Crafting a Powerful Online Presence Without Losing Your Privacy

 

As globalization and the attack on our lives continue, there is no better time than to help you build an online presence for personal and career growth. Still, in telling the different pieces of ourselves we share to help create an online brand it is easy to cross over into unintentional overshare which can become a very fine line between personal and public life. It is extremely important to find a middle ground between authenticity and privacy in order to create an impactful online presence.

Here is how to create a brand online that gets remembered while keeping your life private.

STOP – Clear the agenda!!! Before putting anything on the internet, ask yourself why do you want to build an online presence and what you wish to achieve from it? Are you looking to network with peers, build credibility in a domain, or demonstrate the skills? A clearly defined purpose helps you stay on track, maintaining professionalism in your content to prevent oversharing that is irrelevant to your purpose.

Next up is, consider what you want to be known for online in terms of the topics or niches. Focus your posts on 2 or 3 central themes, whether that be digital marketing, management insights or creative projects. This method maintains consistency with your content and reduces the temptation to share personal updates that do not enhance the work you are trying to build.

Use the privacy settings on platforms such as Facebook or Instagram to limit who can see your post. Keep your personal updates to your inner circle, and turn your public facing content into a professional experience. Tweak your profile privacy on each platform, selecting what information, pictures and posts should be accessible for everyone and what to keep private with those chosen-connected.

 Keeping the content planned ahead of time makes sure that you put out only relevant and meaningful topics to meet your brand purpose. Having a content calendar also prevents one-off postings that might expose too much. Post content that matters — valuable insights, tips, and professional updates mixed with personal touches (but don’t cross the border between private life and work).

Determine what portions of your life you are willing to share. For example, you could write about your career path and general lifestyle tips but not personally about family or relationships. Do not disclose information you might regret, nor which could come back to haunt your professional reputation, just to be open.

The more an experience shows some sort of evolution or lesson learned, the better in terms of creating a genuine brand. Only share stories like this if there is something useful that can be learned professionally from them. For example, talking about a challenge that you faced at work and how you overcame it demonstrates resilience and professionalism without getting into the personal pieces of your life.

Focus on content that will either teach, inspire, or entertain your audience. Share an industry article, tips or highlight a project – whatever it is aim to add value. If you want people to learn something or be intrigued, you are obviously not going to generalize in an ultra-personal update that serves no one.

Make professional posts on the platforms like linked In — work inside inclined articles, accomplishments, abilities, and industry updates — not individual posts. Constantly take LinkedIn as an aspirational resume/career contact list and not a wide social media channel, making every post or comment relevant to your aspiring career level/field.

So, what role does tone play in an online brand? Make sure your voice melds in with the professional shirt you are wearing wherever you are at, whether it be informative, friendly or motivating. Having a regular tone and method for engaging topics helps one to avoid sharing content material that could seem too informal or overly personal.

Act with purpose while crossing paths with people. Comment Mindfully Comment on posts in your expertise area, comment with smart questions, or avoid reactive comments about personal posts, controversial topics, etc. Part of the answer is thoughtful engagement which builds credibility and visibility without dragging you into personal discussions or overshare.

Take stock of what is publicly visible on your profiles, search for your name and find out how you like to others. Ensure the things that do not fit with your brand and seem too revealing has either been removed or tempered, keeping you looking polished, professional and respectable online.

Inference: You can build a professional presence without needing to expose yourself online You can build an impactful yet polished brand by articulating your goals, one way or the other your content and ensuring boundaries. The key is: less is more – when you are focused, intentional and values-based in your life, you attract the right type of attention without showing every little detail of what happens in your life.

 

Suhaib. P
Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Al Shifa College of Arts & Science, Keezhattur, Perinthalamanna.