At some point during each week, chances are you will read at least one blog post.  However, the chances are slim at best that you are commenting on blogs.  I’m guilty of this as well.  Leaving comments on blog posts is an incredibly useful networking tool, but it takes some effort to come up with something that will be useful feedback for the author and future readers.

But, by not commenting on blogs, an opportunity is missed to connect and network with someone new who may not know you… yet.  This is a perfect way to further expand your personal brand.

Free Blog Comments Advice:

• Include a link – Links are an ideal way to further engage the author and future readers.  You might include a link to a prior blog entry you wrote on the same/similar topic.  You could include a link to someone else’s blog with a counter point.  You could include a link to SlideShare to highlight a presentation you found helpful.  The possibilities are endless; just make sure you are on point with the link.  Relevance is key when leaving comments on blog posts.
• Suggest an alternative – Let’s say that you do not agree with the post; commenting on blogs with the opposite position is another way to enhance your brand.  Taking a position, even playing devil’s advocate, is a means to engage the writer and possibly continue the conversation further.  It might provide a deeper picture of something that wasn’t considered by them previously.
• Provide statistics – When commenting on blogs, supporting your comments with statistics shows that you are doing your homework on particular topics.  Show your expertise, your interest and passion with supporting numbers.

Comments are a means to begin a dialog.  If you are looking for a new position, what better way to connect with others in your industry and begin to interact than leaving comments on blog posts that interests them.  Yes, this is a bit of an ego boost to them, but it also puts you in a better position to take the conversation further.  I do not know many bloggers who will not respond to comments so take advantage (but don’t be pushy) of their knowledge.

I challenge you to start commenting on blogs and including  links to your blog or homepage, but make sure you are easily found, or else the benefit is lost!

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Keith McIlvaine is a Social Media Strategist within HR and Recruiting for a Fortune 500 company.  When he is not focused on leveraging social media and networking, Keith is also a personal branding coach and social media mentor.  He is passionate about his family and is a major soccer fanatic.  Connect with Keith on Twitter and LinkedIn.  The statements I have posted on this site are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.

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The social media world has tools,  tools, and more tools at your disposal to connect you with any number of networks.  You are most likely on Facebook and LinkedIn.  Maybe you are on Twitter and YouTube.  And maybe you’re even on a few additional sites like MySpace, Ning, Plaxo, Yammer, any number of blogs, and too many other sites to list.

The ability for you to expand your online network has never been greater.  And while all of these avenues are available for you, this is not what is important.  What is important is how you use any of these networking tools to your advantage.

If you want to converse with anyone on any topic, you are most certainly able to do this.  What you need to consider is how to best assert yourself, and your brand, in the best light.

Yes, it is important to be on a network with a lot of people.  But it is even more important to be on a network where the “right” people are located.  If you are working for the government or government agencies, you will want to check out GovLoop to network more effectively with those in your core business area.  If you are a doctor then you might be interested in Physician Connect.  If you are in Human Resources or Recruiting then you will be interested in SHRM or ERE.

Whatever your profession, passion, or area of expertise, you should consider an alternative social network.  It’s one more way for you to expand your connections and your passions with those sharing similar interests.

Take the time to do the research to find what communities may impact you the most.  Two books I definitely recommend, written by Gary Vaynerchuk and Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, both speak about passion at great extent.

Follow your passion and go to where you will add to your personal brand, make the most impact and create trust with your network.

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Keith McIlvaine is a Social Media Strategist within HR and Recruiting for a Fortune 500 company.  When he is not focused on leveraging social media and networking, Keith is also a personal branding coach and social media mentor.  He is passionate about his family and is a major soccer fanatic.  Connect with Keith on Twitter and LinkedIn.  The statements I have posted on this site are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.

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I have a major pet peeve and it’s probably high on your list as well.  You know exactly what I am talking about; it’s those people that you follow that bad mouth and trash talk about their company or manager or co-workers… and it is almost always during the business day and they are probably using company computers to post the message!  How does this reflect on you and your personal brand?

If you would like to see how much this is discussed, just do a Twitter search for #ihatemyjob and see all the messages that pop up.  The results are astounding., considering that not all of the whiners even put the #ihatemyjob hash into their messages about work.  But if you follow your stream at any time during the day, you are bound to see one or two (or more!) tweets sharing something negative about their day and the people involved.  Seriously?

I don’t care if you have a “private” Twitter account or not.  As a recruiter there is nothing worse than seeing a tweet with a negative message about your employer, manager or coworker.  Below are just a few helpful reminders as to what not to do and what you should do on Twitter for your personal brand:

Don’t: Tweet anything negative about your job, manager or coworkers.

Do: If you are not happy, do a Twitter search for #jobs and another hashtag that is in the field you are looking (#marketing #finance #accounting #sales #java #helpdesk just to name a few).

Don’t: Tweet anything negative during the workday, from either your work computer or your mobile device.

Do: Keep your messages during business hours conversational and engage on a topic of value to your followers

Don’t: Pretend to be something you are not.

Do: Be yourself, simple and sweet! Whatever your passion, this is the best way to tweet and add your own authentic value.  If you are a complainer by nature, maybe Twitter isn’t the best outlet for you (think about it).

Here’s a rule which you hopefully have picked up from this blog already: Don’t post something online, under your own name or pseudonym, that you wouldn’t feel comfortable saying in an interview.  Because odds are, your interviewer will find what you say online, and you will be held accountable for it.

It may seem simple and common sense, but it is something important to remember and definitely the best recommendation you will receive for what you put online and how you work to manage your personal brand.

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Keith McIlvaine is a Social Media Strategist within HR and Recruiting for a Fortune 500 company.  When he is not focused on leveraging social media and networking, Keith is also a personal branding coach and social media mentor.  He is passionate about his family and is a major soccer fanatic.  Connect with Keith on Twitter and LinkedIn.  The statements I have posted on this site are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.

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Social media is becoming more intertwined every day.  There are countless tools to utilize and social networks to join and connect with others and there are even big name integrations that occur such as Facebook with Twitter and, maybe more importantly, LinkedIn with Twitter.  This integration allows you to connect your Twitter account and feed updates into your LinkedIn profile, and vice versa.  Also, as both LinkedIn and Twitter only allow for 140 characters in their status box, it is a natural fit.

Initially, this was a great move for LinkedIn to capture another audience and put what was largely an under-utilized status box into more of a prominent position for its users.  However, if you look at this from another perspective, it may not be an ideal solution for everyone.

Twitter is an outlet for you to share a wide variety of information, from personal to professional and from insignificant to breaking news.  LinkedIn is very much a professional networking site where business-related topics are shared and discussed.  With the integration between Twitter and LinkedIn, the LinkedIn professional updates are becoming gray at best for some of the members.

Some individuals on LinkedIn may choose not to use Twitter or are not active on Twitter.  These individuals are now getting your “noise” on any topic, including the non-business variety of message.  This could be viewed as a negative within your network and could result in the loss of connections.

What is also important to consider is that you may not be connected to or following individuals on purpose on Twitter.  Maybe you are not following your boss or coworkers for fear over what you may post.  Now, because of this integration, you maybe exposing your messages and putting them in front of the individuals you were trying to hide them from.  You are also exposing when you are “tweeting” during the workday.  It is important to recognize that there is more to your tweets than just their content; the time at which they are posted can tip off a boss to an unproductive worker.  Think about it.

Personally, I have linked my LinkedIn and Twitter accounts because I felt this was a fantastic merger from a business perspective.  I am now able to communicate with two potentially different  networks.

My strong recommendation is to not allow every “tweet” into your LinkedIn profile.  LinkedIn was smart in how they allow you two choices as to what “tweets” are connected.  When you link your accounts, you are provided the options to select either the “all tweets” option or the “only tweets with #in within the message” option.

The first option, the “all tweets” option, carries a high probability of producing messages which are perceived as spam to your connections on LinkedIn and potentially damaging professional relationships if you tweet often or tweet on mostly non-business topics.  The second option, the “only tweets with #in within the message” is much better in my opinion and appears to be a more sensible option for the LinkedIn and Twitter integration.  Simply keying “#in” within your message on Twitter will post to both Twitter and LinkedIn.  This provides you a greater ability to stay on the course you have chosen on Twitter while increasing your ability to post business information on multiple sites.  Or you may post a message on LinkedIn and push it out to Twitter.  Either way, you are in control as to what messages you share on LinkedIn.

Easy steps on how to adjust your Twitter settings within LinkedIn:

1. Log into LinkedIn
2. At the top right corner of the page, select the “Settings” option
3. Under “Profile Settings”, selection the last option for “Twitter Settings”

This integration may not a perfect solution for reaching both audiences in an ideal manner, but it definitely can work well depending on how you choose to use it.  What this integration continues to reinforce is that you must be very smart with what information you choose to publish online and to what audience.  There is definitely a big upside to this feature. Just remember, this is your personal brand you are looking out for.  You spent a lot of time and effort building it up, so make sure you’re taking the proper precautions to maintain it.

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