Update your personal brand online – 10 steps

Here’s a list of 10 things you can do to COMMUNICATE YOUR PERSONAL BRAND ONLINE.

(image: Unsplash @ samish_18)

Let’s do this!

10 Ways to Communicate 
Your Personal Brand ONLINE!

1. FIRST – KNOW YOUR PERSONAL BRAND

• Personal branding is a popular term these days.  But identifying your unique personal brand can be overwhelming. Take a step back and consider the reputation that you seek.  How do you want others to think about you?
• A few prompts to get you started: 
  • Think back to when you were 7-8 years old. What made you unique back then?  Has that changed?
  • What failures in your past did you learn the most from? Do you have a “transformation story”?
  • What makes you unique compared to your graduating class? Compared to your peers at work? Compared to your friends?
• Borrowing from marketing and brand management, your personal brand should be:
  • unique (differentiated from others);
  • ownable (credible for you now and in the long term);
  • aspirational (positive); and
  • relevant (resonates with your colleagues and clients)

 (image: Unsplash @ andremouton)

2. UPDATE YOUR BIO & I.D. KEYWORDS

• Writing your updated bio is a great first step after you’ve identified your “personal brand.”
• What would you send someone who asked you, “can you email me your bio”? Write 2-3 short paragraphs that can introduce you to a prospective employer or to a conference audience.
• Check out the bios of your peers (e.g. on corporate websites, LinkedIn, etc.) for relevant keywords.  Ensure your relevant keywords show up in your bio and in all of your communication. For what search terms do you want to be found?

 (image: Unsplash @ brett_jordan)
But no keyword stuffing!  Promise?

3. GOOGLE YOURSELF!

• To make this exercise valid: Make sure you clear your browsing history and clear your cache before Googling yourself.  Or better yet – ask someone else to Google you.
• What shows up on the first page is critical. For each entry on that first page, ask yourself, should it be:
  • Updated?
  • Removed (deleted)?
  • Encouraged? (You can try to increase the ranking of pages you’re proud of by creating more links to that page – on other websites, in social media, in your email signature, etc.)
• Go through the same exercise with images. 
• Beyond the first page of Google rankings is more of a disaster check…

 
 (image: Unsplash @ zhenhappy)
Time to clean up your digital footprint?

4. UPDATE YOUR CORPORATE &/or PERSONAL WEBSITE

• Update your bio on your website to highlight your personal brand, recent accomplishments and your keywords.
• Don’t forget to update your headshot. That photo from 20 yrs ago might mean people are shocked when they meet you!  Choose a flattering, recent photo.

 
Save your old photos for Throw-Back Thursday! 

 5. GET OUT THERE ON SOCIAL MEDIA!

• Actively participating in social media can be very time-consuming. Try this suggestion: choose 2 platforms that work best for you. It’s better to have a strong presence on 1-2 platforms versus a mediocre presence on several platforms. (For me, it’s LinkedIn and Facebook.)
• Update your LinkedIn profile with the section-by-section advice from Andrew Jenkins in last week’s podcast: OPTIMIZING YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE.
• The 3 most important elements of your LinkedIn profile:
  • your headshot
  • your headline
  • your banner image
  • (NOTE: you can use these 3 elements on other social media platforms too!)

6. MAKE A STATEMENT IN TARGETED FORUMS (or CHATROOMS or GROUPS)

• Demonstrate your expertise in relevant forums (like Quora, Reddit, GameSpot, StackOverflow,…) and social media groups (like the Talk About Talk “Communication Skills” FB group!)
• Subscribe to these groups so you can make timely comments. 
• Don’t be sales-y! Instead, be generous. Share your passion and your expertise.  Eventually, forum and group members will start asking you questions!
• To avoid being overwhelmed, narrow your focus. For example, instead of following a thread or group on “banking,” try something like “foreign exchange banks.” The more specific, the better.

 

7. ATTEND ONLINE CONFERENCES

• It’s all online now – so get out there!  You can meet people and learn something new. You might be pleasantly surprised at the quality of some online conferences. (One of my favourites?  “Ensemble“)
• Be vocal in the conference online chat.  It’s fun! And that’s where you can make a positive impression.
• Connect with other conference attendees on LinkedIn in real-time or immediately after the conference.  Capture conference presenters and attendees’ names by taking screenshots!
• Consider your Zoom name (or other video-conferencing name) to be your “conference name tag”! A few “Zoom name” tips:
  • Use your full first and last name. A partial name “like “awojnicki” or an email address is not ideal. 
  • Change your name, depending on the context of the conference or the meeting. For more intimate contexts, just your first name might work.  For networking conferences where you want to meet people, include your first and last name and the name of your firm.

8. UPDATE YOUR EMAIL SIGNATURE

• Think of your email signature as your “interactive business card” that’s included with every email you send. You can set this up in the PREFERENCES or OPTIONS menu of your email provider.
• Of course, you want to include your name. What else?
  • Your title (or your headline from your Linkedin profile!)
  • Logos are fine, but not too big
  • Links are a great idea to promote yourself, but not too many links! Suggestions to promote your personal brand online: link to websites or documents that you’re proud of, social media profiles, your latest podcast (!), …
• More tips on your email signature HERE.

9. UPDATE YOUR CONTACT FILE (& your voicemail message)

• Recently someone pinged me their contact file. I was so impressed at how complete the file was… It made it super-easy to follow the person on social media!
• Depending on your situation, you might want to create 2 contact files for yourself.  Some suggestions:
  • PROFESSIONAL – include your job-title and firm, professional headshot, work email, work cell number, office address, and work-related social media
  • PERSONAL – include your family member names, family photo, personal email, home phone, home address, and personal social media
• While you’re at it, have you checked your voicemail greeting lately?  Should you update it?   

 
 (image: Unsplash @ viniciusamano)
“Hello? Is that YOU?”

10. HOST AN ONLINE EVENT

• If you’re super-keen, consider hosting a webinar, a mini-conference, a FB live, a YouTube live, an online book club meeting, an online wine-tasting party,…
• It could be formal or informal, personal or professional. 
• The theme could focus on your expertise and/or something that you’re passionate about.  This is an opportunity for you to shine – and to expand your network!

 
 (image: Unsplash @ kelsoknight)
Don’t spill on your keyboard!

That’s TEN!

Ten’s a lot.  I encourage you to scroll through this list and choose 2-3 of these ways to communicate your personal brand online.

I’d love to hear how it goes.  Which suggestions did you try?  Do you have any other suggestions?  Please ? EMAIL me, or  ? RECORD your message. I ❤️ love hearing from you!

Have a great week! 

Talk soon,

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