Keeping a strong personal brand on social media is vital in any occupation. But with so many different social media platforms available, it’s easy to get lost. Even with so many options, LinkedIn is undoubtedly the leading platform for building a strong personal brand.
LinkedIn is focused on fostering professional networking, career, and business opportunities.
This makes it an excellent place to build your personal brand, showcasing your skills and expertise to potential employers or clients.
You can develop an impressive LinkedIn personal brand by creating a great profile, collaborating on articles, and interacting with other professionals in your industry or niche.
What is a Personal Brand and Why it Matters
A personal brand is essentially the perception of others about you as an individual. It’s what people think of when they hear your name, and it can be a powerful tool to help you stand out in your industry.
Creating and cultivating a strong personal brand is important if you’re looking to build your career or business.
A strong personal brand will help you to:
Build authority in your field.
Attract trust and credibility.
Establish yourself as an expert.
Get new business opportunities.
Get noticed by recruiters and potential employers.
Keep in mind that personal branding is not about self-promotion; it’s about sharing your unique value proposition with the world. But how do you go about branding yourself on LinkedIn?
Let’s find it out!
But, first of all, optimise your LinkedIn profile by following our tips here.
Be your authentic self on LinkedIn.
Post about you!
Your followers are not following your company, they're following you. The more personal your posts, the more empathy and engagement you will get and the more people will feel as if they have a connection with you. They are then more likely to find things in common and build a relationship with you — all the ingredients for successful social selling.
The best way to get over your fear of posting is just like getting over your fear of anything. Do it! Just post. Once people have viewed your post, they will move on to the next one. The most you can hope for is that someone thinks about your post and reacts to it. Maybe it will change their behaviour positively or enable someone to think more positively about your personal brand.
Start with one post a week, and then build up to daily posts.
Be authentic in your posting. Post about personal stories, challenges, issues, successes, failures, basically anything about you that you can frame in a business context. Connecting on LinkedIn is like meeting someone in a pub; you don't just talk about work, you talk about everything, so follow that same philosophy on LinkedIn too.
One of the best examples of real personal branding is Gary Vaynerchuk. He is a famous business expert who is known for being himself. Many people say he is just as authentic in person as he is online.
The most noticeable thing about him is that he doesn’t censor himself. In fact, he's more likely to turn down a speaking gig that asks him to tone down the swearing than he is to actually tone it down.
He talks to you the way you talk to your friends. He doesn’t walk around in an expensive suit reminding you that he’s more successful than you. He’s a down to earth kind of guy.
His genuine approach makes his personal brand very successful.
People buy from people
On LinkedIn, people buy into other people, not companies. LinkedIn is all about you, the leader.
In the simplest terms, selling by building relationships with customers/prospects is about understanding what matters to your customer and communicating the value you can bring.
For people to know you and like you, they need to get a taste of your personality. You may have heard this quote before “For people to do business with you, they need to know, like and trust you.”
This is a statement about you, your company, and your product. Any person doing business with you needs to answer this question in their own mind: “Am I making a good decision by working with this person?”
A strong personal brand is effectively providing this answer for your prospects.
Understand Your Audience
Understanding who you want to reach with your personal brand is critical to creating a memorable image. Consider the needs and values of your target audience and develop a personal brand that resonates with them.
By addressing their concerns and offering valuable insights, you can establish yourself as a trusted authority in your industry.
Provide Value through Education
Shift the focus from self-promotion to providing value through education and empowerment. Share industry insights, best practices, and actionable advice that can benefit your audience.
By positioning yourself as a resource for valuable information, you not only attract engagement but also foster meaningful connections with fellow professionals.
Be consistent
Consistency Is Key. We’ve all heard the phrase, but what does it mean when it comes to LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is all about getting your personal brand out there by growing your network and building relationships, and any relationship takes time and commitment. Users who post on LinkedIn a minimum of twice a week get 4x the number of clicks per share than those who post infrequently.
The less frequently you post, the less likely it is your network will see anything you do put out. But being too frequent can have its consequences – any more than twice a day and the LinkedIn algorithm spreads your reach too thin, tanking your overall engagement.
If you are wondering what a good LinkedIn post looks like, here’s some inspiration…
Engage, nurture and grow!
When you comment on other people's content, you get noticed. The power of LinkedIn's organic reach is immense. When you comment on other people's posts, your network will be shown their content, even if they are not directly connected to the content creator.
The same is true for your comment appearing in a new user's feed. The "network effect" works its magic and spreads your content far and wide.
This gets you noticed by not just the creator but other people in the comments too!
Do more of this
Write meaningful comments on other's posts
Send people a connection request when they engage with your content, write a short nice message along with it
Don't do this
Sending bulk connection requests to people you've never engaged with before
Pitching and selling your services a second after connecting with someone
💡Here’s a tip, visit your favourite creators profile and hit the notification button. This will give you a reminder everyday to engage and comment once they have posted.
Mastering the art of posting on your personal LinkedIn account may initially seem like a daunting task, but with perseverance and strategic execution, you can transform from a novice to a hero in the realm of professional networking.
Your personal brand is the key to unlocking opportunities and building lasting connections on this platform.
Remember, authenticity is paramount—let your unique voice and experiences do the talking.
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