Does your personal brand need some work?
You can start changing that today. Assuming you begin on Monday and take one day off — because who needs Saturday, anyway? — you can get cracking on all six of these personal brand-building to-dos, at a pace of one per day, before the start of the next workweek.
1. Identify that “One Thing”
First, ask yourself: what’s that one thing that sets me apart?
The answer to this question is apt to be elusive. It’s not guaranteed to be simple, either; you might justifiably believe that multiple “things” set you apart, that you have multiple strengths worth constructing a personal brand around.
If nothing else, though, this exercise gets you into a branding mindset. As long as you’re thinking in terms of standing apart from your peers and competitors, you’re on the right track.
2. Claim and populate relevant online directory profiles (separate from your social profiles)
You don’t need a fully fleshed-out brand to assemble its superstructure. Take a day to claim relevant digital directory profiles and populate them with basic biographical content. (Remember, you own the rights to these, and you can always revise or swap out the content later.) This Crunchbase profile for David Mimran, a noted film producer, is a good example: it features a comprehensive professional biography, links to other web properties, and basic demographic information about Mimran.
3. Refresh your personal media library
Don’t worry: your photo library doesn’t need to be as on-brand as an A-list actor’s. It does need to be authentic, varied, and current. Take an afternoon (and a willing friend or colleague) to shoot some new profile pics and candid shots in at least two different settings. You’ll want a mix of professional photos (think LinkedIn) and looser, “relaxed” pictures too.
4. Get serious about social
If you’re not yet active on social media, now’s the time. Re-tool your top profiles — Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and perhaps Twitter and Snapchat — to align with the brand you’ve begun to flesh out. If you’re an entrepreneur seeking synergies between your personal and professional brands, you’ll need to set up social pages for your enterprise, too.
5. Set up premium content channels
The Muse offers a staggering 26 different ways to build your personal brand, one for each letter of the English alphabet. If you have the time — and the reading glasses — you’ll want to tick through them all.
The Muse’s ‘P’ tip really stands out: “P is for podcasts.” The tip advises readers, in part, to “repurpose every bit of content you create for other mediums” in a podcast. In other words, your podcast is your fans’ gateway to your personal brand, with all the variety it entails.
Don’t stop at your podcast. Set up a Patreon account and create premium content (written, multimedia, audio, whatever suits your skills) for paying customers. Turn up a personal publishing platform — more than just a blog — to fortify your brand. And remember to pivot to video with your very own YouTube channel.
How’s your brand looking?
Follow these five tips and you’ll be well on your way to building a better brand. Just don’t stop there. As any branding expert will tell you, a true personal brand is a way of life — you’ve got to live it every day, lest you lose sight of what makes it unique.