New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

1. My Son Or Daughter Does That For Me

If your son or daughter is a college graduate with a broad-based education that includes a degree in mass communications, I’d say you may be on the right track.

However, if your kid is 18 and sole or primary qualification is having Twitter and Facebook accounts, I’d say you need to reevaluate your choice of marketing personnel here. Just because they’re yours and can use Facebook and Twitter, doesn’t mean he or she has the skills necessary to market a business using social media.

2. I Hired a College Intern

While college students may be part of the social media generation, it doesn’t automatically qualify them to do social media for you. Unlike traditional media, which is a communication to a broad audience, social media is one-to-one marketing outreach.

You are communicating directly to individuals and anyone who has ever posted an opinion in an Internet forum knows the online audience is not to be trifled with. Understand that your reputation is on the line. With the variety of questions and comments you will receive, it is critical that they’re handled with care and professionalism to avoid any repercussions to your name and brand.

A social media marketing professional is an astute communicator who ensures each time the right tone, caring and message is delivered for maximum return and keeps your audience engaged. This dynamic is crucial for the success of the program.

3. I Got 11 New Fans This Week

Of course, amassing fans is important, but you’ll never make a social media campaign work with the onesy-twosy approach. For myself, my company and our social media clients, we have a monthly benchmark for building followers.

Now, this benchmark is not a gross number, but a net figure after we have weeded out spammers, chronic friend adders, and marriage proposals from men in foreign countries, and yes, I’ve gotten a few of those.

At the end of the day, social media is serious business. Done right, it can create a base of thousands of followers. Done wrong, it wastes time and energy and, most important, gives people the impression that social media marketing isn’t important. In fact, it has become one of the most critical and fundamental components for any marketing strategy, which every company needs to put in place.

Guest writer Marsha Friedman is the founder and chief executive officer of EMSI Public Relations, and author of

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

1. Be True To Yourself

Posts and photos that illustrate your well-rounded life offer others an instant glimpse into your own personal brand.

However, you don’t have to use the social platform as a tell-all. Just as it is in real life, a little information well said goes a very long way. Don’t shout out everything you’re doing. After all, most social media users are discussing life, not walking into a crowded room and shouting out their life story.

Also, your virtual and real lives should be in sync. If you’re a jokester in real life, follow true on Facebook; established friends need to recognize you, too.

2. Develop A Following

Reach out to your existing circle of friends by liking what they do. It shows support and usually, they’ll return the favor. If they’re really following you, a pattern will emerge weaving together your activities, photos, slogans and other content that sharpens their perception of you.

It’s a good way to develop friendships that have languished for a while and develop a support system in case you have to look for a job or need a reference.

3. Keep Your Friend Numbers In Line

The number of friends should represent what you want your personal brand to say. If you’re interested in a very high number, you’re showing a propensity to gather a crowd, but can you manage them all and stay close?

A recent study cited by GoodMobilePhones of 1,500 users showed that 60 percent of users don’t know one fifth of the contacts listed as friends. Conversely, maintaining a reasonable number of friends says you’re interested in quality relationships and that you’ll take the time to appreciate what each has to offer.

4. Refresh Your profile

Usee a profile picture that really represents who and what you are. This is the first thing visitors see when they visit your page and it also shows up in Google searches, so make sure it’s a good one… and good means different things to different folks.

Refresh often through new posts, stories and photos. Stick to a specific schedule on posting and change it up by using pictures that are unexpected, funny and different from the same old, “here we are at Thanksgiving dinner.” Give visitors a chance to stick around.

Remember, when they’re on your page, it’s as though they’re in your home or place of business. You want them to feel welcome.

5. Get Out There… Or Not

Make a decision as to how much time you’ll spend hooked into the social grid. It’s somewhat impossible to simply go away these days, but if you decide upfront how available you’ll be to everyone, it will dictate how much time you spend on your Facebook presence.

Whether you’re a professional out of work or just making your presence known, the social media sector is moving forward, with or without you. It’s interesting to note here that potential employers and graduate schools utilize social media as a means to evaluate you.

According to one study, up to 15 percent of business and law schools use some or all of your social media criteria to determine whether they let you in as a student.

University of Maryland researchers were able to predict a person’s score on a personality test within 10 percentage points, based simply on activities, quotes, music and what political organizations they admired.

6. Don’t Be Manic

Some people post so many daily activities that you begin to wonder if they’re living a 27-hour day rather than the 24 other mere mortals have to spend. It’s not a laundry list of what you’re doing. Social media butterflies carry the same unbearable lightness of being that real life social butterflies do.

7. Protect Your Personal Brand From Bullies

If and when you see negative posts on your page, stay calm and don’t give the bullies the attention they’re craving.

Deal with it on Facebook just like you would in person — with a clear head and no buy-in to the negativity game. Make a decision to either confront the individual or remove the post. Either method is right, if it’s right for you.

Remember, you’re leaving a life-long trail, so blaze one that makes you proud, but is intriguing enough for others to follow.

Readers, do you have any other suggestions on how to build a personal brand on Facebook?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.