How can you quickly improve your personal branding skills?

Who is your ideal audience? What keeps them up at night? How will you serve them and solve their biggest problems? Your goal should be to be able to answer those questions and to relay that solution to your audience through your branding and content.

> Identifying a niche and what stands out > person mission statement - offer vs impact to be clearly defined > audit & refining online media presence > build audience through value generated content & engagements (genuine) > presentation must align with brand perspectives > set measurable goals and audit the growth > special voice - being authentic. The key is being strategic and consistent about shaping our image and reputation over time with focused effort; We can make quick progress!

I always encourage people to start with a "Why?" and then repeat to go deeper in understanding desired outcomes and past roadblocks. "Why is this important to me?" "Why is now the right time?" "Why have I been afraid to start in the past?" or "Why have I given up before?"

First step in building a powerful personal brand is knowing yourself very well and your purpose- it is called a Personal Brand, who is this Person? One of my favorite questions to identify your purpose & hence the objective of building a personal brand is answering this: If making an impact in the world & on people became a paid job, what would be the impact you want to make? And who would be the people primarily benefiting? “Target Audience”

In my experience, you’ll benefit greatly from spending time writing out the answers to the questions in the article. In addition, I would add the questions: 1. What makes you uniquely you? 2. Ask others what words come to mind when you think of me? 3. How can I help solve others challenges and pain points? 4. What do I value and how does that show up in my life?

Personal branding is not just about showcasing your achievements but telling a story of your journey, values, and vision. By clearly defining goals and ensuring your online presence mirrors that narrative, you set the stage for authentic connections with your target audience. Remember, consistency is key.

I would also encourage you to ask others what your content and current social presence says to them! It can be eye-opening to learn how others are receiving your content.

3 steps to make content valuable: Step 1: Define content pillars! It's important to build pillars for consistent & focused messages. Ex: (1) social media marketing, (2) email marketing, (3) webinar marketing. Step 2. Under each pillar, define smaller topics. This helps you be value-specific to readers. Ex: under social media, you can go for: content format, editorial calendar planning, production workflow. Step 3. Pick content angles (how-to, listicle, comparison, observation,...) to deliver the topic. Ex: content format + how to => how to choose the most relevant content format. Content format + listicle => 5 content format you shouldn't keep producing. That's how to travel from a broad topic to specific values. Good luck :)

Content is king. By putting content I format of your audience, they will learn how you can serve them, what knowledge you have to share, and what you stand for. In addition to posting regularly on sites such as Linkedin, it is a good idea to utilize other formats such as blogging and podcasts. Having a range of mediums allows you to reach a wider audience and to share different types of content. People want to work with people they know and trust. By sharing your thoughts with them and showing them how you can help them, you foster that confidence.

Once you know who exactly is your target audience, start creating valuable content for them, solve their problems & challenges and build human connections and remember to always optimize your content depending on each platform or social media channel

Value is subjective. Some people like to learn, others want to be entertained while others can look for inspiration. Whatever you create, see this: -Identify your strengths. -Determine your platform. -Focus on quality. -Continuously optimize. -Niche down. Make your content engaging!

We’ve all heard the expression, “Your network is your net worth”. It’s spot on. Don’t take your network for granted, and don’t wait to need a network before you build one. Build your network now. Reach out to people who you admire, whose work inspires you, and who you can learn from. Take advantage of any opportunity to help others, to offer connections, and to collaborate. Make your relationships genuine and not transactional. Give more than you get.

Best advice for networking on Linkedin you expect to hear: ?? Grow your network and build a conversation with people But the actual advice is: 1?? Find a list of people you wish to have in your network 2?? Send connection requests with a personalized note 3?? Engage with their content with genuine interest 4?? Arrange meetups outside Linkedin 5?? Make you a friend they appreciate Sending requests and stopping at “let’s connect” is not networking. Take a further step and that's how you make it meaningful. Be it on Linkedin or not, networking is not just "meet and greet". Build conversation to exchange ideas and add value, that's how you grow a strong network.

Networking is all about mutual benefit and helping one another. Here are a few steps that I use to network with people on LinkedIn: 1. Through comments: Comments are underrated when it comes to networking. When you leave thoughtful comments on people's posts, they remember you and that's how a good relationship starts. 2. Through DMs: Once you build a rapport through comments, slide into their DMs. Listen to their story, pain points, wins. Be a good listener. 3. Via networking calls: Ask people to get on a networking call with you once you have known each other for a while through comments and DMs. Converse genuinely on the call. Keep in touch with each other. That's how you build a good professional network.

Love it or hate it, ongoing networking is crucial for moving forward. Good news — LinkedIn is an ideal platform for networking comfortably and grabbing employers' attention. You can connect with people worldwide from the comfort of your home. If you stay active on LinkedIn by posting and engaging, people will remember you. Plus, when you’re visible on LinkedIn there is the added benefit of being recognised when you're at real life events.

I would recommend calendaring engagement and develop a process to ensure you are consistent. For example it could include things like: 1. Comment on 10 posts form influencers in my industry 2. Comment on 10 posts you find interesting 3. Comment or post in 3-5 groups 4. Engage with comments on your posts 5. Respond to DMs 6. Send 10 networking requests

An example I've seen is of professionals who dedicate just 10 minutes a day to engage with thought leaders in their industry on social media. This not only keeps them updated on the latest trends but also increases their visibility and credibility within their community. Such consistent and focused efforts can significantly amplify one's personal brand over time.

Don’t be afraid to try the same content in two different formats, different days or time on the same day. See what works and drives the best engagement for your audience.

Share your journey through storytelling. Share your learnings, experiences, and challenges in a way that is authentic and relatable. This will help your audience connect with you on a deeper level. Here are some specific ways to share your journey through storytelling: - Write a blog post about a challenge you faced and how you overcame it. - Create a video or podcast episode about your learnings from a recent experience. - Share a personal story on social media about something you're passionate about. - Give a presentation or workshop about your work. When you share your journey through storytelling, you are giving your audience a glimpse into your life and experiences. This can help them to better understand you and your work.

Finally, don’t forget to use the power of storytelling! People relate to stories and it stimulates lots of emotions with your audience that are very powerful in driving them to keep following you to gain value, such as: - Inspiration - Excitement - Education - Happiness & Positivity A lot others and finally do not underestimate your story, what you think is normal is exceptional to someone else

Building a strong personal brand is a N1 alternative to a CV in 2023. → Use your LinkedIn profile as a powerful landing page → Enhance your profile with endorsements and recommendations. → Connect, share, learn, and engage in your field. → Control your narrative in Google Searches with evidence. Let your work speak for itself and let your personal brand do the talking. Your CV can be outdated, but YOU can forever be an icon.

Give some thought into how you want to be perceived. Do you want to be seen as an expert? Someone relatable? How about kind & supportive? Begin with the end in mind. It might be because you're naturally good at it. Great - do an audit of all the things you're good at. It might because you love doing it. Brilliant - write a list of all that things that energise you. Or it might be because you want it to align to what's important to you. Excellent - jot down all the values that are important to you. Shortlist them to the top 5. The key here is to be intentional about what you want people to feel when they experience your personal brand. And you can only do that if you know what that is yourself.