Contenting good content
Most hospitality industry professions are aware of the need of an online presence, and the difficulty of balancing personality and professionalism. These tips will help you create an online presence that is both personal and reflective of who you are, while being strong and promoting your career.
1. Be true to yourself
Being your own authentic self is by far the easiest way to stay on top of your online presence, as you can be genuine, rather than continuously coming up with some kind of persona. Being sincere will also be apparent and make you infinitely more appealing rather that coming across as “bigged up” and fake. Your sincerity will translate to being an honest and trustworthy person. It may seem scary to put yourself out there, and you may be left feeling vulnerable, however the payoff is worth it.
2. Write articles and Q&A
Articles and online posts allow people to get a real insight into who you are, what you do and what your skill level is in you chosen profession. It is also important to answers any questions people may have about you. Whilst doing Q&A about your chosen profession field this is great way to gain publicity, and receive recommendations from external sources. People will be able to see that you are an expert and considered reliable in your field.
3. Have a professional appearance
The point of having such a strong online presence is to promote yourself professionally, so it’s important to look as professional as possible. This means using professional photography in your photos, and having connections and links with others in your industry. Commenting and collaborating with other online professionals shows your level of skills within the Hospitality industry.
4. Beware of privacy settings
Most have accounts for their careers, and accounts for their own personal use. The privacy on your business accounts may be lower, so people you don’t know can find you and connect with you. However, your personal accounts, where you chat with friends and post personal photos should be private. While you’re entitled to let your hair down, be conscious of what you want potential employers or clients to have access to.
5. Use online tools to build your online presence
If your career is not in a technical field, then building up your website and social media marketing may be daunting, at which point using online resources can prove to be an asset. One issue many people face today is the fact that there are just so many online platforms though which you can engage with prospective employers, it’s hard to stay on top of all of them. Hoot Suite helps you manage all platforms in one place, while Mention Adwords or Workstream help you monitor the success of your digital marketing, and adapt to trends to make your online profile as effective as possible. While Click to Tweet also monitors the success of your twitter profile, it can also be used to promote your posts. You will need to be visually appealing in order to stand out. And finally, your content should be professional and high quality, so people feel they can trust in your brand. And once you content has been written, Aweber can help make sure it is effectively distributed.
6. Be consistent with your content
You should ideally post regularly, and these posts should be shared across multiple platforms. However, don’t let the frequency of your posts detract from your core message - You, what you do and what you have to offer. At the end of the day you are trying to find a new employer. Even if this means planning your content for the week in advance, you should be on-message at all times and make sure you’re delivering your take on issues, not compromising your opinions just to have something to post, or post on irrelevant topics.
7. Be strategic
As soon as you make the choice to either launch or re-vamp your online presence, you should write a list of goals. What exactly are you hoping to get from you own online personal brand. Never lose sight of why you have an online presence in order to maximise the results you get from it.
