Hello again,
So we are all supposed to have personal brands these days. Well, that sounds like a truly terrible reflection on the world. And yes, I do realize the irony of hating the idea of a personal brand when my site is literally named after me. That was a regretful decision made without the benefit of hindsight.
So anyway, we are all supposed to build our personal brand, whatever that means. And distasteful though the idea may appear, its proponents have a point.
Why You Need a Personal Brand
If you run an agency or are a freelancer, the need to market yourself is obvious. One cannot live on word-of-mouth recommendation alone. At least not if you want to avoid those nail-biting months when the phone doesn’t ring.
But what about those of us who take a paycheck for a living? Well, we kind of need to build our personal brands too.
Having a strong personal brand improves your career prospects and ensures our colleagues ( especially our boss) take us more seriously. After all, if other people follow you and say you are great, it must be true!
Of course, unless you are a sociopath like me, then chances are you feel slightly self-conscious about blowing your own horn and telling the world how great you are.
I am sure you have met enough self-important jerks to know that does nothing but people’s backs up. Why are you looking at me like that?
How to Market Without Being a Jerk
So, where does that leave you? You don’t want to be that jerk, but equally, you want to get the respect you deserve. You don’t want to market yourself, but you want to land that dream job.
Well, all it takes is a change of mindset. Stop worrying about marketing yourself and start focusing on helping others. The best kind of personal brand building is to help other people. Help them address their goals and pain points with your time, advice, and expertise.
That doesn’t even need to be a particularly “look at me” way. It takes a certain level of ego to start a podcast, speak at conferences or record a video newsletter!
But you can participate in community conversations, get involved in open sources projects, or help out good causes. You can put yourself out there without it being showy.
Not that there is anything wrong with blogging, speaking, or podcasting. Those are great ways to contribute, as long as you provide value to those listening.
Get Stuck In
Ultimately building a personal brand is about getting stuck into the communities in your sector. It’s about sharing what you know and being there to help others.
