4 Tips for Creating a Virtual Presence

It’s likely that you’ll create profiles on a variety of platforms, so it’s important to do some preparation work before creatingthem. The aim is to present a consistent persona across all platforms to ensure the perception people have of you is credible.

Create 3 Biographies. You’ll need long, short and very brief versions of your biography. Use the longer versions for your LinkedIn profile and your blog’s About page. Use shorter versions on Google profiles and other membership community sites. Twitter’s bio limits you to 160 characters. Do not write these in resume style; write them more personally as if you are speaking to someone. Allow your personality to shine through. Start with the longer version and then extract key points to create the short and briefversions. Creating bios before you start will help you present a consistent presence across all of your online profiles.
“Google” Yourself. Type your name into Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines to see what, if any, information is available about you online. Set up a Google Alert with your name in quotes to make sure you keep abreast of where you’re referenced in thefuture. This is helpful for thanking people who mention you, adding links to your blog or, worst case, addressing anything controversial that may arise.

Determine Your Goals. How you go about creating a virtual presence will depend upon your goals. What will you use your online presence to achieve? Do you want to become known as an expert in a specific area? Are you interested in building a network oflike-minded professionals? Do you want to learn more about your industry or how to advance your career? Based on your goals, do some research to learn where that information is being discussed or the people you’d like to know participate. Make a list ofplatforms to use given what you’ve learned. For business professionals, I recommend LinkedIn, Twitter and a community site such as Focus.com as well as a blog.

Choose an Avatar. An avatar is the picture you’ll use as an identifier for your virtual presence. Because of the normally thumbnail size, a close-in headshot works best. Until you’ve developed a solid presence, I suggest you use the same avatar across all youronline profiles. This helps people recognize you’re the same person they interacted with via another online channel. With this preparatory work complete, you’re now ready to create your profiles and begin participating online. Remember to listen first,share helpful and relevant insights and promote others more than promoting yourself, and you’ll be off to a great start.