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