In some ways, Social Media is a burden that all public figures must bear, but in another way it can also be a powerful and invaluable tool for individuals to be able to market themselves. It is a hard reality that in Hollywood, you are both a person and a product. While it's important to keep you the person well protected, it's also important to get the 'public you' or the 'brand that is you' as far out into the marketplace as possible as often as possible. There are, of course, services you can hire that will supposedly boost your 'social power' by creating inflated numbers on IMDB's STARmeter or garnering you 'likes', up votes, friends and followers on various social media sites.

The problem with these methods, however, is that while they may generate s significant momentary upsurge, the results don't generally last for long and eventually, people figure out the difference between your 'numbers' and your actual 'presence.' But establishing a viable and solid online presence doesn't actually require you to spend a small fortune hiring others to create it for you. There are a number of tools available at your disposal to help you do this all on your own. The great news is, when you build and establish a few crucial habits and practices to help build your online presence, as your numbers grow they stay high!

Be Seen Everywhere

Take a tip from 'professional celebrities' and maximize your nights out 'on the town.' It's an interesting conundrum in Hollywood that you essentially have to meet the demands of two groups of people that have opposite expectations. On the one hand, Studios want to hire actors with a strong public presence, but they also don't want to hire a 'celebrity' that is out partying every night.  With call times that are regularly as early as 4:00 am, that's not even possible for most humans. You can still easily create the illusion of being everywhere, while still meeting your own needs for rest and sleep by maximizing your time when you do go out. No one knows or cares how long you spent at a venue, only that you were there. Make it a point to go to several different clubs or parties in an evening and change clothes for each one. If you are photographed there, those photos will probably end up showing up on social media at different times. Be sure and get your own photos at each place you visit and post photos of yourself in a different location each night of the week.

Know the difference between inferring and lying

No one likes being lied to and the repercussions for doing so can be fierce but even the general public understands the difference between inference and an outright lie. For that reason, you never want to state that you were at a party or other place you were not at, but inferring it is a different story. For instance, if there are pictures published of a big industry party, you can download and repost a picture and simply say 'Industry party at (fill in the blank).' Of course, the inference is that you were at the industry party, but there is in fact a major difference between saying that you were at a party and inferring it.

Use auto-posters to make frequent, steady posts

Services like ActApp.biz allow you to prepare several social media posts and tweets in advance that you can set to post at specified times. It is far better to post 3-4 times a day (or 3-4 times a night on weekend nights) than to post 10 or 11 posts all at the same time. As the old saying goes 'out of sight, out of mind' - make sure you are clearly visible on a regular basis by setting aside some time each week to prepare a week's worth of tweets and posts.  Then, when you are on set or at work or too busy to post, your social media platform is still active and growing.

Like Often

Remember that social media is a two way street and like we all learned in elementary school 'the best way to gain a friend is to be one.' One of the great things about social media is that liking, sharing and retweeting is a great way to boost your own social media presence. On the other hand, however, we've all seen those people that repost and retweet constantly without ever having anything of value of their own to contribute to the mix.  Creating your own unique posts is very simple with apps like RETYPE and LETTERGLOW. Just choose a few pictures, find a few great quotes and in minutes you have something meaningful to contribute to the social media 'conversation.'

Stay away from the flames

While the old saying 'there is no such thing as bad publicity' might be true in some cases, it is very not true in others. Always keep in mind that not only are all of the people that may one day hire you also on social media, but all of the people you may one day want to work with as well. While being actively involved in social media can create a strong urge to respond to purposefully inflammatory statements, it is almost never a good idea to do so. There are times, of course, when it is important as a human being to stand up for what you believe, but always, always, always remember - people you don't even know yet are watching and whether they offer you a job or not may depend largely on what kind of an image you present on social media.