Last week we started discussing the ways you can build your personal brand. First you want to discover the traits about yourself that you wish to turn into your dominant brand characteristics. Then you want to define those by using words and phrases that tie into your overall message. That’s what will trickle down through your connections in personal and professional spheres (which do impact one another). Here are two more important steps to consider when you’re creating a personal brand:
3. Disseminate your personal brand. Now it’s time to spread your message. The easiest way to do this is online. You should create strong, professional profiles on public social media pages, like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. These are the personas that people will interact with the most, whether they’re your friends or someone who’s just Googled your name. Having your own website and using smaller, industry-specific outlets is also immensely important. But potential clients and customers will likely find your more casual, generic profiles first – so it’s important that these still reflect your personal brand. Your Twitter account might have nothing to do with your job as a birthday clown, but you can still describe yourself as having a good sense of humor and friendly nature – or similar concepts that tie back to your key points. This is your first point of contact with your potential audience, and it’s often your chance to make a first impression. So make sure it’s a great one that can be backed up in person and through other job-related resources.
4. Dominate your personal brand. Now that your brand exists and is out there in the world, it’s your job to maintain and improve it. You need to make sure that you keep pushing to reach the height of your industry. You should look into what your competitors are doing and define what would help you become a stronger presence, especially to those without intimate knowledge of who any of your are. What measurements can you use? For example, you might want more name recognition with your potential customers, a high rating from an accreditation agency or to have the No. 1 best-selling product in your field. You want to put yourself out there in the world, in person and online. This means creating Web content and seeking opportunities to have stories developed about you, so that you seem like a bigger brand when someone is looking for someone like you by searching around online. You also want to meet people and network in order to have more references who can speak about your presence and talents. Work with as many people as possible and always remember to leave a positive impression while backing up the attributes of your personal brand.