Who are you on Quora, LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter?
Photo by webtreats
Yesterday, I mentioned that I am trying out a new networking service, Quora. I have been known to be very visible on social media, I don’t sign up for every new thing that comes along. A tweet from Jason Alba made me check it out.
I remembered Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter (ValueIntoWords) mentioned Quora in her Career Trend 2011 Possibility+Accountability = Sustainability post:
Social Media Sites (Where You Should Publish Your Career Story)
- LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | About.me | Quora
Two mentions of Quora in one day by people I trust led me to go look at it. I decided it was worth giving a try for a short time to see if I found value.
What did I do first? I read information about how to use the tool by Lucretia M. Pruitt: Welcome to Quora. Do Yourself a Favor & Slow Down. She suggests multiple steps to get acquainted with Quora.
Take some time to understand how the network works
I took her advice and slowed down. I looked at profiles from other people that I know take their networking and social media presence seriously like Miriam Salpeter. Miriam completed her profile and headline. Anyone could know her brand and understand what she brings to the table. Miriam also expands on Quora in her post, Consider using Quora to enhance your professional profile with more information.
Set up your Profile
I then formatted my own profile and headline to define who I am and what I do as a career marketing strategist.
When people get started in social media, whether to use it for job search or marketing, this is one of the top areas that they miss. I can’t tell you how many job seekers that I find on LinkedIn with LinkedIn profiles that tell and sell nothing.
No matter where you are on social media, if you are using it to be found, you need to let people know who you are.
As I explore Quora, once again, I have many people connecting with me who have no profile or headline. You may be just trying out the tool, but for anything in social media to have value, you need to complete the bio or profile section. Your name is not enough!
Quora doesn’t have obvious links to your blog or LinkedIn profile or other information so you have to weave it in to your about section. They do allow Tumbler or WordPress blog connections as well as Twitter and Facebook but I haven’t figured out how to connect a self-hosted WordPress blog yet.
If you are thinking about starting in social media to build your network for your job search (or your business), take that first step of defining who you are, writing a clear summary and headline, and then make sure you use it to clarify who you are to encourage people to connect with you on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Quora.
Your experience will be better because you look like you spent some time figuring out the tool and people will be more likely to connect with you. Loved the value-added comment in the retweet Dawn Bugni sent to share this post: Would you walk into a room full of people & not say a word?
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Julie Walraven
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Hi Julie – always providing great info here – Quora info was helpful, thank you 🙂
It appears that it could be a really helpful community – we’ll see…
Thanks, Mark. See a very complete Quora profile for you. Good job! 🙂 I have answered several questions and read through some other interesting information. Figuring out the search engine takes time.
I plan to check it out, and appreciate all the insights you’ve shared–yours and others’–going forward! Will share my own once I have some experience with the tool! Barb
Thanks, Barb, I liked what I saw after I played a little bit. Initially, it looked pretty Greek to me but as with everything it gets easier as you use it. As with Twitter, I think I will be selective in my follows but they are much more visible in this tool. You get a message when people follow you.