Managing Your Personal Brand

[ 0 ] July 26, 2012 | Mark Nicholson

Whether you’re aware of it or not, personal branding is something you do every single day. At home, at the workplace, and every interaction you have with someone creates a perception about you as an individual.

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. And it’s not just the big brands that deal with reputation management anymore.

But online, you have an opportunity to shape and influence that perception.

Personal Branding Online – 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 link above on Business Week is worth watching as well.

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.”

Speaking of celebrities, they’ve recruited reputation management firms for a while, trying to control what’s seen by the public and the search results when possible. I’m sure politicians have been at it just as long, but social media has really changed that.

It wasn’t that long ago, maybe 6-7 years, where online anonymity was everything. Now we’ve done a 180 and talk about the power of personal brands. Which brings me to the next point;

Advantages of Using Social Media for Personal Branding

Embrace your passion – connect with others that share a similar sentiment

Share and Engage – Interactivity builds conversations and networks

Speak Directly – This is one of the biggest benefits, access. Talk direct and they’ll reply if interested.

Differentiate Yourself – contribute with conversations, not shower with praise

Practical – social media can create connections, opportunities, leads, and maybe a legion of fans

If you’re interested to take your personal branding to the next level, you might want to look into contributing articles in order to become the author and somewhat of an expert on your chosen subject. Where you’re published will determine your credibility, but start small and work your way up or you’ll face mostly nothing more than disappointment.

With that, I leave you a few other reads if the topic is of interest to you;

Personal Branding 101

Personal branding in the age of Google

The Brand Called You