How many different social network profiles do you have? Are they all consistent in the profile they portray? If they aren’t, they’re damaging your professional image and business.
I’m guilty of signing up for anything new that comes along. I’ll setup a profile, usually copying from another profile, then I’ll use this new network for a bit. Chances are though that within a few months I’ve already forgotten about it.
Recently while in the process of pitching to new clients for my consulting business, I came across an old profile that still listed me owning and working at a completely different business with no relevance to what I’m doing now. I wonder how much business I’ve already lost because people have seen this profile instead of my updated profile on a different social network.
Tips for managing your profiles:
- Don’t sign up if you don’t think you’re going to use it.
- If you come across a profile you’re not using, delete it or disable it.
- Keep a list of the different social networks you’ve signed up to.
- Periodically review your list and check if changes are needed to profiles.
- Avoid making regular changes unless you need to.
- Try to keep all your profiles the same so you can copy and paste.
Using my favorite note appe, Evernote, I’ve created a simple table to track all my social networks. I record the network, profile, status and the date it was last modified. For example:
Facebook | Shane Mackintosh | Active | 30/05/12
Twitter | Shane Mackintosh | Active | 30/05/12
LinkedIn | Shamac Consulting | Active | 12/04/12
Instagrm | Personal | Active | 23/03/12
Moving forward, in my quarterly reviews I’ll review my list and if there are any profiles that haven’t been updated in a while I’ll check them to see if anything needs to be done.
Lastly, don’t succumb to every social network that comes along. Choose a few networks that will benefit you based on what you want to achieve or do and focus on being awesome with them.
Question: Do you keep the profile information the same between all your social profiles? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
About Shane Mackintosh
