All posts by : West Kraemer

Your Number One Goal For Social Media

Your number one goal when posting online should be bifurcated evenly between providing value for those who see your post and connecting with those people. So, make sure you don’t chase “likes,” make connections.

Again, when posting online:

Your Number 1 Priority: Providing value for those who see your post.

Your Number 1 Priority: Connecting with those people.

To Gain Career Security, You Need To Be Making Human Connections Through Meaningful Engagement, Not Chasing “likes.”

Here’s the kind of reaction we’re aiming for when we post:

• Comments that represent a meaningful engagement with the topic.
• Comments that are the basis for a continued business relationship IRL,
• DM’s from people telling you that you helped them in some way or asking you to create a professional relationship to help them further.
• People expressing interest in attending events you’re organizing.
• Any indication that you’re helping people and providing genuine value to their lives (this kind of engagement can vary across platforms, so I wanted a catch-all here).

If someone drops a like on your post, who cares? Do you have any idea what that means? It might reach a wider audience because of that like and connect with someone else, but we should be aiming for connections with who is already seeing our posts. If we’re providing value, the expanded reach will come in time so just continue to focus on providing value consistently over time.

Why Meaningful Engagement Is Better Than “Likes”

If you’ve provided value to someone through interactions, they’ll remember that. Now, instead of being someone who’s post they liked, you’re someone who helped them with a problem. You’re an expert in their eyes who they’ll either go to, or recommend to someone else. They’re also much more likely to go to an event you’re hosting, or to recommend that a friend goes with them.

By soliciting meaningful engagement by giving value consistently over time, you’re building genuine relationships with people that you can foster in real life. And you can build business relationships with those people to help you gain career security.

Likes mean nothing. Human connection means everything when building career security.

Part 1: Why work with a professional branding company? Because we help you gain career security.

If you want the career security that comes from building a network of people that you provide value to and who know you as a resource in your field, you’ll need someone who can help you navigate how to build that following. 

That’s where a professional brand consultant brings value. If they can use the tools at their disposal to help you create a worthwhile network of people that you have IRL human connections with, they’ve done their job.

That’s it.

You’re the expert in your field. You’re a lawyer, or a web developer, or a nurse, or a physical therapist, or a stock broker, or a financial planner, or whatever you are, you have value that you bring to the table. All a branding consultant does is help you get that message across so that you can connect with a larger network and gain career security out of those connections.

Part 2: I Don’t Know How To Do Your Job, So Why Would You Know How To Do Mine?

I know digital marketing on a grass roots level. I know it requires consistency, I know that chasing “likes” is a fools errand, and I know that human connection is the name of this game.

What I don’t know is how to do your job. I don’t know how to be a Nurse, Financial Planner, Physical Therapist, Human Resources Manager, Aspiring Novelist, Cello Player, Therapist, or Dog Walker. So, why would you know how to do mine? Where in nursing school do they teach you how to set up a web page for yourself, or what SEO is and why you need to worry about that? Nowhere.

But to get the career security that comes with a large network that you’ve given a lot of value to, you need someone to help you navigate those aspects of digital marketing successfully.

Part 3: Maybe You Know How Digital Marketing Works, So Why Work With A Professional Branding Company?

Short answer: you may not, and that’s okay. Go do it if you can!

Longer answer: I provide value in terms of giving you accountability and guidance in shaping your message. Odds are your post history is inconsistent, and so is the message you’ve spread across social media. And that’s okay for personal use.

But for professional use, be you a company or individual, you need consistency and accountability while you’re building a network to gain career security. And providing you with that is as major component of where Stand Out Professional Branding brings you value.