What is a Personal Brand?
A professional personal brand is a public representation – developed strategically – that showcases an individual’s professional skills, values and expertise. It helps determine how they are viewed by their colleagues, fellow association members and their industry as a whole. As John Jantsch, author, speaker and marketing consultant, describes it: “Personal branding is the art of becoming knowable, likeable and trustable”.
In today’s digital world, LinkedIn is the primary platform for professionals to build and manage their brand – providing a space to highlight achievements, engage with peers, and demonstrate thought leadership.
Building a personal brand on LinkedIn allows association members the opportunity to position themselves as thought leaders within their industry, and publicly establish their expertise. Through consistently sharing thoughtful content and insights – as well as engaging in productive digital dialogues on trending industry topics – association professionals can make meaningful contributions to their area of expertise. This can lead to speaking engagements and invitations to contribute to association publications, while enhancing their recognition and reputation within their industry.
Personal Branding Benefits
Receiving online recognition for an individual’s work within their profession, as well as engaging with fellow association members on the platform, is an ideal way of forming and fostering real-world relationships. These may, in turn, lead to knowledge sharing, connection and collaboration on future endeavours – making for a more valuable association membership experience for the individual.
A strong personal brand can also help association professionals to develop their career. Recruiters and hiring managers frequently use LinkedIn to help fill vacant roles, and establishing oneself as a prominent industry professional is bound to attract their attention – potentially opening up new, exciting opportunities.
By highlighting their association, their involvement in the organisation’s activities and their contributions to their industry, individuals are equally likely to gain favour with fellow members and their association’s leadership. If desired, this may assist with securing nominations for leadership positions, awards or committee roles.
As individuals grow their personal brand, and the size of their LinkedIn network, association professionals can also give back to their organisation, and assist with its growth and development. By sharing the benefits of their membership, and promoting workshops and events while advocating for their association’s missions and goals, individuals raise their association’s profile and help attract new members and sponsors.
Similarly, by publicly celebrating the work and accomplishments of their fellow members, individuals help foster an engaged and supportive professional network – furthering the sense of community within their organisation. This can significantly assist their association with member retention.
How to Build a Personal Brand on LinkedIn
Developing and nurturing a personal brand on LinkedIn requires more than just simply updating a profile, and sharing career updates or achievements. As in the real-world, the cultivation of online relationships involves actively and authentically engaging with your connections, participating in relevant discussions and consistently providing value to those in your network. To be successful, you must consider how to genuinely benefit your peers while building a presence which reflects your professional identity and goals.
Creating content and tactfully engaging in the right conversations are amongst the best ways that individuals can build their professional brand online. For those not sure where to focus effort to generate results, or for those who feel daunted by the thought of sharing opinions publicly, or are simply unfamiliar with content marketing, help is at hand.
Creating content and tactfully engaging in the right conversations are amongst the best ways that individuals can build their professional brand online.
Here is some basic guidance for getting started:
Define your content pillars
Content pillars are key themes or topics around which you should create content. By honing in on specific niches – those relevant to their industry and experiences – professionals are able to become known for their discussion of certain topics and will attract an audience interested in exploring these ideas
For example, a mechanical engineering professional might focus content around advanced manufacturing techniques and technologies, engineering design innovations and combine this with insights into their experiences as an association member.
These could take the form of simple text posts, home-made video recordings or whatever creative mechanism comes most naturally to you. What is crucial, however, is that you are providing value to others through your insights.
Repurpose content
When starting out, individuals often feel the need to continually produce new content – which can be overwhelming. Central to any well-planned content marketing strategy is the use of repurposed content. This can be achieved by identifying which themes and topics are best resonating with peers and then creatively reproducing these successful pieces – reworking their narrative angles, adapting their focuses or exploring new formats so that the content feels fresh.
Engaging with others
To expand the reach of your voice beyond your own network, it is essential to engage with your peers and fellow association members in thoughtful discussion and dialogue. Identify well-regarded individuals within your association or industry – looking for those frequently posting on LinkedIn – and send them a Connection or Follow request.
You can then engage with their content in a way that positions you as a knowledgeable and authentic industry professional. This might well spark lively conversations with others within your sphere of interest, enhancing your reputation and growing your network.
Final Words
It may take time to see the fruits of your online labour, but with consistency and authenticity at the heart of your approach you will soon see real-world benefits for yourself, your association and, potentially, your industry at large.
Cultivating a personal brand on LinkedIn is a powerful way for association professionals to develop new, fruitful relationships, connect with fellow members and unlock new career opportunities.