As a flag carrier for LinkedIn and a storyteller by nature, I have thought a lot about personal branding over the years. Really, ever since college, where I was a communication studies major. The professors were really pedaling digital portfolios, personal websites and using LinkedIn as a tool for job hunting and content creation. I’ve thought a lot about this topic but never looked up the actual definition. So here it is:

Personal branding is the intentional process of defining, cultivating, and promoting your unique identity, skills, values, and story to establish a specific reputation and attract opportunities in your field or desired industry.

Essentially, it’s your story, attitudes, and capabilities that compile your image – and it’s also the impression that others get when they interact with you or your digital footprint.

A short anecdote to start…

When I was looking for my first career job after undergrad, I sat through plenty of interviews, and I kept getting rejected. It seemed like an entry-level job wanted 3 to 5 years of experience, and no one was willing to take a risk on a recent college graduate. So, I took to LinkedIn and made a post:

“Recent college graduates are having a tough time right now. We want to use our degrees. Change our lives for the better.

Job descriptions, necessary experience, qualifications, and the massive number of competing candidates are intimidating!

Any person who graduated in the last three years did so during the pandemic (we are adaptable, resourceful, and resilient).

Some of us worked jobs during our education to make ends meet (we can endure stress).

We ~hopefully~ had social lives (we understand time management and work/life balance).

All we need is an employer willing to take a chance on us. We might surprise you.”

And thus, a comment from who would soon become my employer: “Please DM if you are interested in talking. We are always looking for smart, hardworking people at Sweeney!”

This post is still my most liked post, even after 3 years of relatively consistent posting (depending on how you define “consistent”). And at this point, I was forming my personal brand – smart, hardworking, persuasive. My “brand” would grow over time as I learned more things, but this wasn’t a bad place to start.

Why build a personal brand?

• People trust people: This might not be true in all instances, but people interact more with other people than with brands. As the agency’s LinkedIn manager, I can say this: I can post the same thing on my page and the company page, and I will get more impressions and more engagement – for no reason other than I am a human. I see this on a larger scale with thought leaders who have a high follower count as well.
• What’s good for you is good for the brand: Executives with strong personal brands drive higher engagement for their companies. What’s good for the expert ends up being good for the company. It’s a great way to build thought leadership, and it’s mutually beneficial.
• Shift in careers: People change jobs/industries more frequently than ever. Some stats even say 5 – 7 times! Creating a digital version of your personal brand helps you create an image for yourself before you even get to the interview.

LinkedIn is a great place to start. Why?

• 1B+ global users
• Top B2B platform for professionals
• Trusted source for insights, leadership, and expert content (knowledge-based platform)
• 61 million senior-level influencers and 40 million decision-makers (hiring or otherwise!)

LinkedIn is an amazing place to house your “central hub,” and by that, I mean, you can easily share other materials, such as Substack links or newsletters, through the platform. And it’s the best place to be active if you’re thinking about switching careers, getting a new job or finding a mentor. Think about all the alumni networks – people feel an obligation to help or interact with you because you have something in common. Everyone else is using this to their advantage, so why shouldn’t you?

How do I decide what to share?

Personal branding is NOT self-promotion. It’s a way to share three things:

• Identity (Who you are, what you stand for, what you don’t).
• Visibility (Where you show up and how consistently). Maybe you have a newsletter, are on Substack, or you speak at a lot of conferences.
• Value (What others gain from interacting with you). Are you teaching people something? Are you trying to be relatable? Are you trying to share more about the organization you started or are proud to work for?

Answer these three bullets, and you’ve got a great head start on deciding what your personal brand is.

What are the next steps?

1. If you’re using LinkedIn, optimize your profile. Display a warm headshot (or sterile, if that’s your personality), explanatory headline, branded or informative (but neutral) banner, bio that is authentic and is written in your voice (preferably in first person); make sure your job and education are on there with accurate dates, etc.
2. Decide what you want to talk about and share. Maybe you’re an SEO expert and want to talk about how traditional SEO is still important in this era of “zero click” AI search. Or, maybe you’re a PR professional and believe the secret to showing up in AI search is PR (hint – it is). These are great topics to start to build expertise, and whatever channels you choose to share your content on (portfolio, LinkedIn, Substack, newsletters, webinars, etc.) should align with your identity and personality in your tone and voice.
3. Be consistent with posting and sharing. The hardest part is starting. Some people think it’s cringeworthy or embarrassing to share their expertise. “But what if people I know see it?” That’s the point! Challenge yourself to consider videos – it’s the best way to showcase your personality in small, digestible snippets while providing value in the content to whoever views it.
4. Most importantly, be yourself. We all know AI-generated content is saturating everything. Be different! Don’t have AI write everything for you. It can help generate ideas and can fix grammar, but when we use it to write all of our content for us, our personal brand gets lost. No one can be you better than you!

If you are authentic online, you will come across as authentic and genuine in networking events as well. Be the same person online as you are in person, and your personal brand — aka YOU – will be 10x more memorable.