Communicating your personal brand doesn’t have to be complicated. Your next step is often right under your nose! This episode concludes Jennifer’s three part series on personal branding, and she shares 6 ways that you can do to begin sharing your personal brand and how to get the opportunities that you’re looking for.

• Over the last three weeks, Jennifer and her guests have dissected what a personal brand is, how you can define it, as well as how you can continue to develop your brand throughout your career and your life.
• Although your personal brand is always evolving, there are guidelines that will help in effectively communicating who you are, who you help, the solution/s you deliver, and how it impacts the people involved.
• Your personal brand helps people determine whether you’re a good fit for their needs. “Are you authentic enough? Are you expert enough? Are relatable enough?” Your personal brand is what defines you, whether you like it or not, whether you’re aware of it or not – so make it work for you and not against you.

So, what can you do to get your personal brand out into the world? Here are 6 Action Steps that You Can Take to Share Your Personal Brand with the World:

#1 Online Activity. The internet is one of the best ways to build your reputation, so it’s your responsibility to take charge of your online activity and understand the importance of having and keeping a positive online presence.Fact: Information about you that’s found online is used by others to assess your credibility, knowledge, and experience.

• In the book, Career Distinction by William Arruda & Kirsten Dixon, they suggest that you do a Google search of yourself and answer an online distinction survey to help you assess your current online identity.
• Jennifer notes that a great way to boost your online presence to your favor is by creating a 100% complete account on LinkedIn, pay attention to that platform, and find ways to be active.
• If I search for you online, I should see your personal brand statement right away and examples of how you’re growing in your career, volunteer activities, or just some way I get a positive first impression about you enough to take the first step: hire, recruit, collaborate, etc.

#2 Share your expertise through writing and curating content. Writing allows you to spread your knowledge that can help people and make an impact in their lives. Share your thoughts unique to you, write about what you do, what you think about the future, what you think is going on with the world now.

• If you don’t want to create a website or start your own blog, then offer to write for or curate other thought leaders’ content.

#3 Helping others by mentoring and coaching. Helping other people actually helps you! Being THE helpful expert, builds your online presence as someone who is knowledgeable enough and sought out enough that makes people want to follow you.

• Great coaches, great mentors, are GREAT LISTENERS. People who ask, “Tell me what’s going on in your world, how do you feel about that, what do you think you should do next?” They listen, ask, and then give advice — more often than not, they help the person work through the problem themselves.

#4 Being active on at least one social media platform to share your expertise. “If content is the fuel for your personal brand, then social media is the engine.” – Jason DeMers, AudienceBloom CEO

• Create things that go up higher on search results, something that social media platforms can help you achieve. Choose one social media platform that you’re going to invest your time and effort on. Post thoughts, connect and interact to build meaningful relationships – use that site to its best advantage. You can join all the social media channels IF you have the capacity to, but at minimum start with one.

#5 Speak, moderate, and be a panelist. Not everyone needs or want to be a speaker, but even if you don’t want to stand up and be the keynote speaker with a thousand people in the room, you can be on a panel and share your expertise. Challenge yourself to stand up and share your expertise, just being a speaker at an event, elevates their perception of your credibility as a leader.

#6 Volunteer: Help organizations, help places you support, help connect people. There’s a reason why business executives, gurus, and other thought leaders commit to volunteering efforts. Aside from the obvious positive impact it has on your image, it’s effective in building solid relationships as well as getting things done. Being a leader who volunteers is a win-win-win situation for the cause you support, your connections, and your personal brand.

The most powerful word in branding is, “THE.” When people say you are, “THE something,” then your personal brand is working for you. If you want your personal brand to continue working for you, then you have to define it, develop it and have it communicate WHO YOU ARE and WHAT YOU STAND FOR.

Want a little help creating your personal brand?

Jennifer has a free resource for you. The Personal Brand Workbook will help you figure out what your personal brand is today and what you want to be known for in the future, as well as how you want to impact the world. Download it today!

Resources & Links:

Impact Makers Episode 23

Impact Makers Episode 24

Impact Makers Episode 5

Let’s Fix Work with Laurie Ruettimann Episode 24

Career Distinction by William Arruda & Kirsten Dixson

Jason DeMers

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Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

 

In his Fast Company article, Tom Peters wrote that this is ‘The Age of the Individual,’ and that everyone, from the receptionist to the CEO, must take charge of their own careers by becoming the CEO of The Brand Called You. That was back in 1987, and many people have already caught on, creating a very noisy space. But that means that it’s more important than ever to have your own personal brand as strong as possible.

• How do you determine your own personal brand? You answer the following questions: Who are you, who do you help, and how do you do it? This is the basis for people understanding if they’re interested in you, if they want to do business with you, or hire you. What is your brand telling them right now?
• There are a lot of people who don’t believe in personal branding. They believe that people shouldn’t be treated like ‘tubes of toothpaste,’ shouldn’t be packaged and neat and pretty, because it’s inauthentic. Yes, some people try to brand themselves in a way that isn’t authentic, but you might also consider personal branding as ‘reputation management.’ In fact, you already have a brand – or a reputation – whether you like it or not.
• Let’s dive into what a brand really is, and the definition is pretty simple. When someone says the name of a person or company, brand is the first thing that comes to mind. For example, saying Starbucks evokes the green goddess logo, along with coffee. Maybe for you, it’s ‘comfortable,’ ‘meeting place,’ or even ‘my reason for living.’ That is brand. Think about Apple – it evokes certain feelings for you, one way or another. Those feelings might not all be positive, and that’s important.
• In terms of people, Oprah is a brand and a person. She evokes both positive and negative thoughts. But here’s the important part: she communicates the positive aspects through her work. It’s the message she chooses to share, and it’s what makes her so incredibly successful. Martha Steward is another great example. Jailbird might come to mind, but below that, you have a woman who is a master at home and in the kitchen, and she shares it with the world.
• So what does all this mean for you and your personal brand? People want to be involved with others they like, have positive associations with, or promise something they want. That is true when you’re a job seeker, entrepreneur, author, or already employed and looking to rise within the company. Building authority and influence – and communicating it through your personal brand – helps you succeed with that.
• We mentioned that there’s a lot of noise and the professional and online world is very crowded. Which means that people, more than ever, are looking for others they resonate with. If you haven’t tended your brand, you’re setting yourself up for mediocrity. As Kary Oberbrunner said, “clarity attracts, and confusion repels.” If you don’t know who you are, what you have to offer, and how you can help others, neither will anyone else.
• You don’t need to ignore this lesson because of semantics. You can call it whatever you want: brand, reputation, story. Names aren’t important, but how you communicate with the world is. At the end of the day, people will have impressions about you, just like they do with Starbucks, Apple, and Oprah Winfrey. Would you rather have some degree of control over what those impressions are?

Want a little help creating your personal brand?

Jennifer has a free resource for you. The Personal Brand Workbook will help you figure out what your personal brand is today and what you want to be known for in the future, as well as how you want to impact the world. Download it today!

The Brand Called You – Fast Company

Impact Makers Episode 7 – How I Became A Speaker And Entrepreneur

SHRM Annual Conference

Society for Human Resource Management

Sheryl Sandberg

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy

Adam Grant

Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World

Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success

WorkLife with Adam Grant: A TED original podcast

Talent Magnet Institute podcast

Jennifer McClure – Personal Brand Workbook

Are you ready to meet the Oprah of HR? On today’s episode of Impact Makers, Jennifer sits down with the infamous HR wizard, Kris Dunn. He is the founder of two popular blogs The HR Capitalist and Fistful of Talent and is also the CHRO of Kinetix, an Atlanta-based recruiting, RPO and HR consulting firm.

• Where does the story of Kris Dunn start? Kris talks about his rural Missouri roots, the value of his basketball coaching experience, and the general arc of his career that led him to the HR world.
• For Kris, working in HR was where everything finally clicked into place. Jennifer asks Kris about how and why he knew that HR was the place for him. He shares with the audience the importance of mentorship that helped him find his path, and provides some practical advice on how to take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves.
• At this point in his career, the Monday-to-Friday thoughts of Kris Dunn are read far and wide. But it wasn’t always so: Kris shares what spurred him to enter the world of blogging and what the early days were like before The HR Capitalist and Fistful of Talent started gaining traction.
• As one of the first well-known HR bloggers, Kris is known for his conversation tone, fun references, and an impressive 5-day-a-week schedule. Jennifer asks him how this consistency has played into the success of his blogging and writing endeavors.
• If you can manage to build and maintain a following of readers like Kris has, the potential for meeting new people and finding new opportunities skyrockets. Jennifer and Kris talk about the various relationships – both personal and professional – that have come about through blogging, as well opportunities for career advancement. Kris talks about how his blogging fit into his career at different points in his life.
• Is being an entrepreneur all it’s cracked up to be? Jennifer asks Kris about his feelings around entrepreneurship as someone who might not have founded a company, but had invested his family’s future in an existing business.
• No one starts or becomes a partner in a company just for the hell of it. Kris talks about a couple of the items on his entrepreneurial bucket list that he has been able to cross off while working at Kinetix.
• With all the blogging that Kris has done over the years, it seems like there is a collection of books just waiting to be written. Jennifer asks Kris about the possibility of writing a book in the future, his Boss Leadership Training materials notwithstanding. Jennifer and Kris also talk about their experiences as facilitators of the Boss Leadership Training.
• As an HR, recruiting and training professional, Kris has met all kinds of people in all kinds of fields. He passes on some advice for how to make an impression and build up your career in today’s working world. Here’s one for the road: Keep detailed records of your project work – professional or otherwise – and always be ready to bring it to the table to make a lasting impression.

Resources & Links:

Kris Dunn / The HR Capitalist

Kris Dunn LinkedIn

Kris Dunn Twitter

Kris Dunn Instagram

Kris Dunn Facebook

Fistful of Talent blog

Kinetix

Shannon Russo

Boss Leadership Training

Laurie Ruettimann

Impact Makers Episode 2 – The Thriving Contrarian With Laurie Ruettimann

William Tincup

Impact Makers Episode 5 – Radical Candor In Marketing With William Tincup

Tim Sackett

The Talent Fix: A Leader’s Guide To Recruiting Great Talent

Impact Makers Episode 15 – Rewire Yourself For Growth With Tim Sackett

Are you struggling with developing your personal brand?

You can now download Jennifer McClure’s Personal Branding Worksheet to help you ask and answer the right questions so you’re making the best impression.

Check out another trailblazing HR powerhouse!

HR expert Laurie Ruettiman hosts a podcast called Let’s Fix Work where she speaks with a diverse array of people about how to change the way we think and work for the better.

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