeable difference in the connections you make and the engagement you’ll foster.
Trust me there are so many more tweaks you can do to explode your brand online, but for this post, I’m gonna share 5 tips, OK?
Let’s jump right in
For starters..
* A profile picture can say a thousand words…
If you’re a personal brand:
Be sure to post a great head shot of yourself from shoulder up. The picture should have good lighting and clear. Not the fuzzy type of images that make a person take off their glasses thinking it’s their eyesight going bad. Have a great friendly smile that’s inviting and that makes people think, “I like this person already”.
Oh yeah, headshots cropped from the last wedding group shot you attended does not count.
* What are you trying to “cover” up?
Make sure you use a nice cover image that has a good mix of professionalism and personality. No beach shots of you running along the shore with your biryani belly bouncing up and down. It’s just weird ok?
Again a nice profession head shot of you and your smile, perhaps a great quote that you love, a few words about how you help people and perhaps if you have them, some logos of brands you’ve worked with or publications you’ve been featured in. Social proof goes a long way.
* Introducing…
Use the “introduction” section of Facebook to give your elevator speech.
Make sure you have a great introduction on your profiles to let people know what you do or better yet, how you can help them. After all, people want to know, “What’s In It For Me?”.
They want to know how you can help them. Let them know in one line!
* Don’t forget to cross your t’s and dot your i’s
Give people a little more info about you by making sure you complete the rest of your profile. You can add a longer description about you and your business, phone number and address as well. Be sure to link your Facebook pages so people can find your business and brand too. (lot of people forget to do this).
* Lost and found
Use the “website” section in your profile to add your business website url, other social media account urls or even a landing page for an opt-in for a free gift.
If you do choose to use your website section for a landing page, PLEASE be sure to either give its own domain name or make sure the landing page is hosted on the same domain as your business website.
I recently came across someone who claimed to have built a million dollar business but hosted a landing page on “How to make millions…” on their domain of their restaurant.
It made me laugh so hard that my falafel shot onto my keyboard. Yuck!
It all boils down to this:
We’re all on social media for a reason and first impressions are a big deal.
With these simple tweaks that you can make immediately, you’ll see a difference in how people approach and reach out to you simply because your profile is more attractive than a white silhouette on a light blue background.
Faisal
Business Strategist