Building an online brand for yourself is hard.
There’s a lot of noise, too many social media channels, and plenty of “experts” sharing their best way to do what you do, only 10x better.
What is one totally necessary step to start branding yourself online?
We sought out the advice of people who have successfully established themselves online to see what branding tips they had to offer.
Here’s how to start branding yourself online:
- Review The First Page Of Search Results
- Join Online Groups
- High-Quality Content
- Ensure Your Brand Aligns With Your Message
- Craft Your Linkedin Profile
- Community Engagement
- Generate a Conversation
- Highlight a Trivial Interest
Review The First Page Of Search Results
When you Google your full name, what pops up on the first page of search results? The first step to branding yourself online is populating that first page with results about yourself. Consider starting a LinkedIn profile to share professional information about yourself and to secure a first-page result on search. Or, start a personal website with your full name as the URL. Whatever you can do to manage the information about yourself is the first step towards a successful online brand.
Brian Greenberg, True Blue Life Insurance
Join Online Groups
To successfully start branding yourself online, you should consider joining different online groups and organizations. As a digital marketing expert and published model, I make it a habit of joining different Facebook Groups, following other creatives’ Instagrams, and messaging professionals in similar verticals on LinkedIn. By creating valuable online relationships, you will find your reach and your digital footprint will grow rapidly!
Nikitha Lokareddy, Markitors
High-Quality Content
When it comes to any type of online branding, especially your own, content is king! In order to make people aware of who you are and why they should care, you have to create high-quality content that will keep them engaged. Content can be anything from social media posts to blogs, to videos on your site. Keep the messaging consistent across platforms and remember that everything you publish is the foundation shaping your online brand.
Ryan Nouis, TruPath
Ensure Your Brand Aligns With Your Message
When thinking about personal branding online, it is important to be clear on who and what you do. What needs do you fulfill? What problems do you solve? How and why are your services valuable to a potential employer or customer? Once you know those details, make sure your messaging is consistent with your brand. Be specific, provide details on how you have solved similar, past problems for employers or customers. Lastly, make it easy for people to reach out to you, list your contact information prominently on your page.
Kerri D’Astici, HR and Career Blueprint
Craft Your Linkedin Profile
Developing your LinkedIn is the first step to building an online presence. An important aspect of building your LinkedIn profile includes having a photo that sends the right message—engaging and professional. Additionally, prioritize crafting an appropriate headline, since it is the beginning of your brand identity. Your profile summary should have a “What can I do for you?” orientation. This is a key part of your professional branding story!
Mary Onotaro, Career Coaching Consultant
Community Engagement
Always remember that to start branding yourself, you must engage with others. Branding is not a one-way channel that only broadcasts information, but it must lead to creating an engaging and meaningful community around you. This can be done through simple steps like liking the posts of others (if you really do), and leaving a comment that not only attracts more views but also gets you recognized as an active person who provides value to others.
Ronald Kubitz, Forms+Surfaces
Generate a Conversation
Ensure that you have a profile on LinkedIn, and maximize your opportunity to join groups,
connect with others, and share information on your professional activities and service offerings. LinkedIn has courses on how to enhance your profile to make your online presence even more dynamic. You should also consider writing an article or posting a question that will generate some conversation and exchange of information. Before you know it, people will be seeking your brand!
Colleen McManus, Senior HR Executive and Consultant
Highlight a Trivial Interest
Highlight one of your trivial interests and repeat it a few times in social media, blog posts, and similar. For example, loving Chipotle may be totally irrelevant to your brand or business, but it is a simple and easy thing to remember. Once you mention this interest a few times, people will come to associate you with it and when they think of Chipotle, they may just think of you. Other examples include preferring cruises for vacations, having a specific favorite book, or not liking cats. In some cases, the more trivial the interests you choose, the better.
Michael Alexis, Teambuilding
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