Where wil you be in 5 or 10 years from now? It’s impossible to tell, but one thing you can be sure of, what you do today to build your personal brand can create opportunities for you tomorrow.
Where to start? Get yourself a blog, but don’t settle for a free hosted one, invest in your own dot com. Everyone (possibly the exception being Seth Godin) eventually switch from a free service at some point. Commit to some kind of schedule and update it on a regular basis. What else? Venture into social media and start networking. There’s plenty of options, I’d recommend Twitter myself. Social media isn’t an obvious benefit for some, but one way of looking at it is that you create your own communication channel, and it enables you to network in new ways.
So what’s left to say? In 5 to 10 years from now, if you didn’t take action, you’ll likely wish you did.
Personal branding is a topic that shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s becoming more important everyday and a process that could have a big impact on your career in the future. It’s not just big brands that deal with reputation management anymore.
The following video presentation of David Armano (now with Edelman) provides some great thoughts on personal branding. No longer are brands limited to products, corporations or celebrities.
“The Internet has made it easier than ever to reach out to your target audience. Blogging and social networking are powerful and readily accessible ways to promote yourself.”
Personal Branding – Where to Start?
Blogging
If you’re not blogging, it’s time to start. There’s no better way to dive in than creating your own blog for personal branding. Make it a routine and post often. Create value with a conversation on your given topic and share your expertise. If you don’t feel you’re much of a writer, you might try video blogging.
Improve your online visibility with your blog and publish your thoughts. An excellent resource to help you get started with blogging is ProBlogger, which provides thoughts, tips and inspiration. Using a little objectivity, think about what makes you unique and tap into those qualities, and be remarkable at the same time. These days, people are proving themselves as thought leaders and sometimes receive job offers as the result of their blog.
Social Media
Have you taken the plunge and made use of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and others? Keep in mind that participating on forums and commenting on blogs is also advised. Think about where your audience is, and be there to be part of the conversation.
With all the tools freely available through social media, personal branding isn’t all that difficult. A bigger challenge might be deciding which ones are right for you. Keep in mind you don’t have to engage in every single one.
When discussing personal branding with others, one name that comes up often is Gary Vaynerchuk, who is known for being very passionate on the subject and one of the best examples today. The video on the BusinessWeek page is worth watching as well.
You may also want to refer to this post on online branding for additional thoughts.
Where wil you be in 5 or 10 years from now? It’s impossible to tell, but one thing you can be sure of, what you do today to build your personal brand can create opportunities for you tomorrow.
