Footprints & Shadows Determine Your Life, Leadership, and Legacy!
In this day and time of revolutionary technologies, social media has become so inseparable from us. It is not just for connecting with friends, but a key asset to growing businesses.
Today local professionals are using social media tactics to gain more exposure, increase traffic, cultivate loyal fans, grow their business and customer engagement.
So how do we make sure we are creating a digital stamp and reputation?
The internet never forgets so it very important to be careful on the trail you leave behind.
Digital stamps are made up of two elements our footprints and our shadows. According to Erik Qualman, our footprints are easy to control because this is what we upload. This can either be a text or tweet pictures you post online. On the other hand, shadows are things that you cannot control because it is what others post about you. Footprints and shadows are what make up our digital stamp which determines your life, leadership, and legacy.’ How interesting can that be; well STAMP is an acronym for simple, true, act, map, people which are the 5 habits of digital leadership.
We have to know how to play digitally. We need to know our strengths and passions by being true to ourselves. For example, if there is that one thing you want to see when you search your name, you have to write it down and make sure that everything you do correlates with it. You have to Map your path and be flexible while on it. A good example is Steve Jobs who wanted to impact the world of technology and after starting Apple, the board kicked him out, because his ideas and goals were seemingly impossible and far-fetched. However this did not stop Jobs from becoming CEO of Pixar, so when he returned to Apple, he was a better leader with far more experience. Jobs was flexible in his path, but firm in his destination.
“It is important to know its ok to fail, but when you do, fail fast, fail forward and fail better” Erik Qualman.
To become a digital leader it’s important to run yourself with the right PEOPLE. For the reason that you need a network before you build one. Investing in people is key; getting interested in people rather than them in you and getting likes. Put more emphasis on changing the attitude and more PEOPLE will follow you. Besides, you should not think about what you are getting from a post; but think about what you are giving.
After it’s all said and done you have to produce and protect your digital reputation as an individual or business. For example, if you’re building a brand you need to know your identity before you can achieve success and keep it super simple. Another secret is owning your digital mistakes and flaws which make the world think you are awesome. Owning your mistakes and taking the necessary steps to correct them serves as an opportunity to show your followers that you are awesome by caring enough to correct the flaw. We are not perfect but can be “flaw some”, it’s all about turning a negative into a positive.
And if you are out there looking for a job you might want to set up a LinkedIn account if you don’t have one yet. You’re asking why? FYI majority of employers have realized that they can save time, money and resources by using platforms like LinkedIn. Thus if you want to be found or noticed you have to get LinkedIn. Besides, being on LinkedIn will allow you to network with contacts you might never have been able to. You can send emails to your connections to identify job opportunities within their company or to request for referrals or to ask if they have any knowledge of any openings anywhere as a way to access the hidden job market.
For those seeking self-employment using videos for YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram is a great way to get your product out there and source for funding or advertise your services. Besides, following the acronym STAMP, you can make sure your digital stamp leaves an impact.
As Maya Angelou said, people remember how you make them feel. But also those people will and do remember what you said and what you did.
