So how do you go about branding yourself, and why is it important? The fact is we all have our online lives. We post to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and a myriad of other online channels daily, and our friends, family and colleagues are constructing their opinions about us based on what they see online. Case in point: a co-worker came up to me and said, “Wow, you are such a foodie.” I never perceived myself as a foodie but after reviewing my last month of posts, I realized it was filled with food porn and recipes. Thus, the “foodie” impression was made. The moral of the story: shape your online life or it will shape you.
Another important fact to know about personal branding is the difference between IRL and URL. In real life (IRL), there are times when you aren’t always going to present your best self. Have you ever run out to the grocery store looking like a hungover movie star hiding from TMZ, hoping that you don’t run into anyone you know and of course you do? That’s IRL. But online (URL), you can choose to post only the content that puts you in the best light—not the harsh fluorescents of the grocery aisle.
Step 1: Take stock of yourself
With these two truths, you can move on to the business of taking control of your online image. The first step (and this is the hardest one) is to figure out what makes you, you. In The Fundamentals of Personal Branding, Barret Brooks goes into a very lengthy self-assessment process to uncover your brand. On the other end of the self-reflection spectrum, Sally Hogshead, personal branding expert and author of Fascinate, offers a quick survey to identify your essence. (According to the survey, I am a Ringleader.) Somewhere between these two approaches, you need to take an audit of your beliefs, skills/experiences, passions/interests and natural gifts to get an understanding of your brand’s make-up.
Step 2: Identify your niche
Once you have taken personal inventory, the second step of personal branding is to take this collection of attributes and identify your niche. “If you want to be known for everything, you'll be known for nothing,” Ms. Hogshead says. Sheryl Sandberg is a great example of finding your niche. As COO of Facebook, she could brand herself in a multitude of ways. But she chose to literally Lean In and is the new face of feminism. Her brand combines her leadership skills with her passion for the advancement of women.
Don’t know what your niche is? Ask yourself, “What do colleagues or friends see me as the go-to person for? What am I really excited about it, almost to the point it seems dorky?” It’s this dorkiness that other people will value and seek you out. It’s also what will make your personal brand authentic. To paraphrase Popeye, “You are what you are.”
Step 3: Own who you are
Knowing your corner of the market brings us to step number three: owning your personal brand. It’s not enough to own who and what you are. You have to own it in a way no one else can. Take another famous Facebooker, Mark Zuckerberg. He is far from his early hacker days, but he owns that uber confident, techno whiz brand like the hoodie he wears. When Facebook went public and his stock missed expectations big time, Zuckerberg, true to his personal brand, said while his company cares about investors, he is more interested in improving his product. Zuckerberg never said he was a business genius.
In her book, Ms. Hogshead says in a competitive environment the most fascinating will win and the way to captivate is with passion and knowledge. You don’t have to be an Internet entrepreneur billionaire to fascinate. You just have to think how you can position yourself for people to take notice. Say your niche is project management, you are a female and you are known for your tenaciousness. You could brand yourself as the “Get her done project manager”. Ok it’s puny, but it is certainly more memorable than branding yourself as Senior Project Manager at so and so company. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Step 4: Express yourself
Ok, you have figured out what is your brand’s DNA, identified your niche and are owning it like a boss. Step number four is expressing your brand. That is, making sure everything you do, say and create align with your personal brand. For companies, this is an exercise in branding 101. Well known companies have a clear understanding what their brand is all about. They have a consistent voice and presence. They use creativity to differentiate themselves. And lastly, companies with great brands are committed to supporting them for the long haul. The same branding principles of clarity, consistency, creativity and commitment are true for people. Think Oprah, Richard Branson or Martha Stewart.
Step: 5 Amplify your brand
The last step in building your online reputation is amplifying your brand. Oprah had TV. (Who knows where she would have ended up if she never amplified her Oprahness.) You have the social web and a bevy of platforms to carve out your niche. Start with one or two platforms based on whom you want to reach. LinkedIn is perfect for building your brand with business colleagues, as well as Twitter and Google+. Tumblr, Pinterest and Instagram are great channels to reach creative types. And the list of opportunities goes on. The point is, it doesn’t matter if you’re the smartest, most creative, most whatever if nobody knows. So don’t wait to get your brand out there. The Internet certainly isn’t.
Google yourself. Is that the person you want others to see you as? Start proactively building your personal brand to set yourself up for long-term career and personal success. The US Labor Department reports Millennials will have at least 5-7 jobs in their working lives. If fear of commitment is keeping you from developing your brand do know the brand you develop today will organically evolve as you evolve. We are all works in progress. Our titles will change. Our expertise will grow. But who we are deep down will only get more engrained. Here’s a worksheet to help get you on your way to managing your online image. The first step, like anything, is taking the first step.
If you have more interest in personal branding, here's an additional list of resources I pulled this blog together from:
Your Personal Brand: Why You Can’t Afford to Wait
Create Your Personal Brand: 8 Steps
Creating Thought Leadership for Personal Branding Success
Your Career Success Hinges on One Word -- Do You Know It?
The Five Deadly Personal-Branding Illusions
Do You Include These 5 Relationship Builders in Your Content?
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