Administrative Assistant's Update

3 Administrative Assistant's UPDATE By Leslie Hughes One of the many hats I wear includes my role as an adjunct college pro- fessor of Social Media and Digital Marketing. I've been teaching Social Media for almost ten years, and one of the first assignments I give my stu- dents is a "digital audit." In essence, my students are ex- pected to provide a full report on "the good, the bad and the ugly" of their digital footprint (both personally and professionally). They are expected to provide a thorough assessment as to whether a recruiter would / wouldn't hire them based on their online pres- ence. Through conversations with many of my friends and clients who are senior executives, I've discovered that they've never taken the time to think about their online presence. When they find out I'm a corporate trainer who specializes in LinkedIn, they sheepishly tell me that they know they should update their profile, but aren't sure if it's relevant for the role they are in. What amazes me about many ex - ecutives is they haven't realized: • They are a forward-facing brand ambassador for the organization. Their optimized professional pres- ence could set an example for the other team members and help to facilitate positive corporate culture by portraying themselves as open to discussions while staying current with modern marketing. • They are missing out on opportuni- ties to showcase their own profes- sional thought leadership, which in turn may help the sales team to convert clients. (For example, the brands of Facebook, Virgin and Apple are synonymous with the brands of Mark Zuckerberg, Sir Rich- ard Branson and Steve Jobs). • The current impermanence of em- ployment, and "Digital Darwinism." (As coined by Brian Solis, author and digital analyst at Altimeter, who says: "No business is too big to fail or too small to succeed.") No one is a "lifer" at an organization and build- ing a professional brand can certain- ly help any future employability. Your executives get paid the "big bucks" to focus on their day-to-day role. They may purposely avoid using LinkedIn because they think it's a time-waster or not relevant to their role. But, in this ever-changing profes- sional marketplace, if they don't evolve and stay current they may be missing out on opportunities for themselves and for your organiza- tion. The good news: Building thought leadership isn't as challenging or com- plicated as your executive may think it is. Here's how to get started: STEP #1: Conduct an online audit� Simply Google their name. What is their current presence? Do they need to "lock down" the privacy settings of any personal accounts (Facebook, Instagram etc.)? STEP #2: A strong first impression on LinkedIn� Is your executive effectively telling their professional brand story written in a way that connects and resonates with poten- tial prospects? Are they highlight- ing how your organization provides value and solves problems? STEP #3: Publish relevant con- tent to your target audience� Your marketing team is probably already creating and publishing content for your sales team to distribute. Your executive can repurpose this content to their network to not only "humanize" their own professional brand, but also help to extend the word-of-mouth awareness about your company. Your executive's digital footprint can help (or hinder) your organiza - tion's competitive advantage. Having a strong presence online can contrib- ute to enhancing a positive corporate culture and it can also provide a permanent legacy about the impact they've made on your organization. Leslie Hughes is a LinkedIn optimization specialist, professor of social media, corporate trainer, principal of PUNCH!media and author of Create. Connect. Convert. Called a "social media guru" by CBC Radio, Leslie has been working in digital marketing since 1997. PUNCH!media's goal is to empower through education and help executives gain confidence in their online presence. www.punchmedia.ca leslie@punchmedia.ca Sign up for Leslie's newsletter at www.punchmedia.ca Your exec's online presence: What it says what about them / your organization Leslie Hughes

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