Kick-off 2021 by getting your Personal Brand in shape. 2020 was the year a lot of companies had to re-brand, therefore you can catch up with the best of them.
It is past due that you build your personal brand. In today’s professional career climate, no matter how long you’ve been working for an employer, things could go south for you or your employer at any moment. The days of working 40 years and retiring with a gold watch and a pension are long over.
Today almost every full-time employee or executive has to think of themselves as somewhat of a free agent. If anything, this past year has shown us that even while gainfully employed, as a free agent you have to have a strong personal brand to take you through those possible gaps or bumps during your career.
1. Develop Your Personal Tagline.
Now, this is more than a job title. Design a one-liner that describes precisely what it is you want to be known for. Not only is this one-liner something you wanna have clearly shown on your profile, but it also should be very clear in your head. This will help you stay focused on what your personal brand looks like. You can create this by asking yourself questions like:
- What opportunities do I want to be presented
- What can I passionately and consistently give valuable information on?
- Who am I outside of the organization that I work for?
And an important one…
- What benefit will YOU get from knowing me?
Examples include:
- “Executive Leader in Industrial Robotics”
- “Creative Entrepreneur and Start-up Founder”
- “Life Coach and Best Selling Author”
- “Celebrity Chef and Creator of The Cookbook Club”
- “Customer Experience Specialist”
2. Update your LinkedIn Profile.
Make sure your image and the header is up to date. Be sure to have a headline that showcases your expertise and not a job title. See number one.
And of course, craft a description that clearly states what the benefits are for knowing or doing business with you may be.
3. CREATE CONTENT!
Find out where you shine. Is it writing? Is it being on camera? Is it talking? Find out where you shine and start creating content right there. When it comes to content, consistency is the key.
In order to build your personal brand, people need to hear from you and hear from you OFTEN.
Depending on your resources and how well you want to be known in your industry, it could pay off tremendously to get some outside help in creating consistent and good content.
Oftentimes, being consistent in creating content is the hardest thing to do. So be sure to ask for help when you need it and create that consistent content to push your personal brand.
4. Engage and Communicate, and engage some more.
Please, be sure not to get so caught up in promotion that you forget to engage. Make sure there’s a two-way highway going on between you and your connections.
If a person has shown enough interest to connect with you, then be sure to engage with them and also engage with their content. Ask questions. Become interested in them. And most of all, bring value.
5. Go out and network!
I promise you, you’ll meet people who just simply aren’t good at social networking online. Plus, once you’ve begun to build a personal brand online and then you meet somebody out in public in person, you’ll feel like a celebrity.
Not only will that give you more courage and boost your ego a bit, it’ll also let people know that you are a real person who is reachable.
Networking may look different now, but you can still get the “face-to-face” feel through phone calls and video chats. The two greatest benefits of working on your personal brand in person are:
- You’ll meet people who may not be good at online social networking.
- Once you start building a brand, meeting someone in person that you’ve already begun communicating online with makes you look and feel like a celebrity. AND it gives you a chance to reassure your connections that you are a real and reachable person.
I am A. Lee Judge and I hope to help you achieve your goals in personal and business success.
A. Lee Judge is a digital marketing strategist, personal brand consultant, and founder of Content Monsta – a digital marketing agency focused on utilizing digital content to build personal and business brands.
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