What does it mean to have a professional presence? The definition that I like the most comes from Karen Gray at Columbia Business School “Presence is letting the most powerful version of yourself shine through” (Ref).

Other key words associated with professional presence include: self-confidence, concise communicator, and gravitas.

Professional presence is also called personal brand.

Creating a professional presence on the Internet takes time. It needs to be fostered and intentional. You cannot put something together today and expect it to be available tomorrow. You need to cultivate online relationships and seed the internet with the things you want to show up in search results.

Things you can to do improve your professional presence (Ref):

1. Make private any social media you don’t want to be part of your professional presence.
2. Take a high-quality professional picture (use the same photo everywhere).
3. Start a blog.
4. Become an expert in something (find your niche).
5. Stay consistent.