It May Be Time to Update your Own Online Beacons
If you want to refresh your personal online brand or simply maintain your up-to-date digital self, you first need to do an inventory of the transmitters you’ve already set up. Here’s what to keep in mind.
Do you remember where all your online beacons are located? I’m talking about the websites that ping your digital identity out to the world. Yes, the ones you’ve intentionally set up. Are they all up to date with accurate information? When was the last time you checked? I bet there are at least a couple you’ve forgotten about.
Why not take an hour to do an inventory and review it to make sure all your data is current?
If you’re committed to curating your personal brand online, it’s important to make sure the digital ‘you’ properly reflects the real you.
You may find that the most obvious of places need some freshening up. I recently realized that even my own blog, which I spend time on weekly, required a little work. It was my ‘About’ page, which housed a wicked-old photo of me from when I launched At Home with Tech back in 2012. So, I replaced it with a current one. (More on photos in a moment…)
LinkedIn Profile
Of course, maintaining your own blog or website can be the center of your online presence, but for many of us, LinkedIn is the go-to place to project your professional digital identity.
So, it’s always a good idea take a look and dust off your LinkedIn profile, especially if you’ve not been paying much attention to it.
LinkedIn Photo
And don’t forget to update your photo every few years.
Yes, time marches on, and after enough years, we’re all going to look somewhat different. That’s okay. It’s not being authentic to represent yourself as your decade-ago younger self. That’s simply not you today.
I wouldn’t project yesterday. Our own stories should be grounded in today and forward focused.
LinkedIn Connections
Bonus tip: While you’re spending time updating your LinkedIn profile, why not reach out to the folks you’ve been working with recently and add them to your LinkedIn connections? (Unless you’re a regular LinkedIn user, you’ll likely have built up a backlog of potential connections.)
Social Media
I know that many may not think of our social media activity outside the parameters of our ‘friends’ and ‘connections.’ But no matter how you set up your profile, I think it should always be assumed that anyone may be able see what you post. (That’s something to keep in mind… for life!)
Every social media platform allows you to create a profile. So that’s an opportunity, but also another chore to maintain. Don’t set it and forget it.
You’re likely sharing different information than on LinkedIn, and that’s fine. But you should always be mindful to ensure it all works well together. Because it may well be consumed together.
Do you Need to Share So Much of Yourself Online?
Several years back, I wrote a blog post that proposed you really don’t exist if you can’t be found online. I got some blowback on that, and for good reason. Today’s online landscape is complicated. I’ll just use the word ‘risk’ and leave it at that.
So, you’ve got to be smart and pay attention. And that means you need to keep track of those beacons you’ve set up.
I also wrote a blog post titled, At Home with Paper. It referred to imagining life at home without a computer printer (I still can’t).
But the title holds a different meaning for me today. It taps into a hidden yearning to ‘simplify.’ None of the above is simple. Sure, it’s easy, but that’s where your trains can easily go off the tracks.
Stay Close to your Digital Self for Life
But this is not blog for Luddites (though I bet there would be a growing audience for that).
I continue to promote what I believe is a best practice to curate your personal brand online. But you can’t forget about it. And of course, never share too much.
This needs to be a life-long strategy.
So, buckle up!
At Home with Tech 