Yesterday we gave you some ideas about using your personal Facebook account. Assuming you are using it for professional purposes, we wanted to give you some ideas how to set up your personal branding with it.
Do you have a personal brand statement?
What is it that you uniquely do for people? Many business owners will refer to themselves and their company together in terms of "we," but that's wrong in this case because you want to be you and alone. So, step back and figure out what it is that you do exactly for people.
Do you specifically provide expert watch repair? Do you specifically provide award winning jewelry design? Are you the fashion expert? Why is it that people come into your store and ask for you? Write that down because it's your personal Unique Selling Point, or USP. Your USP should be interesting, and thought provoking, but not in a "life, the universe and everything" kind of way; rather, in a "oh, I know exactly how I can use their services" kind of way.
Your USP should be listed on the left side of your Facebook Wall.
Now you should consider writing a longer bio for yourself. Your bio should be a three paragraph statement of your personal brand. This is where you would fully expand on everything you do. Is it important for people to know your full background on how you got to this point in life. If those life experiences are relevant to your professionalism, then certainly include them. What are your qualifications and credentials?
Other things of importance to list in your bio would include local recognition, mentions in media and testimonials from customers.
Once you have this pulled together, post it to your Info tab in your Facebook profile.
This might not seem important, but when people want to know about you they will reference your Facebook profile. A professionally presented bio will immediately give credibility to those first finding you online. Also, note that news media will cross reference your Facebook profile when they receive a press release from you, or propose to write an article about you.
One final comment today: you should also get into the habit of reviewing the Facebook pages of your potential employees, as well as current employees. If they are also the public face of your company you want to make sure their personal lives will not damage the reputation of your store.
