You Are Your Social Media Presence

This week's post inspiration comes courtesy of "Chimi," some rude chick or dude with an anonymous Instagram who left an epically snarky comment to me on another person's post. Now, I don't hold that against him/her because I post snark when snark is due, too. But, "Chimi" and I had no prior connection. The snarky comment did raise my curiosity enough that I looked at the profile. Thank you, for having an equally snarky Instagram biography that inspired this post on branding, personal and business reputation, and reputation management. The bio reads:

"CSP I am not my social media presence you desperate attention seeking hypocrite".

Well, Chimi, we have reached the year 2017, social media rules personal, business and crossover sectors, and actually whether or not you like it, yes, you are your social media presence.

You Are Your Brand

Every person who creates a social media account creates an online representation of themselves. Now, again allow me to be blunt and honest. (Trust me, I am stellar at it.) If you looked at my personal Twitter, you would think I am a bitch. I am when necessary. I tag my stalkers often and gleefully torture them right back. They make it such fun. 

If you looked at the Twitter for either of my companies or any blog or theme Instagram I run, you'd see an uber professional woman who loves coffee, my cat, and slaying my to do list. You would probably think I'm friendly and polite. I normally am.

Both "brands" remain true and accurate. They both represent real me, just different aspects of me. Now, back to Chimi's assertion that s/he isn't the social media presence. Well, your social media presence is and should be "you." Your social media should accurately represent you. Period.

Today, potential employers look at social media before hiring. Graduate schools look at social media before admitting students. Potential boyfriends and girlfriends even look at it to determine if a person would be "right" for them. Inaccuracy can cause mistrust, waste time, and cost money. 

This rings even more true for celebrities, athletes, businesses and brands. Your fans or customers build trust based upon your social media representation and publicity. Anything that conflicts with the you they already "know" creates mistrust. Mistrust translates to lost sales whether it's concert tickets, sport event tickets, t-shirts or widgets. If people don't trust you, they literally aren't buying you. That means the "you" you show on the playing field, in the ring, on the stage, etc. needs to match what they see on social media or you lose trust and fans.

How Do You Brand Across Media?

Branding may seem complicated, but not really. The best branding just accurately describes its subject. 

• Stick to what you know and who you are, if you're a person. 
• Stick to an accurate, honest description of your product or service, if you're a company. 
• Create a campaign. Make the message the same on every social media channel and every media outlet. Don't vary it. 
• Create hard and fast guidelines for social media interns or account managers. They should only post messages that jibe with your existing campaign.
• Limit posting access to your channels to further ensure campaign compatibility.

Corporations have social media teams and public relations departments to handle branding and marketing. Solopreneurs, freelancers, startups, entrepreneurs, amateur and even some professional athletes, and small businesses handle it themselves. You are your brand. Sell yourself in the most positive light. 

Whether everyone likes it or not, in the 21st century, Chimi is wrong. Each of us is our social media. We practically live online. This trend keeps growing and expanding. Each day, the Internet of Things grows and another everyday item becomes linked to the Internet to automatically transmit data about its surroundings and about us.  Our connection continually grows. We are our social media presence and our social media presence is us. If you have a hard time accepting that Chimi, hire someone who does. Maybe then you can attract your first Instagram follower.

***

Carlie Lawson writes about tech, mobile and online video, entertainment, sports and fashion. She wrote for JollyJo.tv, Keysian and Movitly for a combined seven years. A former newspaper journalist, she now mostly ghost writes for her clients via her company, Powell Lawson Creatives. Invalid Inputs is her first independent, formal blog. She earned BAs in Journalism and Film & Video Studies from the University of Oklahoma. She also earned her Master of Regional & City Planning at OU. She has worked as a model since she was 17.

How to Get Your SEO On

Everyday at Powell Lawson Creatives, I read a pile of client briefs that describe exactly what they want in a creative piece. They usually need an article, blog, or catalog description. About a third of what I read shows they don't understand search engine optimization (SEO) to the point that they're hurting their business or brand. Without naming names, I'll present the most common mistakes and how to fix them so you optimize your SEO, bring more visitors to your media and better build your brand. The following tips apply to single or blog posts, not websites as a whole.

Not Knowing What a Keyword Is

A keyword in SEO means a search term. It is what you would type into a search box to find relevant results. Your name is a keyword. Your business' name qualifies as a keyword, too. Your occupation, the service you provide, the main topic of your blog or article all qualify as keywords. Not to get too grammatical but, articles, conjunctions, prepositions and pronouns are not keywords. Nope. (More on this later.)

Requesting no keywords.

If you request no keywords in your creative piece, you do yourself and your brand a disservice. Each blog or article needs at least one keyword or natural language keyword phrase. Choose your company or brand name as the less subtle choice. Choose the name of the service you provide as the more subtle choice.

Requesting too many keywords.

An article or blog should contain at most three to five keywords or natural language keyword phrases. Lean toward the low-end of three keywords, otherwise you run the risk of keyword stuffing, the practice of overloading an article or website with keywords. Less is more. The best choices include your brand, the name of the service you provide, and the key element of the blog topic. For example, if you read carefully, this article already named my company, Powell Lawson Creatives; its service provided, creative pieces; and the blog topic, SEO.

Repeating Keywords Too Much

Some clients not only request too many keywords, but too many repetitions of keywords. You may need one keyword to repeat many times. Try not to exceed five to seven repetitions. Ideally, use one to three keywords repeated one to three times. Anything more than that can negatively impact your ranking. The search engine algorithm will dock you for keyword stuffing. Minimal keyword density works best.

Natural Language vs. Keyword Language

Too many briefs request multiple keywords strung together. It either creates gibberish phrases or poor grammar. Natural language means how you would actually say it using proper grammar when speaking or writing.
Incorrect: Whipple Maserati Nome Alaska
Correct: Whipple Maserati in Nome, Alaska
Search engines ignore connecting words like prepositions (in), conjunctions (and), and punctuation. When you request an article using keyword language instead of natural language, the result reflects poorly on your brand because you force the writer to use incorrect grammar and punctuation. You look bad to search engines who see it as keyword forcing and/or stuffing. You look bad to readers who see it as incomprehensible. Enter each word or phrase as a separate keyword item. For instance, enter "Whipple Maserati" as one keyword phrase and "Nome, Alaska" as a separate one. If it's offered on the brief form always choose to allow connecting words.

Misusing Keyword Extraction Tools

Okay, you can call it misusing or misunderstanding, either way, it hurts you. If you have a small business or just started a blog, you may not have the coin to hire a SEO consultant. Some apps can and do extract keywords from your competition's websites and blogs. Some simply exact every word more than one site uses.

True (horror) story: I once received a brief from a client requesting 99 keywords. New to SEO and on a tight budget, they had used one of the keyword extraction apps to mine their competition's sites. Despite my best efforts to explain SEO and how these unneccessary words and phrases would hurt their SEO efforts and the article's readability, they kept the request as is. One of the "keywords" the app identified? "That." Folks, "that" is NOT a keyword. The app only works as well as your understanding of what it does. The well designedapps mine keywords. The poorly designed apps merely return words used on each site. Know the difference. Choose a well designed app and use the top three to five resulting keywords.

Ignoring Local SEO opportunities.

Next time you search for something online, look down at the bottom of the page. Both Bing and Google optimize results by location. As creepy and Big Brother as it is, it can help you draw business. If your business relies on local customers, you need to make your city and state or country one of your keyword

phrases. Whether you bake wedding cakes or plumb houses, this can help you increase your search ranking and draw more business. Also, include your location in the meta data of your website. Search engines use local SEO data to provide the top results since the plumber three blocks from your house makes a much more relevant result than one living one thousand miles away.

Not Linking to Other Sites

I read a ton of briefs from people who want no links in the article. This hurts them in so many ways including loss of credibility, decreased rank and fewer visitors. What does linking to relevant sites do?

• Linking to sources adds credibility.
• Linking to sources increases SEO rank.
• Linking to sources can get you links back to your site.

Some clients worry that a link will take readers away from their site or encourage them to use the competition. Put your mind at ease by having the writer or your web designer set the links to open in a separate, background window. Also, direct the writer to use relevant, non-competitor sources. That does not mean they can't use other plumbers' blogs, for instance. It means they should not use other plumbers' blogs within a 100 mile radius of your business. Your competition means someone actually competing for the same work you do. The writer linking to a plumber in Los Angeles when your business is in Miami does not qualify as a link to your competition. Notice the linked information in this article. I run a creatives company that provides written, photographic and musical pieces to individuals and companies. That means linking to the blog of a publicist or SEO consultant provides validity without linking to my competition.

Using SEO properly can increase your search engine rank, help build your brand, and bring you more customers. Get the most from the money you spend on the creative pieces for your brand by crafting the best requests. I have to brew another cup of coffee and return to the

briefs pile now.

***

Carlie Lawson writes about tech, mobile and online video, entertainment, sports and fashion. She wrote forJollyJo.tv, Keysian and Movitly for a combined seven years. A former newspaper journalist, she now mostly ghost writes for her clients via her company, Powell Lawson Creatives. Invalid Inputs is her first independent, formal blog. She earned BAs in Journalism and Film & Video Studies from the University of Oklahoma. She also earned her Master of Regional & City Planning at OU. She has worked as a model since she was 17.