You may be familiar with branding as it relates to companies and organizations. A company’s brand is the essence that should affect everything it does. How often, however, do we pay attention to our personal brands?

Yes, a person has a brand. Anyone who works, communicates, or participates in society at any level has a personal brand. Your personal brand is made up of a number of different factors and it influences how you are perceived by others.

Job-seekers should pay especially close attention to their personal branding as it can have significant impact on how successful they are.

Traditionally, personal branding was affected by communication style and appearance. Today, however, social media and online communication has made it possible to strengthen personal branding to a greater extent. The way someone presents himself or herself online can make a big difference in how that person is perceived before any personal contact is made. For this reason, it’s important to manage your personal brand online. What are some ways to do this?

Acquire a clear, professional head shot photo. Use the same photo on all of your profiles. This gives a strong first impression and strengthens your personal brand in multiple places.

Complete your profiles on social networks. If your LinkedIn profile stays stuck at 80% complete, it looks like you don’t care. Many companies don’t want a resume anymore – they want to see your LinkedIn profile. Don’t shortchange yourself.

Collect LinkedIn recommendations. A profile with no recommendations is a red flag which means that person does not do much networking. Reach out to people and recommend others so they will return the favor. A good list of quality recommendations strengthens your personal brand by showing that others value your work.

Polish your writing style. Few things damage a personal brand more than poor writing. If you don’t write well, do some research or take a class and learn to write in a clear, articulate fashion. This will help as you blog, write your own bios, and communicate in general with others.

Create and post presentations on SlideShare. Even if you don’t do any speaking right away, go ahead and put some slide decks together to have them ready. This positions you as an authority in your field which may lead to speaking engagements. Be sure to link to your presentations from LinkedIn using the built-in SlideShare application.

Link your profiles together. Be sure that it’s easy to find you on various networks. Your LinkedIn and Twitter profiles should link to your blog. Your blog should link to all your profiles. Link together as much as you can.

Articulate your goals. When someone asks you how they can help you (whether online or offline), be sure to have a clear, consistent answer. Understand who your target customer is, the type of job you want, or just who you want to meet. Be able to deliver your message in 30 seconds or less. Post your goals in your bio on social networks.

Blog. This can be a difficult thing for some because writing does not come naturally for everyone. However, even a blog that is updated once a month can make a difference. Blog about your perspectives on your profession, your area of expertise, or offer educational content. This helps others get to know you better.

Communicate and distribute content via Twitter. Twitter is a great tool for sharing your content with others and having concise conversations. Balance your Twitter activity between posting your own content and engaging in conversations with others. Don’t forget to re-tweet information from others that you find interesting. What you re-tweet says a lot about you.

This may seem like a lot of work at first, but your personal brand is important. It can affect your communication, your work, and your success. Take care of it and utilize social media to strengthen it.