What gets you ahead in life?
Skills? Contacts? Both?
Maybe you have your own theories – why not pop them in the comments section? – but whether you’re trying to climb the career ladder or just improve your social circle, you can move forward with a little self-marketing.
And that means a little personal branding.
Not sure how to go about it?
The good news is, you don’t have to talk about yourself in the third person.
The better news is, I’ve whipped up a few personal branding tips for you.
Be consistent
Consistency is king when it comes to branding, in my view (and hey, it makes a change to content being king!), since it helps you to earn the trust of your followers.
If you’re constantly chopping and changing, chopping and changing, you come across as being indecisive or in some kind of crisis (or do you?).
So, be consistent in your words and actions if you want people to take you seriously. When you say you’re going to do something, see it through to the bitter end (as long as it’s worth it!). It all strengthens your brand.
You can even be consistent in your dress, and why not? Not that you have to enslave yourself to a shirt, tie and cuff links around the clock.
If you’re going somewhere less formal or doing something relaxed, just wear more casual clothes but still retain an element of style. Leave the ‘I went to Blackpool and all I got was this lousy T-shirt‘ T-shirt in your drawer (unless you’re trying to personally brand yourself as an idiot)!
Dazzle with that expertise
Nobody likes a know-all, but here’s the thing: as part of your personal branding you need to be one, you brainiac you!
This doesn’t mean strutting up to a group at a party and interjecting with ‘Did you know pockets of air in the sea bed are thought to draw in vehicles that enter the Bermuda Triangle? That’s why everything disappears in it?’.* The sound of the tumbleweed blowing past is deafening.
What you’ve gotta do is share interesting information with your followers on social media. I find Twitter is the best tool for the job (I do love a bit of Twitter action, too!).
So why not write and tweet a cheeky li’l blog post with some gems for your followers?
That’s not to say you have to stick to Twitter and no other. All you techies, for instance, could post on Instagram a piccie of the latest shiny piece of technology you’ve discovered, or of some rare gadgetry discovery you’ve made. Make a video of you using it and splash it on Facebook or on YouTube for your followers out in Techland to drool over with a can of Dr Pepper.
Get yourself out there!
Fancy yourself as some kinda big shot? Well, then, you’ve gotta get yourself out there and make yourself known.
Sure, you’ve got to establish a presence on the Net and maintain it. But even as far-reaching as the internet is, there’s still only a certain distance you can project yourself across it when it comes to personal branding.
Don’t just let your fans, followers, etc. get to know you from the other side of a computer screen, even if they’re using a Mac! Get your network on, exchange a few (business) cards and win hearts and minds!
You can boost your personal brand by attending events and showing everyone what a fantabulous person you are.
It’s your time to sparkle, you superstar you, and soon they’ll want to walk like you, talk like you (because they’re tired of monkeyin’ around!).
How does it feel?
You’ve created your personal brand and are striding down the road to success. Once you get noticed, you’ll feel on top of the world.
Build your personal brand and fight for what you want.
No… not just for what you want, actually.
But for what you deserve.
Images by MabelAmber, Unsplash and Ribastank, used under CC license 1.0
*(That is one theory I’ve heard. Afraid I’m not prepared to head to the Triangle to test it out. Sorry!)
