If, like most people, you are now spending more time online, posting and interacting, and using video, you need to take extra care about how you are perceived, says Mindy Gibbins Klein
Your online presence and behaviour requires more thought and care than before, and potentially much more than you realise.
Fewer signals means less comprehension and more confusion
We all know that when you are communicating in person, there are many nonverbal signals that are normally passed back and forth between you and the other person: eye contact, body movement, facial expressions and more. Online, especially on video, you can still retain tone of voice, and you get to see some of the nonverbal cues (as long as broadband quality allows).
However, you can miss a lot, and this takes away from meaning and understanding. If you do videos where only your head and shoulders are showing, you may feel constrained by not being able to use your hands to illustrate something.
Written content is not a dialogue, no matter how much you try to engage people in the conversation. By all means, ask questions in your posts and videos, watch your language, avoid too much selling, and most importantly stay humble. People
Everything lasts longer online
It has been said that the Web has a long memory, and we should remember that. That embarrassing photo, the joke in poor taste or angry rant could garner more attention, comments and shares than your best content.
Even conversations and presentations are more likely to be recorded these days, with the increase in video meetings and webinars. I know I’m meant to be sticking to the topic of content, but I must bring up image at this point. If you don’t care what you look like, fine, but others will make a judgement based on their first impression.
Brush and style your hair and put some thought into what you are wearing – at least the top half of you that will be seen on video.
Branding counts, and you want to come across as the professional you are. I used to have no-makeup days occasionally if I was not going out to meetings, as most of my calls were audio-only. That’s no longer happening most days. If I’m going to be seen on video and often recorded, I want to make the best possible impression so I put extra effort into styling.
Self-promotion is a tightrope
Of course if you are not visible enough and no one knows what you offer, you won’t get many opportunities coming your way.
But if you go too far the other way, promoting yourself too often or in too self-aggrandising a way, it will be a turn-off. Think of someone you know who goes too far with their online self-promotion and ends up being annoying or sleazy, making you cringe. You probably lose respect for them if they constantly boast about themselves and their achievements, right? Aim for somewhere ‘just north of confident and just south of arrogant’ and you should hit the mark.
Dozens of clients have told me how they have had to unfollow, unsubscribe and even unfriend contacts of theirs, just because it became too much, too often and too annoying. The ideal proportion of promotional posts to educational ones is one to four. This means that on average, one out of every five posts can promote you, your products or services.
They can get the full picture of you – fast
I appreciate the ability to look people up online with online searches. It helps me when I’m networking, and writing articles and books. It gives me a better picture of the people I’m meeting or writing about. Of course, it goes both ways and there is every chance people are doing searches and looking me up.
With a few clicks, someone can do a search and find out everything about you too. I know you know this, but it’s worth remembering. Have you ever done a Google search on your name (and various mis-spellings of your name as well)? When was the last time you searched you name on Google? If you haven’t searched for yourself online for a while, I recommend doing it now (well, after you’ve finished reading this article).
Most people are shocked at what comes up. Old content, seemingly irrelevant content and yes, sometimes embarrassing content. I did this exercise with one of my clients recently and we discovered that he was known for the ‘wrong things’. Imagine that. Of course, there are no ‘wrong’ things. It’s just that he had not managed the balance by being thoughtful and posting intentionally.
How to stay in control
You will never be able to control completely what others post about you, and we certainly don’t understand the algorithms that determine exactly what shows up where in searches. However, you can steer the online conversation, and you can tip the balance in your favour. One thing I encourage my clients to do is ask for testimonials. The more positive mentions you get – on all relevant platforms and social media channels – the better the chances of those posts showing up. We have even been able to push negative reviews off the first page by ‘flooding’ the page or site with positives. This strategy just requires a bit of thought and the courage to ask others to write about your good points.
Do you want people talking about you for the right reasons? Say something worth talking about. The most exciting and original your content, the better.
Many times, aspiring thought leaders don’t get the social media or traditional media coverage they want, simply because they are not saying anything particularly new, interesting, exciting, original or disruptive. As I’ve written and spoken about extensively, it’s harder than ever to be noticed, followed and mentioned in a world that is noisier, more crowded and more cluttered with wannabes and mediocre content than ever!
Thoughtful leaders go beyond the basics. They put extra thought into their articles, blogs, books, videos and every interaction, recorded or not. They don’t simply churn out content and call it ‘thought leadership’. That is a special term that needs to be earned. It needs to be bestowed upon the content creator or leader by the market they are trying to engage. I suggest you never call yourself a ‘thought leader’, or your content ‘thought leadership’.
When more is more
Although I never advocate prioritising quantity over quality, these days you need to be thinking about both. As I mentioned above, you definitely need to have a high standard of quality for content that is meant to represent you and promote in the best possible way. You may also need to step up the number of articles and blogs you post, videos, comments on other people’s posts and even conversations. If you have a product or service to promote, assuming you get the tone right and are saying something new and exciting, you will need to post more frequently just to gain people’s attention.
I’m sure you have noticed people don’t seem to be able to focus. Blame it on the virus, the fast pace of society or whatever. The fact remains that you need to work harder and do more just to be noticed and get the right kind of attention. Good luck!
Mindy Gibbins-Klein MBA FRSA FPSA is a global thought leadership expert and founder of Panoma Press, REAL Thought Leaders and The Book Midwife®. Her latest book The Thoughtful Leader is available from Amazon and all good bookstores. Find out more at www.mindygk.com
