Apple, Nike, Dunkin Donuts and many others have attractive slogans and have created the personal branding that have encouraged people to become their fan. These slogans can be recognized by everyone that communicates the message that the company want to convey. A strong brand stands out and gains increased awareness, more sales and better customer experience. Branding is not only meant for companies but professionals have their story to state their goals, expertise and skills.
The personal brand is as same as the corporate brand. Personal brand is all about what the values you have, what you stand for, and the manner in which you exhibit your values. As the company brand convey its value to the target customers and have an added advantage over competitors. In the same way, personal brand work for individuals and help to convey value and identity to potential clients or employers.
Your personal brand must state your strengths, build trust, establish reputation, and convey unique features. The personal brand will communicate employers if you are right fit or not. We are discussing top 10 points to create a successful personal brand.
- Figure who you are– for building your personal brand it highlights the professional and personal identity. You must be introspective and make the list of your strengths and weakness. You must introspect that in which areas you excel, what inspires you, what are the unique attributes you have, which projects will help you, which roles will use your energy, and on which projects you can spend hours without feeling tired.
- Ask yourself that you want to be– The personal brand reflects who you are. You must know your strengths and weakness. In this way, you can identify your skills and areas you are required to improve or gain knowledge. You must prepare a roadmap that you want to be in next 10 years.
- Define audience- Before making your personal brand; you must determine who your audiences are. As soon you will define the audience sooner you will be able to make your story.
- Search your desired industry- You must research about the industry you want to enter into. Also, find leaders in the respective field and follow them. Follow their blogs and look for successful people and analyze what they are doing.
- Ask for interviews- As you get aware about the companies that you want to work for and the leaders you want to follow, you can ask for an informational interview. You must not hesitate to ask people and reach the professionals. Ask questions such as how did they get into the industry, what steps they have taken to make a transition, how the industry is evolving, how to they stay updated with the recent trends, and have they joined any trade associations.
- Make an elevator pitch- You must send more time to make an elevator pitch. You must prepare a story of 30-60 second that will help you to describe yourself in any networking event and informal party. Mention important points in your elevator pitch.
- Networking- It is quite important to make a strong network for growing your professional circle. You can connect with industry leaders, peers and other informal networking events. The more connections are made more your personal brand will get recognized. Around 85 percent job vacancies are filled via networking. You must attend events regularly and advance your career. Also, ask the fellow attendees to meet again.
- Ask for recommendations- Endorsing by your former and current colleague is the effective and easy way to define the personal brand. It enables others to communicate. As business cultivates customer testimonials, reviews for marketing collateral similarly you must also cultivate your reviews and recommendations. LinkedIn is the best place for asking for endorsements as the recommendations attract the hiring managers. Ask people to endorse for actual reference during your job search. Also, they must speak to a potential employer and write a letter of recommendation.
- Increase your online presence- The important thing of personal branding is to make your online presence to connecting to co-workers, hiring managers, and others. With various social media tools you must keep the single story across all platforms. Also, you must set your profile to privacy settings if you want to keep that profile only for family and friends. This is to make sure that the employers must not stumble any details that could decrease your chances of getting hired. We are discussing some of tips to create your personal brand.
LinkedIn- It is a professional social media that define your brand. You can participate in the groups, introduce yourself with the people, and ask for recommendations. Recruiters search with keywords that are connected to your role that they are trying to fill. It is quite important to mention industry terms in job description, summary, headline, and skills. You must also mention your achievements. You must not leave your profile blank. Hiring managers want to see your work experience, education background and accomplishments with your full picture. You must use a professional photo. You can upload the current photo cropped to the face. The more welcoming you look; there are higher chances that more recruiters will contact you.
Twitter- Use this platform to mention and build your industry expertise. You can include hashtags by focusing on your niche, following respective leaders, and retweeting industry stories.
Portfolio or personal website- If you are in a designing field, then you must have a personal website that must give required information.
Your personal brand is not just online- Your personal brand says more about you. It shows that how you carry yourself at workplace and home.
As the digital medium changes, so your personal brand also changes. You must change your story accordingly as you interact with different people, grow in the career and find new opportunities. We have discussed many tips to establish a strong and successful personal brand.