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Hey Miss Jane – about my personal brand message…

Hey Miss Jane – I want to create and articulate my personal brand message, where do I start?’

Hi, there lovely readers! In the first of my ‘Hey Miss Jane’ series, let me share a question recently asked by a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) transitioning to his next role.  ‘I want to create and articulate my personal brand message, where do I start?’

Good question! If you’ve been bum up, head down in your company, chances are you’ve not had a chance to actively nurture and promote your personal brand in the marketplace. Problem is, the minute you leave or your position is made redundant, your work email address, mobile phone and contacts disappear and you effectively become invisible.  That’s not good for you will want to be found, to be seen, to be networked, to be potentially job offered. Problem is, not everyone feels comfortable with promoting their brand.

I’m a private person, I don’t feel comfortable ‘marketing’ myself

Regardless of whether you are gainfully employed or currently in the job market my lovely reader, you need to kick the “I’m a private person, and I don’t feel comfortable ‘marketing’ myself” last century self-talk to the curb and step up, shape up your personal brand and ‘own’ it!

Let’s face it; companies spend millions on advertising to build and maintain their brand image. Well, we too are a brand. We are the CEO of our brand, accountable for our brand’s professionalism, the curators of our brand’s marketing. And as social media and professional social networks such as LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook Page (not to be confused with Facebook Social) continue to emerge, even more so. (In fact, not being active on certain platforms fuels suspicion – a technical Luddite Something to hide?)

Today we have an endless number of possibilities to build, strengthen or recreate our personal image. The question is not whether you want to be a brand, but whether you want to shape it yourself or let others do that for you!

Branding is what people say about you when you are not in the room’ 

Two friends shared their personal branding benefits:

I started building my personal brand online with the help of LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and my personal website and blog, long before I became an independent public speaker. Sharing successes, posting videos, images, and summaries of conferences I presented at, writing articles on the customer experience including my own, customer delight being the premise of all my work. Doing this showed my network that I’m an expert in that field – this helped me to lay the groundwork and find clients.” (Matt)

“I‘m working as an account manager at a technology company that offers project management software. As I’m interested in fashion, I post and write regularly about the latest tech trends in that industry on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. My boss sensed that my knowledge in that industry was of value due to my client portfolio garnering more and more fashion companies, and thus assigned new customers coming from the fashion industry directly to me.” (Clare)

You can see that building a personal brand doesn’t happen overnight. But when you are ready to invest some time in these steps, your career will benefit from it in ways you probably can’t even imagine!

Interested? Six simple steps…

1. A Personal Branding Statement

Concise and to the point, a personal branding statement shows who you are and what you have to offer. As you develop your statement, think about the following:

  • What are you good at, passionate about and thoroughly enjoy doing? (skill + interest = strength)
  • What makes you stand out from your peers? e.g. Your bubbly personality? Your ability to communicate complex things in simple language? Your problem-solving skills? Your eye for finding smarter ways to tackle tasks? Your ‘can-do’ attitude?
  • How do you want to make a difference? What superpowers have you used in your past and present roles and how have they benefited employers and clients?
    What do others say that you do exceptionally well?
  • What were the most important work-related projects that you completed – how did you master them? Did you collaborate with others? Dig deep and be resourceful? Take risks? Did you have to be creative and think of new approaches, come up with new solutions? Use your network? Now identify three attributes that are common to the way you completed the projects.

Once you’ve determined these you’re almost there. Compose that line and pop it above your Career Summary in your Resume, under your name in your LinkedIn profile, in the LinkedIn summary, on your Facebook and Twitter, and under your email signature.

2. Backup that Statement

Until you have proof, your personal brand is merely hearsay. Think about all the times you used those attributes and jot down the challenges/situations you were addressing; the specific actions you took to address them and the quantifiable outcome of those actions. You now have a few fantastic achievements to back up your brand statement. Add these to your Resume, LinkedIn summary, etc.

3. Audit

Now that you know how your brand looks and feels, it’s time for an audit! Enter Google. Search your name and see who shares it. If your name is common, consider using your middle initial or middle name. From there, push yourself to Google’s first page and ahead of that competition by building your brand through content on social media platforms relevant to your brand, always with your branding byline included in your profile summary. The more active you are on your social media platforms the closer you will appear at the top. Using a consistent profile picture helps, too.

4. Consider a Personal Website

Having a personal website is not only one of the best ways to rank your name on Google; it also looks professional in your email signature and on your social media profile. It doesn’t need to be content-rich. A simple site with content similar to your resume with links to other social platforms and a short bio is enough. Over time you can add a blog or a Twitter feed, YouTube links, publishes papers, anything relevant to support your brand message. You can also add some lines about your personal life – it gives people something to connect with instantly. Here’s mine  Jane Telford

5. Add (focused) value

Now that your brand is taking shape, the fastest way to establish yourself as an expert in your world of work is to share articles aligned with your brand message. You can do this by following Influencers, companies, Media, Publications, and hashtags on LinkedIn. Be picky about the things you post, consistent in your chosen fields of interest, and conscientious of the value you can provide your connections. Choose content that not only shows your expertise but also is of interest to your (potential) followers. Where possible, select a nugget that interested you in an article and comment as you share. Much more personable than merely on-sharing.

6. Influence!

Now your personal brand has been established, has been backed up with proof, and further reinforced through content sharing on social media sites, being an actual contributing author can add further value to your brand. Consider using the blog application on social media platforms or even creating your own and using a savvy application to share your content automatically across all your social media platforms.

Follow these steps and you’ll have your personal brand message built and promoted in no time. It takes consistency and ongoing “construction” to keep the flame under your brand alight, but once you set up the basics, the brand will work for you and open new doors!

Last but not least – you can take a look at strong personal brands like Richard Branson, Andy Foote, Lets Grow, for inspiration. If you are my candidate and reading this, we are already well on the way to building a strong personal brand for that’s my expertise, my personal brand in action. We just need your story to be told right and in a unique way! Your personal brand – sharp, focused, and most importantly, visible!

If you’d like to connect with me, you can find me here:  LinkedIn: Jane Telford

Now about that LinkedIn Summary…

Hey there lovely readers, how’s that LinkedIn profile looking now? Did you jump in and kick start or fine-tune the five primary areas of real-estate as discussed in my previous post? Well done! Now, given there are 610 million members on LinkedIn, you’ll be wanting to stand out now, won’t you? Well then – let’s refine the ‘About’ section – your very own personal advertisement.

Jobseeker?

Use the ‘About’ section to discuss your professional, technical and personal skills, your industry experience. Make sure the first sentence encapsulates your offer as this is the only sentence your reader sees. Make it memorable enough to encourage ‘click bate’, inspiring them to click ‘more’ and read on. Use bullet points for added emphasis as well as a short narrative describing your career and details on how to contact you (email address and phone number in international dialling format)

Passive jobseeker?

Start with ‘Specialist in….’ again discuss those professional, technical and personal skills and industry experience, coupled with a short narrative describing your career. Sign off with ‘Invitations to connect and enquiries welcome’ and details on how to contact you.

Freelance or consulting opportunity seeker?

Discuss how you can help your audience, whom your typical clients are and be sure to include actual, quantifiable results. Proof that you can make a difference for them, should they wish to engage you. Provide details on how they can see your full offering and ways they can contact you or lodge an enquiry. Including a short narrative on your background and what excited you to consulting will further engage your audience.

Senior Executive?

Here your profile will focus on the business for it will be read by staff and stakeholders, the media, your peers and your competitors. Position your value well, and don’t be afraid to add insight into yourself as a person to help people relate to you. 

Third-person versus first? C Suite executives may require a more formal profile however, for the majority, personalising your summary makes you much more – well – personable. 

Posted in AT WORK, Earn | Comments Off on Now about that LinkedIn Summary…

Building a kick-butt LinkedIn profile

Hi lovely people, been enjoying my career tips so far? Excellent! Now, let’s talk about one of the most critical elements of your personal branding – your online presence.

As the world’s premier networking site, LinkedIn is where people go to check you out. To determine whether you’re worth interviewing for that job opportunity or consider whether they’d like to do business with you. To identify whether you’re worth working/networking with or that you are deserving of that business proposition. Well then, you’ll be wanting to make a fabulous first impression then won’t you? Still doubtful? Here’s food for thought: LinkedIn – the modern day rolodex

With 610 million members worldwide, 10 million of them Australian, not only will you want a profile to be in the running, you’ll be wanting to stand out yes? A starting point is to ensure your primary pieces of LinkedIn real estate are on point. Let’s go!

1. Your photo

Ever googled yourself? I did, and I was surprised to find I share my name with 17+ people, including a famous UK author and a popular Australian interior designer. My photo helps my audience find me quickly, and yours will too. Bet you’re Googling yourself right now!

Make yours clear, bright and smiling – your business face. No kids, no proudly holding the fish that didn’t get away, no standing in mining truck buckets. Kill the motorbike, the crash helmet, the race. Just bring your face.

2. Your Headline Banner (under your photo)

LinkedIn, by default, will pop your job title and company here, but why waste this valuable banner with wording that will be found in your Experience section?

Find your unique selling proposition, what it is you offer that makes you stand out, and use your banner to promote it. Here’s mine as an example: Jane’s LinkedIn Profile

3. Your ‘About’

Here’s where you’ll articulate who you are, what you do or offer in more detail, and what that means for your audience. The first two lines are critical for that’s all that’s visible, so make ’em count! Take the time to compose a fabulous statement. One that substantiates your banner statement and is compelling enough to ‘hook’ your readers into clicking ‘more’ to read on.

Although you have 2,000 characters to play with, you’ll want to make your story sharp and focused given your audience spends less than 30 seconds viewing your profile. Think carefully about the audience you want to attract and what you want them to do when they read your information. Make it distinctive and memorable, use words that are known and picture it up so that people can ‘feel’ your story. Oh! And ensure primary keywords related to your target audience are included for easy keyword searches by others.

Of course, you’ll triple check spelling and grammar (Grammarly is a great little piece of software for doing this) and have someone double-check. Throw some bullet points in for easy readability and don’t forget, numbers less than 10 should be written as a word, e.g. ‘three’ not ‘3’. ‘

4. Your Experience

Your work history helps your audience understand your career progression and where those fabulous strengths depicted in your summary were developed. Keep the job scope to one single overarching sentence and follow with a couple of quantifiable achievements, again reinforcing your banner and summary. Oh! And unless you’re planning to flip burgers at Maccas again, your ancient history isn’t necessary. Just the most recent roles and relevant to your future strategy. My background lies in retail yet that history is absent from my profile. Why? Well, for one, it was back when wheels were square and thus dates me, and it’s also irrelevant to my current personal brand.

5. Your Activity

Huh? I hear you say. Yes, your activity. The kind of articles and content you share. Let’s take a step back for context. One of the most marvelous things about LinkedIn (in my eyes) is the home page feed. In contrast to Facebook’s feed full of holidays, breakfasts, kids’ first day at school snaps and rehashed ‘remember when’ memories, LinkedIn’s feed usually comprises of business-related articles.

The LinkedIn home page feed is a great place to learn, for the best of the best business leaders are sharing best practice daily. (Branson has 16M+ followers, Gates close to 20M). Find articles aligned to your areas of expertise and share at least twice a week. An almost effortless way to market you and your brand expertise.

I follow thought leaders (influencers), channels, # tags and companies I’m interested in to ensure I’m across global best practice. I also share articles that reinforce my expertise, adding a brief comment about the article and a nod to the author. Where to find juicy things to follow and ultimately share? Pop into Settings & Privacy – Accounts – Site Preferences – ‘make your feed your own’ and simply hit ‘follow’ for all that appeal. Stay tuned for hints on how to adjust your summary as a job seeker, passive job seeker, consultant, senior executive or retiree. And of course, comments always welcome!

Posted in AT WORK, Earn | Comments Off on Building a kick-butt LinkedIn profile

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