“In Hollywood a girl’s virtue is much less important than her hairdo. You’re judged by how you look, not by what you are. Hollywood’s a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for kiss, and fifty cents for your soul.” Marilyn Monroe
You could replace the words In Hollywood with Online and Here’s what you’d get:
“How you appear (are perceived) online is often more important than how you really are. Small companies can be celebrities on the Internet just as Norma Jean becameMarilyn Monroe to her fans. The Internet is a place where you can look like a Big Star even if you are small midwest gal working out of your home (or home office).” Heidi Richards Mooney
Today is Marilyn Monroe day and in honor of what would have been her 85th birthday, here are a seven tips to help you stand out online and be that BIG STAR you were destined to become:
1. Be Yourself. “Wanting to be someone else, is a waste of the person you are.” Marilyn Monroe. Even online people can spot a fake. Or a copycat. Being yourself is so much easier. And less tiring.
2. Build Your Brand Online with Social Media. Today it is easier than ever to leverage social media to get noticed. Use LinkedIn for Professional Development, Facebook to have conversations with your following and Twitter to become a Thought Leader by sharing bits of your BEST STUFF. Remember to interact with others, listen, share and promote them too.
3. Stand Out. Marily Monroe said, “Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” Don’t be boring! There are a lot of YouTube Celebrities that became BIG STARS because they were willing to risk the ridiculous over the boring.
4. Find out who your customers are. There are a number of tools to help you understand who your customers are and what makes them tick. Tools like Compete.com, Google, Nielsen and comscore allow you to learn more about your audience such as gender, age, marital status, household income, and locale.
5. Connect and Reconnect. “Girls will be your friends – they’ll act like it anyway. But just remember, some come, some go. The ones that stay with you through everything – they’re your true best friends. Don’t let go of them.” Marilyn Monroe. Connect with people before you need them. Reconnect with people you have not talked to in a while such as old friends, colleagues, classmates. Build the relationships before you actually NEED them. When you leverage those offline relationships you grow your brand and your reputation online.
6. Promote Others online. When you promote others online its like being a really good listener. People who listen well are generally thought of as great conversationalists. Why? Because they let others do more of the talking than they do. Believe me when you promote others, their friends, fans and followers notice and want to get in on the action. Let them!
7. Don’t do what everyone else is doing online. “I just want to be wonderful.” Marilyn Monroe Be different. If your competition is having a contest, have a race. If your competition is giving something away, sell something. Be unique. Anyone can be different, but to be Unique you are “one of a kind.”
Marilyn Monroe said it best: “We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle.“
