#7 Must-have Social Profiles for Every Entrepreneur Before you go on a profile creation spree, get your basics ready because consistency and branding are the keys

Whether you're looking to network with investors, or building up your personal brand — start-up founders must have a social presence that spans a wide network of channels.

The importance of creating and maintaining social profiles has been vastly discussed and the overwhelming conclusion is that it's not enough to make-do with just a Facebook profile. Especially, in today's context because different people hang out in different networks.

All it takes is a few minutes to fill out your information on each social profile and once you've created these pages — you're pretty much set to attract brand new audiences.

The benefits are immense. Each of the networks mentioned below has a community of distinct people who might be interested in what your business is selling.

This opens up opportunities to connect and interact with people who would have never found you otherwise.

Before you go on a profile creation spree, get your basics ready because consistency and branding are the keys. You don't want a picture from 2007 on a Twitter profile with long hair and spectacles; while a recent picture from 2017 with a suit and tie on Facebook.

These are the most common fields that you need to get ready before you create your social profiles:

• Profile Picture (Square, recent, and clear with good lighting)
• Profile Banner (Rectangle with high resolution - use this to place your business logo)
• About Me Blurb (Create 3 consistent snippets of 20, 50, and 100 words)
• Website (A personal blog/website. Your company website works too)
• Other Social Profile Links (Create an Excel/Google Sheet with links to all your social profiles)

Now that you have your information ready, these are the networks where you MUST create your profile:

#1. Angel.co

It is pretty much the best place to interact with investors and display your company profile as well as your own. You can be either showcased as a founder, or an investor, or both. Plus, you can spy on other companies and what they're up to. A lot of start-up job seekers also visit Angel.co regularly.

#2. Quora

Quora has blown up in the last three years and a lot of industry heavyweights ask and answer questions on this platform. You can choose to answer questions on a wide range of topics related to your business and build a loyal following.

#3. LinkedIn

I cannot over-emphasize this enough. If there's ONE social profile you need to create, it's LinkedIn. For many entrepreneurs, LinkedIn has been a life-saver; whether it's to connect with industry biggies or to increase their reach.

#4. YouTube

With over a Billion users, YouTube is where you should upload your videos. I've tried Vimeo, Dailymotion etc. in the past - but YouTube is where I publish all my videos now. Build up your personal as well as business YT channel.

#5. Facebook

The behemoth. Apart from your social profile, it's essential to have a business page on Facebook in order to attract prospects from their active database of over 2 Billion people.

#6. Twitter

While the growth of Twitter has slowed down in recent memory, it's still one of the most popular social networks to amass a massive following of prospects. The key with Twitter is consistency with tweets, retweets, and likes.

#7. Skype

The most popular messenger application for business professionals. Skype has been covering lost ground in recent times by revamping their platform and making it more user-friendly. This has boosted the growth of Skype, especially among video conferencing users.

Honorable Mention: About.me

This is not a social network, per say. But rather a one-page website that acts like your social profile summary. You can link out to all your social profiles, add your picture and blurb, and even create a call-to-action button to email you, or visit your website.

There you have it - your very own social chain. Creating a profile on each of these platforms improves your reach and branding, while also increasing your chances of reaching untapped audiences who might become your next potential customers.