One of the things about being self-employed, especially in the field of publishing where there are lots of other freelancers from whom I need to distinguish myself, is that I need to build an online presence. This is, admittedly, not one of my favourite aspects of the job. A lot of people I know are in similar situations, and have a hard time talking themselves up or selling themselves, either online or in person. I would argue that, in this Internet age, there are many more resources available for you to promote yourself and your business; on the other hand, it is much more difficult to stand out in the sea of competitors. I thought I would put together a few resources and tips to help you start to improve your online presence.

• LinkedIn: I must admit, I should have joined LinkedIn ages ago, but better late than never. LinkedIn is basically a networking site for business professionals. You invite people you know (classmates, colleagues, clients) to join your network of connections, and then you can ask them for recommendations, let them know when you are looking for work, and search their connections for other networking opportunities. This is really useful site if you are self-employed or work for a small business, as it makes it much easier to connect with others in your industry, which can be difficult if you are usually working alone like I am.
• Consider adding a Facebook page for your business. A huge chunk of the population is on Facebook, and it is relatively easy to get started and build a following amongst friends and acquaintances for your company. Having a page on Facebook is a quick and inexpensive way to get in touch with your customers, announce promotions, and get feedback. Facebook also allows you to create ads that you can target to certain groups of people and their ad rates are fairly reasonable. One word of caution: it can be easy to overwhelm and annoy your Facebook fans if your posts are taking over their news feeds. The last thing you want is for people to ignore you or “dislike” your page, so keep your posts relevant and try to limit your posts to one or two a day, if that.
• Twitter is a site that, like Facebook, I have talked about before. But I think it’s worth noting that Twitter has a number of applications specifically for businesses that can really help to promote your brand. You can search for mentions of your company, and many regions have local trending topics so that you can see how well you are reaching your customers and potential customers. Also, Twitter offers advertising such as Promotion, where your business can start a trend and have it listed at the top of the Trending Topics list, or you can have your account Promoted so that it is recommended as one to follow. If you are new to Twitter, here is a link to their list of best practices. These are great tips not only for how you advertise your business on Twitter, but good to think about as you publicize your brand anywhere on the Internet.

There are so many ways you can drum up interest in your brand and your business online, and it’s definitely a good idea to draw up a strategy to help you plan your marketing efforts. Hopefully these resources I mentioned will get you thinking about how to promote yourself. What are your favourite tips and tricks to get people interested in your company?