Margarita ParkerSocial Media Plan1. Determine which 2 social media you will explore. Then research each one in depth beyond the KED textbook.The social media platforms I chose for my professional development are LinkedIn and Google +.There are more than 350 million LinkedIn users in the world; 107 million of them are in the USA (Smith.) “According to a 2013 survey, close to 100% of job seekers and recruiters use LinkedIn as their primary job search tool” (Gopalakrishnan.) That’s good news. If I create an outstanding LinkedIn profile, it can significantly contribute to my career development.I already have a LinkedIn account. However, it needs to be improved in order to help me in my career.LinkedIn offers two types of accounts – free and paid. The main features of a free account are:“creating a professional and detailed LinkedIn profile;building a network of connections with no limits on size or numbers;giving and receiving an unlimited number of recommendations;joining or creating up to 50 different LinkedIn Groups” (Elad.)Paid accounts have some additional features:“sending a message to anyone in the LinkedIn community — regardless of whether she is in your extended network;seeing more LinkedIn network profile information when you conduct advanced searches;seeing exactly who has viewed your profile and how they arrived at your profile;performing a reference check on someone” (Elad.)While a paid account has some very useful features, I will use my free account for now and then upgrade it if needed.I have a Google + account as well, but it needs to be improved to fit my career goals.There are 2.2 billion Google + accounts in the world but only “about 9% have any publicly posted content” (Barrie.) Google + is not as popular as LinkedIn. Nevertheless, I see a lot of potential in using Google+ for professional development because a strategically optimized Google+ account can help to:become highly visible online – Google is the world’s biggest search engine;link a YouTube channel, a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and a personal or professional website to a Google+ page;network through Circles, Communities, Photo Sharing, Hangouts, and mobile apps;“provide further social proof legitimizing the career claims you’ve made about yourself verbally and in your career documents, beyond whatever else exists online about you” (Guiseppi.)According to Guiseppi, “candidates with the stronger online footprint are more appealing to hiring decision makers.” Thus, I need to work on my own online footprint by creating strong, appealing and professional LinkedIn and Google+ accounts.2. Decide what you want to convey via these social media as part of your professional brand.My goal is to establish myself as an experienced Internet Assessor, connect to professionals who work in the IT field to share ideas and expertise, and possibly find new career opportunities in the future.3. List steps you would need to do to fully participate with these two selected social media.As LinkedIn and Google+ have different features, some steps would vary for both networks. As I already have accounts on LinkedIn and Google+, I can skip this step.4. Set up a timeline with dates to go with your steps.According to Yeats, it may take about a year to develop a professional brand (62) so I am planning to spend 9-12 months working on my career profile.LinkedInGoogle+StepsTimeStepsTime1Start working on my profile – the more complete it is, the better my visibility in the LinkedIn search results will be.Work on headline, summary and experience parts of my profile.August 1, 20151Start working on my profile – the more complete it is, the better my visibility in Google Search engine will be.Work on headline, summary and experience parts of my profile.August 1, 20152Compete the rest of my profile.Upload high-quality cover photo.September 1, 20152Complete the rest of my profile.Upload high-quality cover photo.September 1, 20153Re-order sections on my page so the most important of them will appear first (education and experience) and the less important would appear last (publications and interests.)October 1, 20153“Craft an eye-catching mini-bio for my hovercard” (King.)October 1, 20154Create a public profile URL and use it “as a branding tool in my email signature and business card” (Yu.)November 1, 20154Import my contacts to Google+ from Microsoft Outlook and LinkedIn.November 1, 20155Start following companies I am interested in.December 1, 20155Organize my contacts in Circles (a business circle, a family circle, a friends circle, etc.)December 1, 20156Join 50 LinkedIn groups – it will boost my ranking (Yu.)January 1, 20156Get a custom URL for my Google+ profile and add it on my email signature and business card.January 1, 20157Have at least 50 connections.February 1, 20157Find and join niche specific communities.February 1, 20158Get endorsements and recommendations from colleagues and LinkedIn contacts.March 1, 20158Link Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages to my Google+ account.March 1, 20159Start networking regularly: “join conversations, engage with others’ content, and share my own content and ideas” (Yu.)April 1, 20159Create Google+ buttons for my Facebook and YouTube pages.April 1, 201510Ask a professional to review my profile and comment on it so I can make some improvements.After all of the above is complete, I will:May 1, 201510Learn how to use Hangouts.May 1, 201511Update my status regularly.At least once a week11Ask a professional to review my profile and comment on it so I can make some improvements.After all of the above is complete, I will:June 1, 201512Update my page regularly – post links to interesting articles, thoughts on what’s happening in my industry, etc.At least once a week12Share interesting content with the people in my Circles regularly.At least once a week13Update my profile on a regular basis to keep it current.As needed13Update my profile on a regular basis to keep it current.As neededWhile the approximate time for each step is one month, it will be adjusted as some steps can be completed faster, and the others will take more time than expected.By following the steps listed above, I will strengthen my online presence, build a strong network of professional contacts, and strategically position myself for future opportunities.Works Cited:Barrie, Joshua. Nobody Is Using Google+. Business Insiders. Business Insider, 20 Jan. 2015. Web. 14 June 2015.Elad, Joel. LinkedIn Costs and Benefits. For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons, n.d. Web. 14 June 2015.Gopalakrishnan, Aravind. How to Leverage LinkedIn’s Job Seeker Account. School of Information Studies. Syracuse University, 27 Mar. 2014. Web. 14 June 2015.Guiseppi, Meg. Personal Branding Using Google Plus Profiles. Job-Hunt. NETability, n.d. Web. 14 June 2015.King, Cindy. 12 Google+ Marketing Tips from the Pros. Social Media Examiner. Social Media Examiner, 26 Dec. 2011. Web. 17 June 2015.Smith, Craig. By the Numbers: 125+ Amazing LinkedIn Statistics. DMR. DMR, 6 June 2015. Web. 14 June 2015.Yeats, Martin. Knock ‘Em Dead: The Ultimate Job Search Guide 2015. Avon, MS: Adams Media, 2014. E-Book.Yu, Jim. Optimize LinkedIn Like A Pro To Boost Your Personal Brand. Marketing Land. Third Door Media, 3 June 2014. Web. 16 June 2015.Get Help With Your EssayIf you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!Find out more