How to develop your Personal Brand
summarized from Long, Jonathan. “8 Tips for Building Your Personal Brand in 2017.” Entrepreneur.
1. Be visible and accessible. Get out there, both online and in person.
2. Show the real you on social media. If you come across as a robot or unauthentic you will push people away. Consider the difference between a personal profile and a professional page.
3. Understand your field inside and out. Stay up to date on latest trends and help to position yourself as a thought leader in your field. Be aware of your impact and intent, as people are listening to you.
4. Practice 2-way networking. Give the other person an opportunity to benefit from the relationship as well.
5. Maintain a detailed database of contacts. While it can be a great resource to search when you need something, it can also be referenced when you have an opportunity.
6. Become a trusted source of breaking news and relevant information. Strive to be the person your contacts reach to when they need expert advice or information in your field.
7. Develop a strong value proposition. What makes you, as a person, attractive to potential customers or clients? What is it that makes you special? What should someone work with you?
8. Give back. People remember selfless acts.
Ideas for your "Personal Branding Toolkit"
from Schawbel, Dan. Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success. New York: Kaplan Pub., 2009.
- E-mail address: If you cannot get yourname@yourname.com, try and obtain firstname.lastname@gmail.com to heighten the association of your brand with all communication with you
- Business card: This should contain your picture, a statement of your personal brand, your preferred contact information, and corporate logo if available.
- Résumé/CV: Don't forget to customize these documents for each position. And keep it relevant!
- Online Portfolio: This is a chance to showcase your past accomplishments, and give your audience a sense of what you will be able to accomplish for them.
- Blog/website: Try to obtain yourname.com or something similarly associated with your name.
- LinkedIn profile: LinkedIn combines your employment documents and network contacts into an ever-growing professional statement. Be sure to get as many recommendations as you can.
- Facebook profile: Make sure that your photo is of just you, and contains no objectionable content. Also be certain to adjust the privacy settings so that only the content you want potential (and current) employers to see is available.
- Twitter profile: Be sure to integrate your photo with that used on Facebook and LinkedIn, and add a link to your blog or LinkedIn profile.
- Wardrobe: Keep in mind that you should be aware of how you appear, since your wardrobe will show up in profile pictures of you on Facebook and LinkedIn.
If you are starting to worry about Imposter Syndrome, you might be heading in the right direction!
