Im fairly certain that youve already used a picture to convey your message a time or two. There are times that its a lot more effective in engaging your audience than merely using written content.
But have you ever considered using SlideShare to promote your personal brand? Though you may view it as only a place where you can upload PowerPoint presentations and share them online, it can be a lot more than that. It can actually be a powerful tool in your personal branding campaign.
Why use SlideShare for expressing your personal brand? Here are some reasons:
1. It has Google juice
Did you know that your SlideShare presentations get indexed in Google and can help you rise to the top of the search engine results? If youre creating a SlideShare presentation, make sure that you keyword-optimize it for the search engines, so that your presentation can come up on page one of Google search results. This can really help your personal brand, since SEO is one of the most important things you can use in dominating an organic Google search.
2. Showcase what you know
Creating an excellent slideshow that goes viral and gets hundreds of views can definitely help you become a powerful and successful personal brand. With a SlideShare presentation, you can showcase your knowledge and skills, and this could possibly be the foundation of your personal brands success.
3. Get traffic to your site
Since SlideShare presentations get indexed by Google, you can actually have an increase in your websites traffic by creating a SlideShare presentation. Just remember to utilize some SEO strategies, and youll be surprised at the increase of visitors to your site from SlideShare.
4. Socially share it
SlideShare integrates with LinkedIn, which is the most popular social networking site for professionals and business people. LinkedIn offers a SlideShare plug-in so you can easily share any SlideShare presentation you like. Since LinkedIn is a community of professionals, your SlideShare presentation can easily be featured by others if the topic is relevant to them and the industry theyre in. Also, the more people on LinkedIn who are buzzing about a certain presentation, the more likely it is to be featured on the front page of SlideShares site, which can significantly increase its number of viewers and result in a huge surge of traffic to your site.
5. Be part of a community
SlideShare isnt just about uploading your presentations and hoping that they get seen. Being on SlideShare means becoming part of a community that shares content and garners information from each other.
6. Showcase your style and creativity
Nothing gets peoples attention more than a slideshow that is really appealing and is visually creative. Its really striking to the eye, and you cant help but view it. Dont limit yourself to headings, bullet points, and graphs when creating SlideShare presentations. Use pictures, artwork, graphics, and other visual arts in order to depict the information you want.
It is a mistake to dismiss SlideShare as simply a place where you can store old, forgotten PowerPoint presentations. In fact, more and more brands are utilizing SlideShare to their advantage, creating presentations that have gone viral and that have really resulted in driving more traffic to their sites. If you combine it with social media, then you just may be amazed at how many people it can reach.
These presentations could be shared on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and the like. They can come up on page one of Google, letting people see them and be directed to your site. You can become an expert on a topic by creating a SlideShare presentation thats unique and well-thought out.
The more networks that extend your personal brand, the better. It is why its important that you utilize all the platforms available to you in order to exponentially express your brand. Go past the tried and tested. Be bold, be courageous, and your risk just may pay off big time.
Take a lesson from Dejardins, who received 2.5 million views from his concept of live SlideSharing. Think beyond Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. There are a lot more ways to showcase your skills and knowledge, and increase your reach. One of these is using SlideShare!
