I recently had the chance to return to my Alma Mater, Salem State University and chat with the PRSSA about the importance of personal, social branding and LinkedIn.

1. SOCIAL BRANDING &
PREPARING FOR
THE REAL WORLD
Jeannine O’Neil, ‘07
@Jeannine_ONeil
jeannineoneil@gmail.com
www.jeannineoneil.com

2. SOCIAL BRANDING
CONTROLLING HOW OTHERS
PERCEIVE YOU ONLINE THROUGH
YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS.

3. YOU ARE IN CONTROL
OF YOUR DESTINY.
START BRANDING
YOURSELF NOW

4. 5 Reasons You Should be Branding Yourself
1. Social media gives us a unique opportunity to market & brand
yourself now more than ever.
2. You already are ahead of the workforce growing up with social
media.
3. Businesses are just understanding the importance of social
branding.
4. Businesses will be looking at your presence when you apply for
jobs.
5. Position yourself: Think ahead - where is the economy headed?
What can you do now that will give you a better position later?

5. PLAN OF ACTION

6. Plan of Action
Facebook
◦ Option A - start using it is a networking tool. Clean it up.
◦ Option B - Delete, make private, go into hiding. People are going
to share content with you/about you that is going to brand you.
Control the situation.
◦ You need to be very careful because you never who who is seeing
what information.

7. Plan of Action
Twitter - Build thought leadership and develop connections.
◦ Start tweeting articles, sharing blog posts, class articles.
◦ Use LinkedIn News to curate content and learn about real world
stories/how things are evolving.
◦ When tweeting, share your thought on each article. Just a few
words and be smart with #Hashtags.
◦ Start following news sources, thought leaders, your influencers.
Share their information and talk to them.

8. Plan of Action
Blogging
◦ Try to update your blog once a week/every two weeks/once a month.
◦ Use assignments/projects as a source of information.
◦ Think about SEO and keywords.
◦ Share on all your accounts.
Other accounts (Pinterest, Instagram, Vine, etc.)
◦ Change your name unless you want to be found and these accounts will help you
100%

9. Plan of Action
LinkedIn
◦ Build/Update your LinkedIn account now.
◦ Get the basics updated.
◦ Make SEO, keyword friendly. “If I was a business looking for potential
employees what would I be looking for?”
◦ Upload course material, projects, assignments, presentations, share articles.
◦ Start connecting with businesses, follow groups and influencers, have
conversations with them, build your network.
◦ Reach out for informational interviews.
◦ Once you set up your account spend at least 1 hour/week with your account.
Cleaning it up, connecting with others, reading articles etc.

10. Prepare yourself for the real world.
◦ LinkedIn is a living resume.
◦ Include as much information as you can.
◦ This is the place for your overflow of information that
doesn’t fit on your one page resume/cover letter.
◦ Build it now and it will help you with your capstone
class.
◦ This will save you time from having to create it all at later.

11. Prepare yourself for the real world.
◦ Start planting the seed now.
◦ Create & share content on your social media accounts and
develop your thought leadership status.
◦ Connect with others and build relationships now.
◦ Look for positions, internships, organizations to connect
and talk with now.

12. A great resource
for setting up your
LinkedIn account
Section 3
http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/learn
-linkedin-how-to-build-your-living-
resume

13. Updating Your LinkedIn Profile
1.) Include your full name and image.
Image should be a professional headshot.
“A picture is worth a thousand words”

14. 2) Personalize your Headline.
Students - Use “Aspiring [Your Profession] Seeking
Internship” not “Student at [Your University]”
Updating Your LinkedIn Profile

15. 15
o Value proposition – how do you provide value?
o Target audience – whom do you provide value
for and who will read this?
o Unique selling point - what makes you different
from others?
o Keywords & SEO
Updating Your LinkedIn Profile

16. 3) Contact Information
• Website/Portfolio, social media accounts
(professional)
Updating Your LinkedIn Profile

17. 4) Write a great summary
• Use keywords (think SEO).
• This is your digital cover letter.
Updating Your LinkedIn Profile

18. 5) Add Education &
Work History
o Be brief!
o Short, short bullet
points.
o Add classes,
projects,
organizations,
volunteer work, etc.
Updating Your LinkedIn Profile

19. Use this link on your resume when you are submitting
online.
6) Customize your LinkedIn URL
Use your name not your company!
Updating Your LinkedIn Profile

20. 7) Get Recommendations.
Ask Professors and classmates to write
recommendation each semester.
Updating Your LinkedIn Profile

22. 22
Resources
How to Build Your Living Resume
LinkedIn Blog
LinkedIn University Pages
LinkedIn YouTube Channel
HubSpot
Mashable
Social Media Examiner

23. QUESTIONS?

24. THANK YOU
jeannineoneil@gmail.com
www.jeannineoneil.com
@Jeannine_ONeil