Edward Johnson@EddieJay

How many of you log on to LinkedIn to see what is going on with your network and see posts from people that are just random links to articles? Worse yet, have you ever seen the post and not even an opinion given on the article? Perhaps, you actually read the article and found it interesting or informative enough to leave a comment. Did they bother to respond to your comment? If you have responded yes to any of these questions, you have been hoodwinked by attacked by yet another dumb share from a faux social connection.

Companies often hire social media services to manage social media accounts for their executives. In some cases, people hire those companies directly. Hiring a ghost writer or social media management service is not a bad thing, but managing your brand is more than just having someone post things on your behalf. To manage your brand, you have to be personally active. Pay attention to the posts that are made for you and make sure you actually respond to comments and replies. You have to interact with your network or they will begin to make mental notes.

The whole point of posting things one social media is to interact with people and invite repartee. Such interactions keep you in the forefront of people's minds. Being there is key to networking and making career moves. Do you want to be known as the person that never responds or would you rather be known for timely responses and informative posts?

If a post is made on your behalf, do you have an opinion on the article that is being posted? Can you share some insight on the topic. Do you even just have a question about the content? Anything of that nature would go a long way to building a foundation with your connections that can go far to increasing the reach of your personal career brand.

Each interaction can build a relationship that shows your depth and breadth for a given area of expertise. For instance, I used to speak with a client about various technologies that were contemplated in developing a solution for a project I was managing at the time. One day, out of the blue, the client calls me up and asks me how I would solve a particular problem. I was busy, but slowed down enough to answer his question. He said thank you and said he would call me back if he had anything further to discuss. 5 minutes later My phone rings again and he tells me to stop and concentrate on what we are about to discuss. Then he hits me with a job offer with one of his company's investments.

All of this because I took the time to have conversations with him about things in general as well as things within my skill set. I made myself approachable. I make it a practice to do this with as many people as possible. You never know when your next big career move will come or where it will come from.

The idea is to be prepared by laying the foundation and creating a clear path that leads straight to you. Otherwise, you are diminishing your value in the eyes of your network. From there is becomes harder to remove the tarnish and regain the trust you once had.

Don't be faux social!