I have talked to, preached to, exhorted, goaded, incited, pressured, encouraged everyone I meet, know and/or coach to manage their career; plan for their career future(s); invest in professional development; renew their purpose; design their leadership brand; build and enhance their reputation; find their best destiny, find the fun, etc.

Now, I also ask my clients to get social – that is, to consider building their brand by establishing a Social Media presence.

“Social Media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, exchange and comment ‘contents’ among themselves in virtual communities and networks.”

Can I just state for the record that I really dislike living my life and my career life in a social universe. But – it is today’s reality!

If you know me at all personally or if you have gotten to know me through my blogs, you know that ‘socializing’ for the sake of socializing is not me. So – kicking and screaming, whining and complaining all the way – about two years ago, I decided to get social to extend my brand footprint, to underscore my level of influence as the CEO of my business and to align a Social Media presence with my own career vision. I knew I would need a roadmap or strategy to navigate through these unnatural (to me) waters.

Here’s a model I used to figure out how to transform my career by becoming social. I didn’t go to more networking events (I actually attended fewer events – but they were selected for my needs). I didn’t go wild on Facebook – my Facebook friends know to reach me via email or mobile. I didn’t select Pinterest (crafts?), StumbleUpon, or Wikipedia. I did select professional and thought-leadership sites to build my online presence.

This model will help you develop considerations for designing your Social Media strategy; in essence, this is the precursor to developing strategy.

Leaders or aspiring leaders who wish to transform their career must showcase their brands in places that expand their career footprint. In 2013 and beyond, you must join the social conversation by offering original content or comment on trends, research, case studies, Blogs, Whitepapers, contrarian articles, etc.

I took the plunge two years ago. Isn’t it time that you made new resolutions to upgrade your career status and incorporate a Social Media strategy as part of your 2013 Career Transformation Plan? I would be happy to help you brainstorm how you can develop a Social Media presence. Contact me at: cglasco@charter.net or call 940.367.0837.

Post Script…

Although this recommendation in Internet Marketing Trends For 2013 is targeted for entrepreneurs, Lisa Barone emphasizes:

“Content has long been hailed King, but it’s only been within recent month that it’s really been given any respect. With search engine updates specifically geared at rewarding high quality content (and penalizing low quality content) more and more sites will be looking to up the ante in 2013. The result will be a larger focus on creating evergreen content that provides a great value to searchers.”

Recommendation: Consider your content and where to place it in order to develop your social presence!


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