Virtual Selling

34Personal Branding

You must constantly ask yourself three questions as you engage on social media platforms:

1. Does my presence here support my reputation and credibility?
2. Does it help people become familiar with my name, face, and personal brand in a positive way?
3. Does my activity balance building and strengthening my personal brand with supporting and creating awareness for my company's brand?

If the answer to any of these questions is “no” or “I'm not sure,” then stop and adjust your strategy.

At the center of building familiarity on social media is honing your personal brand. Your goal is positioning yourself as a capable, knowledgeable professional who brings value to the table and solves problems. Secondarily, you have a fiduciary responsibility to the company that is paying your salary and writing your commission checks to create awareness of its brand.

Virtual First Impressions

Like most people, you make quick judgments or build quick impressions about others when you are introduced for the first time. It is just how we operate as human beings.

To deal with an overwhelming amount of incoming data and avoid cognitive overload, your brain has evolved to quickly look at patterns and compile that information into snapshots of other people (remember cognitive load and heuristics from Chapter 13). These snapshots form your first impressions—regardless of how valid they may be.

When you meet someone face-to-face, those first impressions matter greatly. You meet in the lobby ...