How to Create a Professional Brand

How to Create a Professional BrandHow to Create a Professional BrandPersonal vs. Professional Branding There may not be much difference between personal and professional branding, but from my perspective, your professional brand is what matters to a potential employer, networking contact, or anyone who can help you find a job or grow your career. Its more than a case of making sure your personal brand reflects who are as a person. Its also making sure that the information available about you online is visible, available, and relevant to where you are in your career and where you want to go next. Check Your Online Presence What type of branding do you have? Theres an easy way to check what image you are showing to the world. Google your anthroponym and see what shows up. Ive put quite a bit of effort into building my Alison Doyle brand. Google my personenname and youll find, all on page one of the search results, my Job Searchingsection, my LinkedIn profile, my Twitter Profile, l inks to the books Ive written, a link to my Alison Doyle blog, and a link to my companys website. Expert Susan Heathfield has done a good job of building her professional brand, as well. Google Susan Heathfield and youll find Susans section, her blog, and her bio on Microsoft, where she has contributed some articles. This is all the type of information you want a prospective employer or client to find. You dont want to advertise the photos of what you did on your summer vacation, the great time you had at your high school reunion, or the number of last calls youve made at your favorite bar or club, to anyone who might be in a position to hire you or recommend you for a job. Keep Your Personal Life Private You can still have personal information on the web. Just make sure that its only available to the people you want to see it. Use this Job Search Internet Checklist to ensure that employers are finding what you want them to find, and what they are viewing is appropriate. Be care ful what you write on your blog, or other peoples blogs or social networking pages. Dont let the whole world see your personal information Blogging and Networking Dos and DontsFacebook Privacy Tips Tips for Creating Your Professional Brand Once youve made sure that your personal information is only viewable by who you want to see it, abflug building your professional brand. This will serve a couple of purposes. In addition to being information that showcases your talents for potential employers, its also information that, if created properly, will bump the not-so-good stuff down the list in Google. That way, any prospective employer who Googles you should see what you want them to see your professional branding. Use the Same Photo Use the same photo on all the networking sites, websites, and blogs that you use. For example, if youre usingLinkedInandFacebook, and/or have a blog or a personal website, upload the same photo to each site. That visual effect will help build your brand and will help increase your recognition by prospective employers and career contacts. Heres advice onhow to take and choose a photo for your LinkedIn profile. Use that same photo on all your networking sites so the brand you are presenting is consistent. Here are examples of what Ive done Alison Doyles Facebook ProfileAlison Doyles LinkedIn ProfileTwitter - Alison Doyle Use Your Name One goal of personal branding is to increase your presence in the search engines. So, when you (or prospective employers) search Google, Yahoo or the other search engines, your results rank high. Using your name as your URL whenever possible will help you bolster your rankings. Professional Branding Tools Branded.me- Get a free customizable personal websites from Branded.me.JibberJobber - Use JibberJobber to keep track of those networking contacts and keep a log of how they have helped you.LinkedIn - Create a LinkedIn profile and start connecting. Ask and answer LinkedIn questions to incre ase your visibility.Write a Blog - I know everyone has a blog these days. However, a well-written blog focused on your area of expertise is another good addition to your professional branding package.Create a Presence - Comment on other peoples blogs, write some articles, go to industry meetings, conventions, and events, and make contacts in your field. Be sure that all your endeavors are focused and relevant to both your skills and your career goals. Build a Website - Consider a website to create and showcase your brand. Many web hosting services have built in web building tools and its quick and easy to build a site that reflects your professional presence.Get Your Name Out There - Try to meet, either online or in-person, the important people in your field. Send them an schmelzglas or a message via their website or networking profile. Over the years, Ive met lots of the important people in the world of job searching and careers, many of them because I sent them a quick email intr oducing myself or vice versa. Volunteer - If you have time and if theres a way to volunteer in a capacity where you can use your skills and expertise, volunteering is another way to gain exposure as an expert in your career field. Its a good resume building tool, as well. Keep Working Building your brand isnt a one shot deal. It takes time to build a solid presence and should be an ongoing endeavor. Keep your profiles up-to-date, stay in touch with your contacts, build and maintain your network, and work on your branding on a regular basis.