In the real world, building your personal brand is all about how you look, how much you know, how you articulate and present yourself, the work you deliver and the relationships you nurture. However, no matter how much you do, your brand will reach only those that you come into contact with personally.

The virtual world today offers us the opportunity to build, package and promote ourselves as a ‘personal brand’ to a global audience. Whether it is with a view to sharing our thoughts and expertise, marketing our services, or selling our products and skills; personal branding on social media platforms is an area that each one of us must be familiar with.  Communicating with a large audience via Twitter, engaging with a select group over Facebook, sharing opinions and expertise to interested readers via a blog, creating videos that represent who we are, building professional circles on LinkedIn − all these are the virtual calling cards we need to announce, build and share our personal brand.

Each platform requires unique skills and knowledge, as well as follows a unique code of conduct or ‘netiquette’. Building our personal brand via the social media is both an art and a science. Remember, if you don’t manage your personal image on social media, it will be dictated by what others have to say about you. Take charge today!

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