The best time to start building your personal brand was a year ago.
The second best time is today. Start now, not when you’re scrambling looking for a new job – because building a brand takes time and energy, and this is not something you have an excess of when you’re stressing over your job situation.
Personal branding is not just for the job seekers. You HAVE a brand even if you’re not actively working on it, and it’s something you need to cultivate in your current role.
Many people don’t use Linkedin to build their brand, because they’re worried that their employer will think that they’re looking for a new job.
They’re also afraid to speak (write) on Linkedin in the first person so that they don’t sound like they’re full of themselves.
A CEO once told me he’s not posting on Linkedin because he worries if nobody sees his posts it could mean he’s irrelevant.
Another executive who reached out for a career consultation said “I don’t know if I have anything to say”.
Someone else who I was advising on his personal branding has been copying his job description into his Linkedin profile, totally missing the part where he needed to talk about how HE delivers and what is HIS superpower.
Learn to reframe the standard “This is the work I do” to “This is the value I deliver” and “This is my unique perspective”.
Ask yourself what you want your brand to be, and “Just Do It” (See what I did there? You know that brand immediately.).
And then use all available tools, including the one with an audience of over 1 billion users, that you have been treating as a resume repository till now – you know, good old Linkedin.
It’s something that actually benefits your employer, because your brand adds to their brand. When you’ve built a powerful personal brand it means they have hired a Key Opinion Leader, the best in the industry, for their company.
