Building a Strong Personal Brand in the Digital Age
In this ever-changing digital age, talents go through many hurdles to stay relevant and competitive. One big problem is the fact there are constant changes in people’s/businesses’ expectations for things like skills, job experience, understanding of management software, and even one’s social media profile. This is what makes building a personal brand so complex and challenging.
However, building a strong personal brand is essential as it is one of the best ways to advertise yourself to the market which can lead you to landing a job or even building a career. It also helps move away from freelancing platforms and becoming fully independent.
To help you build the kind of personal brand that can elevate your online reputation, here is a guide explaining all of the best practices for brand crafting.
Let’s get to it!
Why Personal Branding is a Recipe for Success?
Personal branding is a way for you to showcase your capabilities, skills, attributes, and experience, as well as express your needs and wants. This is done by building a reputation and an identity that will be identifiable in your field of expertise.
This gives you a significant advantage over your competition which in turn means a lot more job positions to choose from to direct your career path.
With that in mind, let’s first have a look at how you can define your brand identity.
Decide What You Stand For
The first step of the brand-building process is defining your identity, or rather, what you and your brand stand for. Create an overview of all your skills, talents, strengths and weaknesses, and what you strive for. Then, ask yourself what do you want your brand to be known for? And even what you do want others to see of your brand.
With the answer to these questions, you can then create a short description that best summarizes your identity and goals. John Hughes, CEO of ContractorNerd, emphasizes the importance of building trust when developing a personal brand. “In today’s digital world, your personal brand is your most powerful asset. At ContractorNerd, we’ve found that consistently delivering valuable insights to our audience is the best way to build trust and credibility. Authenticity and transparency are crucial in forming genuine connections with your audience. It’s not just about what you say, but how you consistently show up for your community,” says Hughes.
LinkedIn – A Necessary Tool for Building a Personal Brand
While to many, LinkedIn might seem like just another social media platform that’s more business-focused, LinkedIn is in fact one of the best ways one can create a reputation, and from that, a personal brand.
LinkedIn is a huge network and has communities for almost every field of expertise out there. So, why not utilize this to your advantage?
Here are some tips on building a reputation on LinkedIn:
- Build your profile – the first step to leaving a good impression on LinkedIn is optimizing your profile. Use a professional high-quality photo, add a hard-hitting summary (like the statement we previously mentioned), and add all of your skills, previous employments, and experiences.
- Craft relevant content – one way to get your name out there on LinkedIn is by creating your own content. Write informative pieces and use images, graphs, or other visual information. Creating engaging content, including blog posts, infographics, and AI-generated videos, can help you capture your audience’s attention and enhance your online presence. But, don’t be afraid to add some personality to your writing as well.
- Share relevant content – while writing your own content is one of the best ways to build your reputation, you can’t churn out content every day. So, try to share content with your network and within your groups, but make sure the content is relevant to your field of expertise and up-to-date.
- Be consistent – just like any other social media platform, to see a return on your investment from LinkedIn, you will need to be as consistent as possible. Stick to it and you should see positive returns!
Utilize Other Social Media Platforms
Even though LinkedIn is the go-to platform for most hiring managers to find talent, other social media platforms can also help you build your personal brand.
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can all be used to start marketing your brand to an audience. However, for these platforms, it is vital to find an audience that can relate to your interest and your industry, otherwise, your content won’t have any reach. The best way to do so is by finding groups relevant to your expertise.
And once you do start building an audience, remember to always choose quality over quantity when posting content to retain your audience. And, consistency is key here as well!
Build a Compelling Website
Once you have accumulated a large enough network through LinkedIn or other social media platforms, it’s a good idea to have a place where you can redirect your audience. And that place will be your website which is a necessity for any strong personal brand.
Your website will be your ultimate portfolio where people can get a deep dive into all of your past job experiences, your skills, and your personality as well. You can also create a way to communicate with your audience through your website which will improve your brand’s reputation and trust. Additionally, having a professional logo created with a logo maker integrated into your website can enhance brand recognition and visual appeal.
Keep in mind, that hosting a website is a year-round expense, but the return on investment will quickly pay out all of your hosting costs. And, website hosting is quite cheap nowadays, so it’s definitely something that should be in your personal brand-building plan.
Listen, Learn, and Grow
Building a strong personal brand is not just about showcasing everything you know. It’s also about becoming a part of various communities and groups in which you can share experiences with other people. These are the places where interactions can help you evolve your personality, as well as the skills in your field.
So, don’t try to be the center of attention at all times. Listen, learn from others, and grow. This can help you reflect on your mission which you can use to strengthen your personal brand.
Monitor Your Online Growth
Another part of the personal brand development process is acknowledging how your content or your online presence helps others grow. As well as acknowledging how many people you’re affecting.
Your reach is a crucial part of building a reputation, so setting up a monitoring system for your online presence might be crucial. With monitoring you will know which social media platforms or what kind of content best helps you grow your online brand. With this information, you can then further optimize your content and garner an ever wider (and more satisfied) audience.
Final Thoughts
A strong personal brand can create many lasting impressions, and by impacting the right people, one can get many new opportunities. In this digital age, it’s apparent that the best way to achieve this is through social media platforms and extensive networking through various communities.
But, it’s also just as important to always be open to learning from others, and becoming a part of these communities, rather than trying to lead them.
