It’s the holiday season, that means time to relax and take a break from work right? Well, not exactly. 2008 is pretty much over, companies are closed and business is slowing down. However 2009 is just around the corner and we will be back into the swing of things pretty soon. I think we should all use the holiday break to not only relax, but to do a social media/online presence check up on ourselves. Now is the time to update all of your information online or to join that social network you’ve been eyeballing for the last month. Next year is coming around fast so make sure you’re ready. Here are a few things you might want to check on:
- update all of your information
- try to get a few relevant recommendations
- go through your inbox and requested invitations
- take a look at the groups you are currently a part of and see where you can build relationships
- scan over the new groups that are available and join the relevant ones, reach out and connect with people
- take a look a the applications available and see which ones can benefit you
- ask for any introductions if you need them
- make sure your profile is complete with relevant information about you
- get an idea for who you’re following and who is following you, who can you collaborate/build relationships with?
- look over your tweeting frequency and how active your followers are with you
- make sure you profile is completely filled out
- is your profile tasteful? Perhaps you want to remove the pictures of you doing a keg-stand while you’re half naked (just an idea)?
- look over which applications are relevant and useful to you, maybe you want to sync your twitter profile with your facebook page?
- look over your groups and connections, you may be surprised who you are connected with
- reach out to people and start building relationships
Blog
- go over your posting frequency does it need to be tweaked?
- is your blog shareable, meaning do you have any social features enabled that will let users share your content?
- check your RSS feed, do you have one? is it working?
- look over your design and sidebar, tweak if necessary; maybe it’s time for a new branded design? (mine coming soon)
- make sure all of the information on your blog and about page is up to date
- go through the wordpress plugin directory and see what plugins you might want to use on your site
- what sort of content are you covering on your blog? how are you adding value?
Miscellaneous
- make sure you are using an analytics tool such as google analytics to track your traffic
- try to start some basic SEO, at the very least make sure you are ranking for your name (google yourself, what do you find?) Her are some basic SEO tips to get you started:
- make sure you cross promote and link to your content from multiple platforms
- continuously build relationships, provide value, and network as much as possible
- even you haven’t created an online presence yet, do so now
2009 is going to be a “relationship” year so make sure you have a strong online presence and high quality content so that you can represent yourself effectively.
What other things would you recommend checking on for your social media or online presnece during the holidays?
Thanks for reading!
