One thing that social media sites all have in common is a profile. Many marketers make the mistake of leaving the profiles blank with a dummy placeholder image and a screen name. Your profile is important because it gives you credibility, incoming links, keyword association, and a personality. I recommend spending some time developing a powerful profile that you can reuse over and over on all your accounts.

In the world of social media marketing your profile is your business card. People reading your Twitter stream will click on your avatar to learn more about you. If all they see is the bare minimum filled out, it’s a poor reflection on you.

Key Elements of a Powerful Profile Page:

• A Real Photo

Don’t be afraid to put a face to your profile. This shows that you’re a real person and allows followers and fans to create a relationship with you. I recommend getting a photo taken just for use on the web. The photo should be recognizable in a small format (50 x 50 px) and ideally be from your shoulders up. This photo should be the same on all your profiles, and will help to create a cohesive personal brand. If you are using articles to market, put your photo in the footer with your bio. Avoid using images that don’t have you in them (i.e. company logo, pets, kids, or stock photos). Check out @CragerInc’s profile pic for a great example!

• Strong One Sentence Bio

Online people have very short attention spans. Keep it short and catchy. Don’t use your bio to write your life story or resume. Think of it as your personal tag line. Here are some examples of good mini bios:

• OrangeCast: “Social Media Marketer, speaker, and reputation management expert.”
• Seth Godin: “Seth is a writer, a speaker, and an agent of change.”
• Joel Comm: “New York Times best selling author and social media expert.”

If the profile has an area for a more detailed bio, keep it to one or two paragraphs. The idea is to hit on the big things that make you special, then refer to your website or blog for more detail. Use your top keyword phrase in the bio to help with the association of that term with your name.

• Links

Make sure to include links to your website, blog, and core social media accounts (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube). It’s also a good idea to link to any associations or experts you like. I like to include links to resources and blogs that are in my related field and offer helpful information.

• ­Hobbies or Likes

Not all profiles offer room for this information, but if they do it’s worth filling out a few quirky things.  This is an area to give you dimension and personality. I like to put unexpected things, for example, I mention my love of wiener dogs, bicycles and sewing. Unless it’s your field of expertise, try to avoid religion and politics. You never know who might be turned off by your opinions.

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