By Patrick Cole
You are a brand, a personal brand.
And though you might be gainfully employed right now, you never know when you might want to change that, so it’s always vital to make certain your personal brand is as good as it can be.
This goes doubly in this day and age where everything we do goes online and stays there.
Now that has its advantages. After all, the time for social media and brands has never been better, but it’s not all smooth sailing.
For if you’re not careful, a headhunter can consider you for a job, look you up, find out what’s out there, and decide to move on without you ever being the wiser.
And that could be a good job and a better life lost without you ever being the wiser!
So take a bit of time to make certain your online presence and personal brand are as good as they can be.
Personal Brand Tips: Spring Cleaning
Start off by going through all your social media accounts and making certain everything is set so there is no incriminating evidence of you misbehaving floating around.
What do I mean with that?
Un-tag your drunk pictures, and get rid of stuff that makes you look like an idiot, a jerk, or lazy.
Also make certain your privacy settings are in order, so that argument you had a few years ago with your mate online isn’t accessible to everybody.
That stuff, as many people have found out the hard way, can haunt you!
And try to keep your different profiles up-to-date.
It doesn’t take a lot of time to let your different social networks know where you’re working or what your responsibilities there are.
That way, when people look at what you’re doing, they’re not actually looking at what you did five years ago.
Network
That old adage, “It is not what you know, it’s who you know,” is truer today than ever before.
For that reason, make sure you know people!
Reach out occasionally to the people you know—it doesn’t have to be that often, just as long as you stay in touch.
Then, when you need a favor, help or advice, they’ll be far more likely to help you out.
Keep to Your Niche
Online it generally doesn’t pay to talk about everything and anything.
Instead find what you’re good at and talk about that.
You know all about content creation versus excavation?
That’s your topic.
You’re an effective leader?
Talk about that.
This way when people do look you up, you sound intelligent and well-informed, rather than as if you’re just a rambler about any topic.
Create a Website
It’s quite straightforward to do nowadays and doesn’t cost much.
What’s more, if you spend a bit of time on it, this will take people’s attention instead of that photo of you walking into a lantern pole (was that just me?).
Of course, if your site looks horrible, then it will do more harm than good.
So it’s a good idea to at least invest a minimum of effort.
Sell Yourself
When there are seven billion people out there, there’s a lot of competition for eyeballs.
If you want to compete, you have to show them your capabilities.
That means putting it out there, on your website and in social media, as nobody else is going to do it for you.
And you don’t have to make yourself sound like a horrible person to do it.
You don’t have to tell everybody how you’re the greatest when you win a prize, or get nominated, or get a new job.
Humility is still worth something.
Not saying anything at all, however, isn’t.
What other tips do you have to help build your personal brand?
image credit: shutterstock
