The Knacks of Personal Branding
A large part of standing out from a crowded candidate pool is bringing something different to the table. If you're able to establish yourself as not only competent and experienced but also an industry expert or thought leader, you'll bring additional value to your next potential role. If you're interested in bringing that extra punch to your upcoming interview or performance review by building a strong personal brand, then read on!
You’re probably wondering how personal branding can help you, and what it actually means…
Your personal brand is the effort to communicate your values to the world. It’s the perception and reputation that the outside world has of you. Just as many businesses will market their brand, you should be marketing yourself! While your resume can give a snapshot of your professional experience and skillset, it doesn’t give a good representation of who you are as a person. Personal branding allows people to understand your core values, story, and expertise. It helps you stand out from the pile of applications and create more impact by positioning yourself as the subject matter expert in your field.
A few examples of people that have created impactful personal brands are:
Sophia Amoruso - Sophia founded Nasty Gal, but she is also an award-winning author. Through her book, she became a figurehead for female entrepreneurship.
Gary Vaynerchuk - Gary is a social media star and entrepreneur who created his own digital agency VaynerMedia. He also started WineLibrary TV before he ventured into creating his own content online.
The term ‘personal brand’ may sound intimidating at first but think of it as simply sharing your personality and values with others.
Check out these articles that explore personal branding:
Personal Branding is not just a buzzword.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, an executive, a job-seeker, or the kind of person who just enjoys the challenge of self-improvement, your personal brand is one of your most valuable assets. It’s your reputation, and it influences everything from the opportunities you’re offered to the way people perceive and interact with you.
But what does it mean to have a great personal brand? And more importantly, how can you make sure yours is as strong as it should be?
Here are the three tenets of personal branding you should know:
Personal branding is based on authenticity. People need to know the genuine and real YOU.
The personal branding process can be broken down into two parts:
Understanding who you are and what makes you unique
Telling your story in a way that is both authentic and persuasive
The first part is all about self-reflection. Get to know yourself better, so that you can understand your strengths and weaknesses, your motivators, and those things that really set you apart. You need to be clear on your values, purpose, and goals for your career. This can be tough if you’re just starting out so it’s important to take a step back and really consider what you value most in life, what drives you, and what you want to do with your career. The second part is about communication—how do we tell our stories in a way that connects with others?
2. Personal branding is all about differentiation—standing out from others who do what you do. It’s an important part of your career, and it can have a big impact on how people perceive you. You want to be seen as a thought leader and/or industry expert in your field. You can do this by studying your field, understanding your competitors and where you can bring in unique value. You want to be able to help potential employers understand how you can be the person to solve their problems. Your personal branding will represent who you are at your best, but it also highlights the ways that you can help people.
3. Personal branding is the practice of delivering exceptional value, which makes you relevant and compelling to the people who are making decisions about you. You want to make sure your personal brand is one that makes them want to hire you, promote you, refer you for a job, or collaborate with you. It's not always easy to explain who you are, what you do, and why you're worth hiring, promoting, or pursuing as a partner in business. But it IS possible!
Personal branding is when you "take control of your personal narrative and make sure the story you want to tell about yourself is the one that's being told." And that means leaving a positive impression in other people's minds, aligning how you present yourself with who you actually are as a person, and making sure your personality shines through.
How do you exactly get started in creating your personal brand and sharing it with the world? Let’s talk about that!
First and foremost, you need a digital portfolio or a personal website. Your personal website is your chance to showcase who you are as a person, what you value, and the expertise you have to offer.
You can create pages that talk more about your brand story—and showcase the work that best represents your experience and skills from your professional experience. You can include written work, campaigns, case studies, presentations, projects, etc.
Personal websites are also a great way to consolidate all of your information in one place for the hiring manager to see. (And more importantly, it encourages them to invest more time in you.) You can create a word or Google document with all your work achievements, performance, data metrics, written work, campaigns, case studies, presentations, projects, etc. Demonstrate and provide tangible work that showcases that you are an expert leader to potential employers.
You can add a personal statement to your digital portfolio or personal website. A personal statement is a way to concisely express who you are as a professional. It's an opportunity to share your passions, values, and aspirations with potential employers. It's also an excellent opportunity to set yourself apart from the rest of the job seekers out there.
Don’t forget to continuously network! Networking is key when looking for a job. You never know who you might meet (or already know) that could help you land your ideal position. The right people in your circle will be able to support you and give you guidance on your goals and aspirations. I’ve already written a full blog post on the three networking strategies to help you land your dream job. Check it out here!
Personal branding requires consistency. As humans, we are always changing and evolving. That means our personal brand will too because it grows with us! Here’s a checklist that will help you stay on top of building and growing your personal brand:
Monthly:
Post original content. Create a blog post, write a think piece, or make a video.
Attend a networking event. Meet new people and learn something new.
Write a LinkedIn review for someone you have worked with. Ask them for one in return!
Weekly:
Share something of value publicly. This is important because it shows your expertise and establishes your credibility.
Start a public conversation in a high visibility group (like the ones we have on the platform). This can be an opinion piece, an AMA, or anything else that gets people talking!
Find an interesting new connection and start up a conversation with them. Try to find common ground and build a rapport!
Multiple times per week:
Engage with your connections’ content by liking, commenting, or sharing their posts. Ensure that you are leaving meaningful comments that add value to the conversation!
Good luck on your way to building a strong personal brand!
