Defining, Establishing and Building Your Professional Brand  

Most people associate brands with companies. They think about the brand of clothes they wear, the restaurants where they eat, the cars they drive, or the companies they work for.  However, brands are not exclusively tied to companies and corporations. Everyone also has a personal brand — and in the business world, it is crucial to be aware of your personal brand and promote it. 

What is your Brand?

Your personal brand is many things, including your beliefs, passions, expertise and personality. Before you work on promoting and building your brand, you must first ask yourself some questions:

• What are your personal interests and what are you passionate about? (Maybe you are a parent, an animal rights activist, an advocate for the environment, a runner or yogi, a world traveler or a foodie. )
• How do you think people feel when they interact with you?
• How do you want them to feel, and what emotions do you want conjured when people think about you?
• What is your area of expertise?
• Where are you in your career, and where do you want to be in your career?

All of these things tie into your personal brand.

Leveraging Social Media Platforms

In this day and age, there are a multitude of social media platforms to use both personally and professionally. The key is to start by examining the one(s) you currently use, and then look at potentially dabbling in other platforms in which you are interested.

Let’s start with an important question first: do you want to keep certain platforms for personal, and others for professional use? For example, many people use Facebook for strictly personal purposes, and keep their circle to friends and family only. Others choose to include their colleagues and people in their professional network as well. This can be a bit tricky and could almost be discussed in a separate article all by itself. Ultimately, there are a few things to be mindful of and keep in consideration: if you currently include or plan to include people in your professional network, think about the content you post, and how it will impact your personal brand.

It’s also a good idea to include a professional headshot or picture to your profile on LinkedIn, Twitter and/or any other site you use. This gives your profile a personal touch and helps further establish your brand – after all, what would some of biggest brands be without an image associated with it? Think Nike without the swoosh or McDonald’s without the golden arches!

Next, when writing a blurb or description about yourself, try to mention both your professional expertise as well as a couple of areas that you are interested in personally. This will help to round out your personal brand.

The other key element to successfully leverage any social media platforms is to use an authentic “voice,” and be consistent both in each platform and across all platforms. Additionally, try to mix it up with the content you post and share. It’s great to share industry news and articles related to your career and business, but it’s also nice to add a personal touch every now and then. (This goes back to the areas you are passionate about and participate in, outside of your day job.) Maybe it is sharing a picture of you finishing a marathon, a recent hike you went on, or a family vacation photo or anecdote.

Many social media sites are all about reciprocation. Try to be as active as you can be on the platform(s) in which you do participate: for instance, like and share articles on LinkedIn; consider joining networking groups and associations to engage in dialogues about topics in which you have a vested interest; and connect with your current and former colleagues.

If you use Twitter or are thinking about giving it a whirl, make it a best practice to do the following:  “favorite” tweets you like; retweet; follow people who follow you; and mention people who like or favorite your tweets. This active participation and level of engagement will only help further establish and promote your personal brand.

Building your Brand at Work

Everyone gets busy and caught up in the daily grind of our work days, so it’s easy for your accomplishments to go unnoticed – and not all managers are good about giving recognition. Also, most women struggle with giving themselves kudos, or even receiving kudos and compliments from managers, peers, and sometimes even family and friends.

Ultimately, the onus is on you to help promote your brand, and a key way to do this in in your job. I’ll admit that this does not always come naturally for everyone, especially if you are a humble person, but there is an art to it and you can approach it in a tactful manner. Self-promotion does not have to be shameless.

Example: Next time you have a “win” at work, big or small, spread the news! Did you land a new account? Finish a project on time or ahead of the scheduled deadline? Find a way to save your department money? Create a new process to improve efficiencies? Make a big sale? Consider sending an email to your manager, peers, stakeholders, or anyone you think should know, and who would share in your excitement about the achievement.

As women, it is sometimes easier for us to share the glory rather than to take full credit for anything. Did a colleague make an introduction to a client to help you land that big account? Did you have the idea for that new efficient process, but you had a partner collaborate to iron out all the details and get it implemented? Include those people in your email as a shout-out to thank them. Not only will you receive recognition for the accomplishment, you will spread the love and possibly help promote a colleague’s personal brand along the way.

Key takeaways: Always use an “authentic voice” when leveraging social media platforms, balance your professional and personal interests, and don’t be afraid to promote yourself in the workplace.