Social media is quickly becoming one of the most lucrative and vital marketing methods for individuals, small businesses, and major companies. From multi-million dollar brands to micro-businesses and freelancers, hundreds of thousands of people are leveraging social media to their advantage.

One of the most important parts of any social media marketing presence is the profile. Whether you are marketing for a company or yourself, your social media profile forms the base for your actions, and is the first point of reference when potential customers, clients, or PR people come your way.

So instead of winging it and potentially creating a profile that is ineffective, put some structure and purpose into your profile and drive sales and media exposure for your business. These five rules will help you create social media profiles that are structured, effective, and business-ready.

1. If you have invested in personal branding, do not be a braggart.

There is a fine line between being a slick self-promoter and a shameless braggart, and when you use social media for branding it can be difficult to balance on the right side of the equation. Nothing could be worse than a profile that does not best represent you, so before you publish anything online, have someone impartial take a look and tell you if it is too promotional or one-upping.

2. Never say too much.

There is an ethos amongst marketers: always give the customer a reason to return. Your social media profile should not be a say-all and tell-all essay, but a quick and friendly summary of your business or personality. Instead of going for the one-off sale the first time someone sees your profile, aim for long-term success by giving them reasons to click through to your website.

3. A profile without pictures is incomplete.

It is not 1996 anymore, and businesses simply can’t get by with a text-only social media profile or online presence. With a quick investment in some images (they do not need to be professional) your profile can be transformed from a newspaper-style classified advertisement to a conversion-friendly online property. Audiences love images and dynamic media, so be sure to include it in your profile.

4. Make your profile personal.

Even if you are a business, it is best to assign a little bit of personality to your profile. The internet is jam packed full of faceless companies, and very few of them tend to succeed with social media. The companies that do succeed know one thing — personality sells. Make sure your profile is packed with information about what you do, not just what your company does.

5. Keep the business info in there.

If your business is working with a social media strategist, make sure they do not take over your marketing entirely. It is easy to take the personality strategy too far and end up with a profile that is not business related, so if you feel the profile is becoming too much of a one-person shrine, step in a make sure it outlines your business effectively.

In December, I signed up for a first of its kind program.  The VAClassroom’s Traffic Geyser VA Certification Program.  I didn’t know how intense the training would be until I started it.  The sessions were short but very challenging as there is so much information to soak it and we had a time limit to absorb it all.  There is so much information, for example, just to set up a FULL profile can take as long as 5 hours.

As skilled Virtual Assistants, we are known for having the knowledge to support and assist our clients on so many levels and I thought this was my level.  There is a tremendous demand for “higher ranking positions” in the search listing and I really feel that Traffic Geyser has the hand up in that area.  I have learned so much going through the course to not only support my business but to support my clients and any other clients I may get in the future.

I am glad to announce that I have completed my certification and am even prouder to announce that I am one of the few “Traffic Geyser Certified Virtual Assistants” out there.  Below is my Press Release that will be going out next week sometime, but I wanted you to read it here first.

Rebecca Thompson, founder of CLR Virtual Connection, announced that they have successfully completed the Traffic Geyser Certified VA Training Course, the very first Technology-Specific training program developed in partnership with TrafficGeyser.com.

Since 2007, there has been a rapid increase in the importance of Social Media Marketing and the use of online video to promote businesses. According to Traffic Geyser co-founder Rocket Helstrom, “video now surpasses 55% of all internet traffic.” To leverage the power of video and other key internet marketing tools, Traffic Geyser has designed a user-friendly and innovative platform that allows businesses to create and mass-distribute online videos, podcasts and articles to various Social Media distribution points, thereby exploding their natural search listings for their most targeted keywords. This system helps Virtual Assistants and their clients climb to the top listings in Google and other Search Engines and generate a high level of targeted website traffic and results.
However, since many busy entrepreneurs utilizing the Traffic Geyser Marketing Platform lack sufficient time to devote to it, there is a growing need to outsource Traffic Geyser tasks to a person skilled in using this important tool. That is why CLR Virtual Connection is excited to be adding Traffic Geyser Services to their business, having gained a complete blueprint for successfully implementing the Traffic Geyser system. Rebecca is quoted as saying: “I feel that with Traffic Geyser’s powerful rank building system, my clients will be able to improve their performance and essentially help their businesses.”
In VAClassroom’s Traffic Geyser Certified VA Training Course, CLR Virtual Connection learned to perform the primary implementation tasks that many Traffic Geyser members are requesting right now, including keyword research for target markets, creating and distributing online video, repurposing video into articles, podcasts and blog posts, creating “Lead Capture” pages with video, and creating podcast feeds and blogs. In addition, they have gained the skills necessary for setting up autoresponder email sequences for the Traffic Geyser Lead Capture Page Generator, managing Facebook, Twitter and other Social Media Networks, and many other pertinent tasks. Most importantly, with advanced and powerful Internet Marketing skills, CLR Virtual Connection is now better equipped to guide each client to the fastest path to success through increased targeted visibility and traffic.
CLR Virtual Connection is a home-based Virtual Assistant company.  They offer a wide range of services, including Social Media and General Administration. Having received the Traffic Geyser Certification, they are pleased to add key Traffic Geyser services and tools to their business. This certification also entitles them to ongoing training as technology develops so they will continue to offer quality up-to-date Traffic Geyser skills to their clients.

I was reading the Sunday classified section of the paper and came across an article on social networking.  As someone who is very interested in social networking, I thought I should read it.  The article is about how people can find jobs using social networking (Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn are the 3 it mentions in the beginning). As I continue to read I see that the they are not talking about Facebook “profiles” or “pages,” but they are in fact talking about the “ads” in Facebook geared toward specific companies.  The ones that run on the right close to the top by the “what are you doing” section.  They are telling people to go out and buy these ads but “they won’t instantly land jobs; they open the door for opportunities.”  While I am always happy to see new ways to use Social Media for networking, I thought, Can it be that simple to get all the information you would need to get someone’s attention in that little ad?

So I tried it.  Here is what I found out along with what an ad would look like at the max on character limits:

Would you hire someone, only knowing this much about them?

1.  What is your URL  (Do most unemployed general public people have a website?  Possibly…)

2.  Title  (ONLY 25 characters for a title…Could put something there catchy!)

3.  Body Text (Less then Twitter at 135 characters…Have to be REALLY crafty here)

4.  Image (make sure you don’t use the one on your facebook profile…have you seen some of them?? LOL…spend money to get a great head shot of yourself)

I ran out of room on BOTH the Title and the Body Text sections (What you see is ALL I could fit).  I think that social networking is an excellent way to connect with others, to find new contacts.  But I think that these ads, are more for businesses. Job seekers would be better served on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook Profiles.

They also interviewed  a CEO of a social networking software company, and he gave 3 tips for using social networking, which I really liked! They are as follows:
1.  Spend more time listening instead of talking (I find that some people have a hard time doing this, as we are taught to SELL ourselves by talking).  He explains that the goal of the job seeker  is to understand the motivations and goals of the people working there (Remember, you have to be a good fit at the place you are looking at working at)!
2.  Find conversations that have topics you know about and post to those conversations.  It builds your credibility and introduces your knowledge!
3.  Once someone feels like they know you and you know your stuff, the interviews will come quicker and will be easier to get through (remember it is not always who you know…but is WHAT you know).

Core Values:
Honesty: I will NEVER lie or deceive you.
Integrity: My word is what I have built my business on because it is MY word.
Excellence: I strive for high quality in whatever I do.
Communication: Open and honest, the way it should be, by phone, email or instant message.
Passion: In having excitement in what I do, I have excitement in what you do.
Respect: Treating you with the highest degree of decorum.
Unity: We are team-when we are successful together we are successful independently.

According to the dictionary:

core noun

the center or most important part of something

values plural noun

the principles that help you to decide what is right and wrong, and how to act in various situations

There are many times that people have looked at my website and have asked me “why did you pick the core values that are listed on your site?”. The answer that I come up with is what seems to be the most logical for me which is, “those are the things I value in a relationship (both personal and professional)”.

What is the acronym for my core values? There isn’t one. I tried to be all cute and fancy and smart about it but in the end the most important thing to me is that I have values represented that reflect my values. I have them listed the way they are for no particular reason, as they are all equally important. I think that without any of these values, a mutual relationship wouldn’t be possible. Ultimately I wouldn’t want to work with someone that didn’t have these values. Would you?

So why do I have them on my page? Someone asked me what I stood for. She told me that people like to know that you have values and often times want to know what the values are that you hold close. I think that each of these are important not only separately but together, as well. They make me whole and without them my business is only a concept and not a reality. Do you think that I would be in business without them? I don’t.

Why do I care if my clients are passionate about what they do? It won’t make me less passionate about what I do. Will it? Of course it will. If you work alongside someone and they have NO passion or enthusiasm about what they do, how long will it take you to lose your enthusiasm? Not long! I think that it is pivotal that you have to have passion about what you do. When you work with people that are as passionate who you are, doesn’t it make you all the more excited? It does me.

So when someone asks you…what do you value? Do you know the answer off the top of your head?