Aug 23, 2018
Communicating your personal
brand doesn’t have to be complicated. Your next step is often right
under your nose! This episode concludes Jennifer’s three-part
series on personal branding, and she shares 6 ways that you can do
to begin sharing your personal brand and how to get the
opportunities that you’re looking for.
- Over
the last three weeks, Jennifer and her guests have dissected what a
personal brand is, how you can define it, as well as how you can
continue to develop your brand throughout your career and your
life.
- Although your personal brand is always
evolving, there are guidelines that will help in effectively
communicating who you are, who you help, the solutions you deliver,
and how it impacts the people involved.
- Your
personal brand helps people determine whether you’re a good fit for
their needs. “Are you authentic enough? Are you expert enough? Are
relatable enough?” Your personal brand is what defines you, whether
you like it or not and whether you’re aware of it or not - so make
it work FOR you and not against you.
So, what can you do to get your
personal brand out into the world? Here are 6 action steps that you
can take to share your personal brand with the World:
- #1 Online Activity. The internet is one of the best ways to build
your reputation, so it’s your responsibility to take charge of your
online activity and understand the importance of having and keeping
a positive online presence.Fact: Information about you that’s found
online is used by others to assess your credibility, knowledge, and
experience.
- In the book, Career Distinction
by William Arruda & Kirsten Dixon, they suggest that you do a
Google search of yourself and answer an online distinction survey
to help you assess your current online identity.
- Jennifer notes that a great way
to boost your online presence to your favor is by creating a 100%
complete account on LinkedIn, pay attention to that platform, and find ways
to be active.
- If I search for you online, I
should see your personal brand statement right away and examples of
how you’re growing in your career, volunteer activities, or just
some way I get a positive first impression about you enough to take
the first step: hire, recruit, collaborate, etc.
- #2 Share your expertise through writing and curating
content. Writing allows you to spread your knowledge that
can help people and make an impact in their lives. Share your
thoughts unique to you, write about what you do, what you think
about the future, what you think is going on with the world
now.
- If you don’t want to create a
website or start your own blog, then offer to write for or curate
other thought leaders’ content.
- #3 Helping others by mentoring and coaching.
Helping other people actually helps
you! Being THE helpful
expert builds your online presence as someone who is
knowledgeable enough and sought out enough that makes people want
to follow you.
- Great coaches, great mentors,
are GREAT LISTENERS. These people ask: “Tell me what’s going on in
your world, how do you feel about that, and what do you think you
should do next?” They listen, ask, and then give advice -- more
often than not, they help the person work through the problem
themselves.
- #4 Being active on at least one social media platform
to share your expertise. “If
content is the fuel for your personal brand, then social media is
the engine.” - Jason DeMers, AudienceBloom
CEO.
- Create things that climb higher
on search results, something that social media platforms can help
you achieve. Choose one social media platform that you’re going to
invest your time and effort on. Post thoughts, connect and interact
to build meaningful relationships - use that site to its best
advantage. You can join all the social media channels IF you have
the capacity to, but at minimum start with one.
- #5 Speak, moderate, and be a panelist. Not everyone needs or want to be a speaker, but
even if you don’t want to stand up and be the keynote speaker with
a thousand people in the room, you can be on a panel and share your
expertise. Challenge yourself to stand up and share your expertise,
just being a speaker at an event, elevates their perception of your
credibility as a leader.
-
#6 Volunteer: Help
organizations, help places you support, help connect people.
There’s a reason why business
executives, gurus, and other thought leaders commit to volunteering
efforts. Aside from the obvious positive impact it has on your
image, it’s effective in building solid relationships as well as
getting things done. Being a leader who volunteers is a win-win-win
situation for the cause you support, your connections, and your
personal brand.
The most powerful word in branding is 'the.' When people say you
are, “THE something,” then your personal brand is working for you.
If you want your personal brand to continue working for you, then
you have to define it, develop it and have it communicate WHO YOU
ARE and WHAT YOU STAND FOR.
Want a little help creating your personal
brand?
Jennifer has a free resource for
you.
The Personal Brand Workbook will help you figure out what your personal
brand is today and what you want to be known for in the future, as
well as how you want to impact the world.
Download it today!
Resources & Links:
Impact Makers Episode
23
Impact Makers Episode
24
Impact Makers Episode
5
Let’s Fix Work with Laurie Ruettimann Episode
24
Career Distinction by William
Arruda & Kirsten Dixson
Jason DeMers