![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.wixstatic.com\/media\/649dbd_92914c7eee124316934136eb6fdd137c~mv2.png\/v1\/fill\/w_962,h_962,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01\/649dbd_92914c7eee124316934136eb6fdd137c~mv2.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nPersonal branding is when you promote yourself, or you market people and their careers as brands. It is a continuous process of creating and moulding an impression and establishing a reputation of an individual, group, or organization.<\/p>\n
Your personal brand is how you promote yourself \u2013 how you stand out from a crowd, how you are unique and why would people pay attention to you. How your personality, beliefs and interests influence your conduct, behaviour, spoken and unspoken words, and attitudes.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.wixstatic.com\/media\/649dbd_d34d4f3c93404834a6db40a1a3af763e~mv2.jpg\/v1\/fill\/w_962,h_642,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01\/649dbd_d34d4f3c93404834a6db40a1a3af763e~mv2.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nNow, why should you invest in a personal brand?<\/p>\n
Professionally, your personal brand can be vital. It is essentially how you present yourself to current and potential clients. It lets you define the way you want to be perceived and not in an arbitrary way that could possibly be detrimental.<\/p>\n
You can highlight your strengths and your passions and even downplay your weakness or celebrate it even. You essentially mould how people\u00a0\u2018understand\u2019\u00a0<\/em>you and make them believe in your ideas, beliefs and thought processes. People believe those who they believe they know, even public personalities they have never met.<\/p>\n The first step to building a Personal Brand is extensive self-reflection and deep introspection. You understand yourself, your beliefs, why you have those beliefs and what you place importance on and so on \u2013 which surprisingly very few people do.<\/p>\n While most people find it easier to describe\u00a0who<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0how<\/em>\u00a0they\u00a0want<\/em>\u00a0to be, most find it extremely difficult to describe\u00a0how<\/em>\u00a0they\u00a0are now<\/em>.<\/p>\n If your goal for personal branding is to improve the performance of your business, you first need to ensure that you know who your target customers are and ensure that your personal branding matches your targeted client.<\/p>\n The secret of successful personal branding is an underlying consistency. You are trying to establish an external depiction of \u201cyou.\u201d This means that you need to act consistently with that depiction.<\/p>\n This is also the reason why the public can react very differently to the news of two people doing the same type of behaviour. It is possible that an act that would shock them if done by the first person may be entirely consistent with the expectations of the second.<\/p>\n Now you all\u00a0know<\/em>\u00a0why personal Branding is important in everyone\u2019s life. We will now see how we can influence social media (especially LinkedIn) to improve your personal branding!<\/p>\n For Personal Branding, LinkedIn is the most important social network, especially for clarity. You may as well be non-existent or invisible to your target customer base if they can\u2019t find you on LinkedIn.<\/p>\n If you have a minimal, mediocre presence on LinkedIn, they\u2019re going to wonder whether you know how to navigate the new world of work, which includes being social media savvy.<\/p>\n If you have a strong and active presence on LinkedIn, and your personal brand is evident, you\u2019ve probably upped your chances of being a candidate of interest.<\/p>\n The things you can do on LinkedIn for your personal branding are:<\/p>\n \u00b7 Optimize your profile<\/p>\n \u00b7 Make connections<\/p>\n \u00b7 Post consistent, quality content<\/p>\n LinkedIn is a social media platform where businesses and professionals can network freely so it can help with your online branding primarily through visibility and recognition in a place where your reputation is at home with other like-minded business people..<\/p>\n LinkedIn is just as much of a search engine as it is a social media platform, so the words you choose matter immensely. What keywords do you want to be found for when potential clients or employers search LinkedIn? Use these keywords in your headline, job title, summary, and job descriptions. Your Profile\u2019s visibility depends on choosing the right words \u2013 it makes the difference between your profiles being found or being invisible.<\/p>\n You are not\u00a0\u2018done\u2019\u00a0<\/em>once you have set up your LinkedIn profile. It isn\u2019t a one-time thing. You have to update it whenever you make a career move or speak at a conference maybe even publish a new article, or you take a new course.<\/p>\n Think of LinkedIn as your living resume.<\/p>\n You read that right, Personal Branding is essentially\u00a0\u2018Selling Yourself\u2019<\/em>. Use the nitty-gritty details, include all the facts and figures that you have, get really specific wherever you can. Highlight your greatest accomplishments that will be relevant to the clients and\/or jobs you want to attract.<\/p>\n Avoid jargon at all costs. Your profile description functions just like a cover letter \u2013 keep it concise and clear, and don\u2019t shy away from selling how great you are.<\/p>\n You\u2019d be surprised at some of the profile photos that make their way onto LinkedIn.<\/p>\n Here are the things to keep in mind when selecting your profile photo:<\/p>\n You can get all this without an extravagant professional photoshoot, just plan ahead.<\/p>\n LinkedIn also allows you to add a cover photo to your profile. It\u2019s a great way to stand out and add an extra element to your profile.<\/p>\n Consider incorporating your company\u2019s logo, or an image associated with your profession (for example, a novelist may choose a typewriter or ink pen or a quill and a notepad while an accountant might choose a spreadsheet.<\/p>\n The dimensions should be\u00a01884\u00d7396.<\/strong><\/p>\n Take the time to customize your LinkedIn profile\u2019s URL. Ideally, you\u2019ll be able to change it your name. If, however, the name is already taken, consider adding your middle name or using your profession.<\/p>\n For example, if \u201c\/Manoj-Chandrasekar\u201d was taken, try things like:<\/p>\n \u201c\/Manojprasaath<\/p>\n \/Manoj-Prasaath<\/p>\n If at all possible, use dashes in these URLs, as seen above as Google reads dashes as spaces, and, accordingly, recommends their use over underscores.<\/p>\n Keep in mind that you can only change your URL once every 30 days, so make sure you 100% committed to the URL you\u2019re about to submit since you\u2019ll be stuck with it for at least a month!<\/p>\n Consider publishing articles directly to LinkedIn. You might wonder why should you post an article to LinkedIn rather than your own blog?<\/p>\n The advantage of posting on LinkedIn is that when you hit publish, all your connections will be notified and it will show up in their feed. This increases your chances of your LinkedIn audience reading it. You can also publish an excerpt of an article already on your blog or site, and direct your LinkedIn audience to read the rest on your blog and increase traffic to your site. You can also create exclusive content for LinkedIn and post it.<\/p>\n A LinkedIn profile can list up to 50 skills! So choose relevant skills to fill all 50 slots, and ensure you think strategically about what skills to include.<\/p>\n Fifty might seem like a lot, but it\u2019s once you start adding skills you\u2019ll find it\u2019s actually not that many (especially considering skills can include things as generic as \u201cwriting\u201d and \u201cediting.\u201d)<\/p>\n There\u2019s literally no reason not to accept a connection request, whether you know the person or not.<\/p>\n Given that your profile is a professional, public-facing component of your personal brand, you should welcome any and all connection requests.<\/p>\n Growing your connections will only lead to a wider network and more opportunities. Plus, you\u2019ll show up more.<\/p>\n Every time you accept a request, you\u2019re now going to be part of that connection\u2019s network, and accordingly, you\u2019ll show up as a second-degree connection in their network.<\/p>\n Obviously, there\u2019s one exception to this rule: if someone is harassing you online, you shouldn\u2019t accept their LinkedIn request. Other than that, however, accept requests \u2013 they\u2019re a good thing!<\/p>\n LinkedIn shouldn\u2019t just be a platform for your own posts.<\/p>\n Set aside time to go through your LinkedIn feed and find opportunities to share, like and comment. This is key to building relationships over time.<\/p>\n That way, if you ever are in a position to partner with them or pitch to them, they have a background with you \u2013 you won\u2019t be just another connection, but someone they actually interacted with.<\/p>\n Taking the time to write a personal note along with an invitation to connect will boost your chance of acceptance and also open the door for further communication down the line.<\/p>\n Write a brief message (even a paragraph is fine!) and mention how you met, why you want to connect or something you admire about their business.<\/p>\n LinkedIn is your professional calling card \u2013 don\u2019t comment\/share\/publish anything that you wouldn\u2019t say to a client or employer.<\/p>\n Keep your posts and comments positive, thoughtful, and encouraging, and always treat LinkedIn like a professional workspace, rather than a personal social media profile<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nBuilding Personal Branding<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.wixstatic.com\/media\/649dbd_fc5aa54ece3e46a090c43afffe461ae1~mv2.jpg\/v1\/fill\/w_962,h_600,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01\/649dbd_fc5aa54ece3e46a090c43afffe461ae1~mv2.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nYour Actions Need to Match Your Personal Branding<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nHow to use LinkedIn effectively for Personal Branding<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nOptimize Your Profile for Search<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Approach LinkedIn Like a Living Resume<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nUse Your Description to Sell Yourself<\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.wixstatic.com\/media\/649dbd_505f9c1eef6746d6be179531e87ebaf2~mv2.png\/v1\/fill\/w_816,h_529,al_c,q_90\/649dbd_505f9c1eef6746d6be179531e87ebaf2~mv2.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nReconsider Your Profile Photo<\/h1>\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.wixstatic.com\/media\/649dbd_46fc4da08a624eca89a8483ec86a0c00~mv2.jpg\/v1\/fill\/w_962,h_595,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01\/649dbd_46fc4da08a624eca89a8483ec86a0c00~mv2.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nGet Creative with a Cover Photo<\/h1>\n
Customize Your LinkedIn Profile\u2019s URL<\/h1>\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nWrite Articles for LinkedIn<\/h1>\n
Choose Your Skills Strategically<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Accept All Connection Requests<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nEngage Meaningfully<\/h1>\n
Personalize Invitations to Connect<\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.wixstatic.com\/media\/649dbd_a56644ac359943ac81ed886549579b93~mv2.jpg\/v1\/fill\/w_468,h_383,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01\/649dbd_a56644ac359943ac81ed886549579b93~mv2.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nKeep Your Content Positive and Helpful<\/h1>\n