Building and Communicating Your Professional Brand
Over the years, companies have consistently communicated their “why” through relatable and captivating slogans. “Think Differently” for Apple, or “Just Do It” for Nike, all help users connect with them and distinct them from the rest of the companies. All these as part of their “Brand” to adequately communicate their Value Proposition and most importantly, humanize their marketing efforts.
What is a “Brand”
What is your Mission? What values do you stand for? What is your Value Proposition? These, alongside distinctive colour aesthetics, tone of language and public persona are what makes up a Brand. Whether we want to admit it or not, we all have a brand; a public image we need to embrace and own up to. So the real questions rather become: How do we own up to our brand? How do we adequately communicate this “Brand” we amass as we grow professionally?
Building, Content Creation & Continuing Professional Development
A great part of growth relies on introspection, acceptance and learnability. As we embrace our public image and become intentional about shaping our brand, we need to ask ourselves: Who am I? What do I want to be known for? What do I excel in? What motivates me? What areas do I need to improve in? What are my weaknesses?
Adopt the habit of writing these down on your Journal as you journey this chapter of your brand. Engage colleagues, friends and peers about some of these matters to get a better grasp of who you are in relation to how the public perceives you.
Figure out your Niche & Audience
In your venture, what specifically do you want to be known for? What would you like to specialize in? How will you stand our from the rest? What gap are you looking to fill? Figuring out how you will stand out ultimately catapults your path towards market success. The more you aim towards filling a gap in the market, the easy you will be viewed and respected as an industry Thought Leader.
As we gradually understand our public image and build this “brand”, it is critical to understand the market you will be operating in. Who are you trying to appeal to? What tone should you use when communicating with them? How [and where] do they acquire and share their information? Where are they located (think about both your immediate and potential market)?
Update Your Social Media
Do you have an community? Do they know what you do? What about where you work? When they have a particular problem, are you part of the people that crosses their minds? How many active Social Media Accounts do you have? What type of content do you produce? Are your profiles up to date?
Social media is a balance of both Networking and Media, meaning we have to be mindful of the content we produce and the image we portray. Update your LinkedIn Account and be intentional about where you invest your social media energy on. Post regular content that allows your friends and family to make sense of what you do for a living, what your career is and what profession you’re engaged in.
What about brands? Find brands in your ecosystem and eagerly engage them. Feel free to use LinkedIn to connect with professionals, engage with their content and share your thoughts and opinions as well. Share your thoughts, successes and milestones and professional engagements and never be too afraid to be inquisitive.
*Remember to upload your latest CV on LinkedIn and upgrade to Premium and make use of LinkedIn Learning.
Document and Create Content
A huge part of our growth is putting ourselves out there. JUST START! Because done is better than Perfect! Getting over our Imposter Syndrome is a huge part of this and allowing ourselves to grow by sharing. Document your journey, your successes, lessons learnt from failures, thoughts and opinion pieces. Factor and divide your content into: Educational, Entertaining, Inspiring and Informative.
Figure out different content mediums you can deploy as you do this. I strongly advise you try and invest in multiplatform and multi-content creation. This means as you share your Article, have a conversation on it over Insta or FB Live, or have a Podcast on it, etc.
Create More. Document More!
Continuing Professional Development
More employers want teams who think and invest outside of their formal education. How far have you invested in your professional development? To what extent have you used your formal qualification to add more value? Have you volunteered your skillset? How about internship or mentorship opportunities? Have you facilitated or been part of any workshops?
A greater part of growth is realizing how much you don’t know, what sets you apart is investing in key skills you need to know. Sharing content? How much do you know about public speaking or presentation? What about writing?
Are you formally employed, how many online courses have you done or currently engaged in?
In the early stages of your career, I’d suggest these free online courses for your professional growth:
- Problem Solving (alison.com)
2. Strategic Thinking (LinkedInlearning.com)
3. Becoming an Effective Project Manager (LinkedInlearning.com)
4. Becoming a Transformational Leader (alison.com)
5. Fundamental Skills in Digital Marketing (https://learndigital.withgoogle.com/digitalgarage)
Your Brand Exists Outside of Social Media
Let’s make sure to network more, meet new people and visit networking events and opportunities around you, whether online or offline. “Shoot Your Shot” to any entrepreneur, manager or professional you admire over a coffee date and engage with them. Let us extend our public outside of our phone and take it to the public. You will never go wrong.
