The Secret to Being the BEST Possible YOU…ONLINE!

You hear it again…and again and again. When it comes to developing your Web presence you have to be “authentic”…you have to be “the real you”. You know, be the same person online that you are offline. That’s what all the gurus will reiterate…and they’re right.

But let’s face it…not all of us are really THAT interesting? Or are we? Have you taken the time to really digest what makes YOU…YOU?! And are you sharing what makes YOU…YOU in the best possible way. I challenge you to take minute and examine your finer points. What are your interests? What are your strengths? What knowledge base do you possess, and could potentially share it in a more helpful way with your sphere!? Well, don’t tell me… make a list and have it handy!

Now let’s step back and also examine your life…your routine…your daily happenings. When you go about your day, are you “present” or aware enough of what’s happening around you to identify the “interest episodes”? And by “interest episodes” I mean those little things that naturally occur in your day that make you smile, laugh or reflect in some way.

For example, my son lost his first tooth last week! Now simply posting  “my son lost his first tooth” is fine, and I’m sure it may even illicit some reaction within your network. But who wants to be “fine”…fine is like someone sighing in agreement….a reaction barely worth mentioning.  If you really want to make the most of connecting and sharing with your network a “sigh” is not enough. So when an “interest episode” occurs, think about the story that led up to that experience.

Now what I didn’t tell you when I shared that “my son lost his first tooth” was that his younger sister “accidentally” kicked him in the mouth when they were “rough-housing” (aka: pillow fight). Now clearly this was an “interest episode” but instead of posting the obvious to Facebook or Twitter I add my own commentary, or story behind it! Here’s what I posted:

If Reggie were reading this he’d tell me to get to the point already.  So here it goes…whenever you share something via your blog, Facebook Page or Profile, Twitter, or elsewhere, give people a reason to invest in the content you create or post (whether it’s an article, a photo, a video, or your own daily interest episodes). Why IS the short sales article you shared a must read? What ABOUT your weekly office meeting is so helpful to your business? How did your son’s first tooth fall out? Give us the backstory, give us the juicy info, the WOW factor, the most important tip, and best of all…give us a reason to relate to YOU!

So next time you take a look at your handy list of “finer points” and head out to identify and post a RELEVANT resource…make it MORE relevant by adding to it. And when you stumble upon an “interest episode” refrain from giving us a “sigh” and tell us the story!

One more tip for you…

A very wise and highly creative woman (aka Sonia Simone) once said…”Don’t just be YOU, be the BEST possible YOU” which usually requires one to be both “useful and entertaining”.

If  you can’t be both useful and entertaining….then really, I mean REALLY ROCK one or the other. But if you CAN be both…you will be “REMARKABLE”! You will be someone, that frankly, we just can’t take our eyes off of.

MyTechOpinion (aka @Nik_Nik’s last word): Instead of “engaging authentically”….”engage strategically”! It’s really the same, only the latter implies more forethought and creativity.