Deze maand verscheen er een interview met mij in het magazine van de Marketing Associatie Amsterdam over personal branding voor studenten. Het interview is in het Engels. Lees het interview hieronder. 

Fortunately people are different and this aspect has a major impact on the way they expose themselves in real life and also in social media. Consequently each individual has the option to choose how he profiles himself to the outside world and how he creates a successful personal brand. Nowadays people are more and more interested in becoming active members in the online environment and they try to find the most appropriate and quick solutions to stand out in the crowd and thus market themselves. The interview held with Rico den Burger – social media strategist – focuses on the theme regarding the effect of social media on brand “me” and thus the pro and against arguments related to this discussion area.

Rico den Burger is 23 years old, lives in Amsterdam and is a master student at the University of Amsterdam also social media strategist and freelance communication adviser. I have challenged Rico into convincing me to become a LinkedIn member so at the end of the interview I shall conclude if I would adhere to this statement or not. Rico became involved in social media in a rather unusual way: moving to Amsterdam from Utrecht and wanting to get to know the city better, he started tweeting about it and afterwards the possibility of making money out of this has risen suddenly.

Established in 2003 and reaching over 120 million users, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network regarding information exchange, ideas and opportunities tracing, being known as consumer networking platform that matches, tracks and rewards members to an integrated network of products and services. Rico believes that “LinkedIn is not about building connections, it’s about helping you being more productive, making professional connections visible and helping you asking the right questions and receiving the right decisions”. It helps you connect to the right people and shine…“people, knowledge and opportunities are at your fingertips”.

From Rico’s standpoint, LinkedIn’s rapid progress reflected by the growing number of users is determined by the fact that people feel the need to share knowledge, have conversations, apply for jobs, enrich their knowledge and adhere to groups and discussions. Nowadays, with media business growing so fast and internet getting more and more efficient it’s the perfect timing for you to become known and easy to find on Google so what you have to do is basically create an account on LinkedIn. Take advantage of the high internet penetration rate and speed and become an online brand!

From top 10 popular sites worldwide, 5 are social network sites and 57% of internet users are now members of a social network. LinkedIn helps people to outline their credentials presenting their professional rather than their personal side, and offers the possibility to profile themselves to the outside world by sharing thoughts, information, knowledge and opinions. From Rico’s point of view, “LinkedIn is like a new car and you have to get in that car if you want to know new people and have more friends and drive to another city”. As Rico says, “you have to follow the great people in the great business in order to become successful”.

But what are the opportunities for students if they want to become members on LinkedIn but they do not have experience or other achievements? According to Rico den Burger’s advice, LinkedIn wants more student in its database so what they should do is to fill in everything they can (the programs followed, the marks received, their interests), join open discussions and follow the important groups. “Think about describing yourself in two words according to your interests and think about how other people will search your profile; for example, if you are studying marketing, you have to use the term ‘student in marketing’, not just ‘student’. Another way to expose yourself to social media and building an online brand is by having your own blog where you can share articles, thoughts, photos”.

Today 89% of the companies use social media networks for recruiting, LinkedIn being the most popular with 80%. Actually, one out of three employers rejects candidates based on something they found about them online. Rico underlined the following aspect which is very important: only having a profile on LinkedIn rises your scores with 30 points for CLOUDMARK. A very important aspect which is emphasised by employers is: if they do not find you on LinkedIn, they say ‘you do not exist’, so in order to become successful and have a bright career, you have to think about the importance of being an active member on LinkedIn. “It‘s all about socialising, sharing and creating…LinkedIn”.

Let’s say I am a ‘brand’. What can be the effect of social media on brand ‘me’? Regarding the fact that people are in a different context and mindset when they are in a professional network, you can build a powerful brand and become successful in the online environment because social media gives you the possibility to excel in your chosen field. Regarding the fact that everyone is on the internet nowadays, you must present yourself professionally and have to precise clearly who you are, what you want, what are you doing now or in the future, and also you should read one book more than your competitors.

Lewis Howes, author of LinkedWorking said: “if you want to hang with the big players – a place where connections are made, leads are generated and deals go down – then you have to spend more of your time on LinkedIn”. Consequently, you have to use the four major tools provided by LinkedIn in order to create a powerful brand and to market yourself properly: status updates, recommendations, answers and following companies. Furthermore you have to use the keys to success on LinkedIn: make it a priority or don’t use it, create a complete profile, choose the connections and content carefully, create a strategy, and visit it at least once a week.

To put it in a nutshell, Rico den Burger actually convinced me to become an active member on LinkedIn and I will surely advise other people to do the same if they are interested in finding a job, business opportunities or just share and receive knowledge with other people worldwide. One advice given by Rico points out: “it’s not what the software does, it’s what the user does”. LinkedIn works because it’s safe and you are free to build an online brand and stand out in the crowd.