Not every role or person in our organization is visible, but you can still create personal visibility using social media – with a rich personal profile and by collaborating with others, you will no longer be “The invisible man”

Branding - Creating a good social profile is really all about branding and then by connecting your brand to others. Tell the world about your brand – its helpful to be topic or discipline focused. A quick look at someone’s profiles or their social posts should tell you where their interests lie.Draw in the viewers - Like a good horror movie, a good social profile linked appropriately to your content will draw people to you. If you don’t clown around, you can have a great social profile

Don’t get carried away - The social media and collaboration tool is quite expansive with more being added every day. Some for gaming, photo sharing, information curation, marketing, ecommerce, health and fitness. It’s easy to get carried away if you don’t focus on the few that count.Focus - My advice, if you are new to social media, is to pick one you can focus on and build up your profile. We should all have a LinkedIn professional profile and a place to store other media (slideshare, youtube or box) Here are some tips for getting startedOpine - Most people post links, or share articles they have read, but everyone can do that. Don’t just read and repost, Share your opinion or review the article, what you liked about it, what you agree with, or how you think differently about it.

Search for and find inspiration people in your field and follow them. Note companies they follow, what they read and repost – it will give you some additional insights into your industry and help you model your social behavior

Share your work, tell others what classes you are taking, what you are working on and when others in your field are doing similar work, they will seek you out. Doing this tells the community you are engaged in your field of expertise.

Exposure - Exposing your work and content takes courage, not everyone does this, but when you do, your influence in social network is raised significantly. Whether you are coding, creating templates or presentations, sharing them can only lead to exposure and further improvement.Branch Out – Find groups based on your current role as well as those roles you are aspiring. Engage in conversations with your opinions, and don’t be afraid to start new topics – perhaps a situation where you would like to seek advice. People will begin to see you as someone who collaborates.

Reach out – Don’t be afraid to contact individuals directly – others engage in social media to BE SOCIAL. Ask an expert a question directly. Send them a private message asking for 10 minutes of consultation on an issue. You can also let people know you are willing to consult with others in your field.Followers Will Find you - You will begin to gather a following of professionals with similar interests in your field or in the one you are aspiring to join. Now I’m going to review the simple steps to get started with Social Media…

All About You – your professional profile is all about you. Add your jobs, roles, your education, the projects you have been on, the courses you have taken, certifications and associations, links to articles you have published and any other worthy contentNext, Collaborate – join groups and participate in discussions, Give endorsements and recommendations and don’t be afraid to ask former colleagues for recommendations. Post articles you have read, blog about them with your opinion about them, and finally get your content out there!Many of the social media and collaboration tools interconnect: google and you tube. LinkedIn, Twitter, Slideshare. You can contribute to yammer through twitter with the hastag #yam. Use appropriate hastags on topic across platforms for a Universal picture.

Transformation - Using collaboration and social media tools can turn roles and people who are typically invisible, to semi-invisible and eventually to visible otherwise known as the visible-invisible man.Measure it – Results can be measured with tools such as Klout. This is a snapshot of my Klout account which measures your social media impact. That jump is the day I connected my slideshare account to LinkedIn. Over 2000 people downloaded my Service Management content. And we’ve put Yale’s ITSM program on the map using these techniques

Results – The increased visibility from your peers and your discipline will lead to appropriate recognition of your work, professional growth, increased connections and people will think of you as a leader in your space.

Personal visibility also give you a voice – And with visibility and voice will you will also get opportunity. Remember, you don’t need to be in a visible role to use these tools or techniques. They work the same for people at all levelsFollow me! Use any opportunity to tell people how to reach you via social media. You can have your twitter account at the bottom of your email signature & on your business cards. When you swap business cards with someone – connect with them through LinkedIn. These techniques will help you grow your social circles and visibility. Any questions?