Branding Yourself Online
The power of the web has created the golden age of the individual. Social media tools provide us with more opportunities than ever to shine. But these days it takes much more than a website and a business card to get attention. It's all about creating a strategic online plan for the most important brand around: YOU.
How do you want your audience to think about you? Are you going to dive right in, fly by the seat of your pants, and deal with potential backlash as it comes? Or will you carefully plot out your meteoric rise to stardom? Whichever path you choose, personal branding has two essential requirements: passion and authenticity.
But how to translate those qualities across the vast online landscape?
Have a consistent narrative bio and use it everywhere -- on your LinkedIn profile, your Facebook page, your Plaxo info. Make sure that everywhere people find you, the words that you use to describe your expertise are the same, and that those words truly describe what you do that is unique.
Don't fall back on business-speak. Nothing will relegate you to the back of the pack faster than bland, overused, meaningless language.
Resume Sizzle: Why a Personal Brand Is a Must-Have for a Job Search
I am doing an increasing amount of private consulting with mid and senior career job-changers -- or career transitioners as we are now calling them. Both individually and in seminars that I conduct, we approach the challenge of personal branding as it relates to the job search -- and nowhere is branding more critically important.
How will you position yourself relative to the invisible others trying to best you? How will you frame your expertise and skills? What words will you use to communicate your unique value to potential employers? These are the kinds of questions we answer, before reshaping a resume and writing the all-important Narrative Biography, the two-paragraph third-person description of yourself and your value that I constantly evangelize about.
If you would like examples of what great Narrative Bios look like, read mine or email me for others.
In a recent Sunday New York Times, there's an article about job hunting called "Job Hunting Is, and Isn't, What It Used to Be." Nothing really new here -- yes, we are all more vulnerable, thanks to social networking and the open kimono that it forces upon us. But many, many more of us spend all our job searching time hiding behind the computer, using amorphous job sites to send resumes and cover letters to faceless recipients. No wonder it is such a frustrating process. The takeaway is that nothing replaces the face-to-face meeting with real people in real time, thus making the human connections necessary to firmly establish your personal brand. Says NYT writer Alina Tugend:
"So, I guess the lesson is that job hunting has been transformed to some extent. You can do a lot more of it at home in your pajamas. But some things never change. When push comes to shove, you still have to put on a suit and go out and meet people."
The only thing I would add to this is: Don't leave home without your brand firmly in your back pocket. Know what it is you are selling and how you will wow 'em with your facile description of it.
Job Hunters: What Are You Selling?
Come on over to the Blog and share your thoughts on job hunting.
Having a Brand Identity Crisis?
We can help whether you're a small-business owner, entrepreneur, or consultant or are thinking about changing or upgrading your career. We've helped hundreds of people create solid, successful, and memorable brand identities. Email me to learn more about our affordable programs and turnkey packages that will get you on the road and on the map in no time flat!
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What We Do
Whether in the executive suite or as an entrepreneur, every leader must win the hearts and minds of their customers. We work individually with small-business owners, entrepreneurs, sales executives, vice presidents, and CEOs to develop the messages, stories, and winning performances critical for top-performer advancement and success.
We offer a full range of individual brand consulting packages, as well as ongoing personal brand seminars and workshops. Our work is hands-on and highly interactive, teaching you how to determine your innate brand value, and your market differentiation, AND how to leverage your personal brand as an in-demand market asset.
About Lyn
Lyn Chamberlin, founder and principal partner of skye|PR, is an Emmy Award-winning television producer. She has more than twenty years of experience in the design and execution of strategic public relations programs, sales training, and leadership coaching. She is a former Director of Communications at Harvard University and a Vice President for Communications at MIT. As Director of Television Programming for The Monitor Channel, she participated in the launch of the award-winning 24-hour international cable news channel. A television producer, writer, and corporate media consultant, she uses her reporter's eye for finding the stories behind the people and companies that she represents.
A graduate of Columbia University, she lectures frequently on strategic communications and personal branding.
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