What Is Your Personal Brand?
By: Lindsay Williams
Whether you know it or not, you have a personal brand. You cultivate this brand every day through your online presence. It is defined by which real-time events you choose to participate in on Twitter, who you engage with and follow on Instagram, and the ideas you share (or don’t share) on LinkedIn. Wherever you choose to engage online, you have a voice that your friends, family, coworkers, and potential colleagues can use to learn about you.
Are you someone who loves your pet and post about him or her regularly? Do you heavily engage in political discussions? Do you like to post inspirational quotes? Your online voice is an extension of who you are, and we often aren’t as intentional as we could be with this voice.
[Related: How to Grow Your Instagram, and Why You Should Stop Counting Followers]
We are still in the early stages of this new digital world, where social media is at the center of our universe. We have yet to see how our profiles will live on and how our children, grandchildren, and descendants will be able to access the stories we have told through our accounts. However it evolves, it is critical that you own your story and utilize your online presence to share that story. Your story and who you are is your personal brand.
I believe in telling your authentic story, both the good and the not-so-perfect. We are in an age of finely-curated feeds reflecting our finely-curated lives. However, this is not reality. My goal in assisting with building your personal brand is identifying the key topics and themes in your business and personal life that you enjoy sharing and that others would benefit from learning.
[Related: LinkedIn Switches Favor to Conversations Over Content Sharing]
I have found that many professionals have incredible expertise of various business topics, but never share this with their online communities. I understand the guardrails that some companies place on employees, limiting how they can discuss business online. My goal is to provide actionable, realistic, and simple strategies to:
- Authentically tell your story online.
- Position yourself as a thought-leader in your current or aspirational field.
- Leverage your personal brand to uncover potential opportunities.
We need more female professionals telling their stories, being seen as thought-leaders, and moving into those corner offices. In the meantime, you can download the Free Personal Social Media Audit Checklist here to help you start thinking about your personal brand in a different light.
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Lindsay Williams is the founder of Be Digable, a business focused on personal branding for female executives. If you are interested in working with Be Digable, you can contact them here.
Originally published at www.ellevatenetwork.com.
