One of my responsibilities is to develop and nurture my own personal brand. But its significance is expanding well beyond the domains of influencers, entrepreneurs, and opinion leaders. If you want to stand out in your field, whether you’re an architect, entrepreneur, designer, blogger, lawyer, or something else entirely, investing in your personal brand is a great way to do just that.
Your identity is already a brand, so stop trying to create one. All of us have our own. A Google search for your name is likely to return results such as your LinkedIn profile, social media pages, and even news stories or other websites that mention you. How might your online search results make someone feel about you? This is the foundation of your identity as a brand. Consider it your digital standing.
The term “personal branding” refers to the practice of managing one’s online identity in order to create a desired public persona. Social media isn’t everything when it comes to building brand awareness, but it’s a big part of the puzzle. Use these strategies to leverage social media and hone your own personal brand.
Make sure your profiles are complete before proceeding. Make sure all of your social media pages have a recent, professional photo of you, and use the same photo across all of your accounts. Then, remove anything from your profiles that you wouldn’t want a future employer or client to see. (If you want to share anything personal that you don’t want potential clients or employers to view, you may always keep a private profile.)
Be genuine. Though you should aim to build a credible reputation online, your social media posts should still reflect your unique character. Just use your natural voice when you write. Maintain sincerity. In all candor, Discuss topics that are important to you (rather than trying to hop on the latest trends). To add insult to injury, don’t lie about who you are. This is a crucial step in maintaining brand integrity.
Spread the word about what you’ve discovered. Sharing intriguing and relevant news pieces from my business on social media is something I’ve discovered to have a significant impact, while also being rather simple to do. Building my reputation and keeping up with the latest developments in my profession were both greatly aided by this. Subscribing to newsletters in your field or setting up Google alerts for keywords related to your interests are also great ways to never miss a breaking news story.
Participate in online communities that share your interests. Then, introduce yourself to the community by participating in discussions, asking and answering questions, and sharing the work of others.
Don’t be selfish with what you know and how much time you spend on it. Assist people online by addressing their concerns and participating in discussions. Additionally, please consider like or sharing additional information that you have found interesting, instructive, or helpful. Just try to treat others like you’d like to be treated.
Create as many new connections as possible, particularly on LinkedIn. You may achieve this by setting weekly goals for the amount of individuals you’d like to ask to connect with you in your profession and then sending them invites with a brief, personalised message. If you make this a regular practise, your contact list will expand rapidly.
Quickly create polls with intriguing questions to increase participation. You may keep things interesting by alternating between submitting professional and more broad inquiries.
Show off your professional life with some high-resolution images and video. At a business gathering, an industry convention, when driving to see a customer, or somewhere else, visual material is always well received. Photos and videos of “ordinary” life (such as you enjoying your morning coffee if you work from home) can be interspersed with more formal ones while yet maintaining a professional look.
Advice, thought-provoking questions, extracts from presentations you’ve given, pro tips, how-to information, or anything else that can help solidify your reputation are all fair game.
Publish in-depth essays on LinkedIn if you’re serious about building your reputation as an industry expert. This is something I did extensively and continue to do to this day; it has done wonders for my reputation and professional standing.
Make your life simpler by utilizing cross-platform utilities. Hootsuite is one such application, as it allows you to publish content across numerous platforms, like Instagram and YouTube, and schedule posts in advance. This saves time because you won’t have to duplicate each piece of material before posting it everywhere.
Set aside regular time each day or week to check your social media accounts. Maybe you should make an effort to reduce how much time you spend on social media (it can be a huge time suck). Because of this, I find it useful to plan articles in advance and allot set hours each day to check social media, respond to comments, and peruse the content of others.