I’m obsessively interested in personal branding. My journey of discovery has led me to build my own personal brand, to help others build their personal brand, and to create a comprehensive guide to building your personal brand.

The fact is, everyone has a personal brand. Our digital environment is such that almost everyone has an identity online, even if they aren’t controlling it or monitoring it. The simplest approach to personal branding is to simply embrace this fact and start taking control.

I’ve put together this list of simple tactics so that you can shape your personal brand beginning right now.  

1. Connect with one new person a day.

The idea of “personal brand” sounds so big and scary that some people don’t even try.

You don’t need to be scared of personal branding. It’s nothing more than building relationships. One of the most authentic and easy ways to enhance your online reputation is to reach out to people.

How do you reach out to people? It’s simple. Here are a couple suggestions:

• Find someone on LinkedIn who is in your industry and with whom you’d like to get connected. Send her an invitation.
• Send a Facebook message to an old college buddy or someone whom you haven’t spoken to in a long time.

As you widen your online social sphere, you’ll also improve your reputation.

2.  Write a guest post.

Writing guest articles has been one of the most dramatic methods of increasing my personal brand. Through guest posting, I’ve reached audiences that I could have never been in touch with otherwise.

Even though guest posting takes a lot of time and effort, it certainly pays off. To get started guest posting, you’ll need to work on writing some content. If you have your own website or blog, this is a great starting point. Next, identify other blogs in your niche, and ask them if they are open to accepting guest posts.

3. Sign up for HARO.

One method of enhancing your online reputation is to get press coverage. How do you do this? Apart from doing something either criminal or insane, there are some free or inexpensive methods of getting in the news that will help enhance your reputation.

One method is through HARO, or Help a Reporter Out. HARO helps journalists to find experts and stories. You can sign up for a free account, and gain inroads with journalists on Fox, GAnnett, AP, Fox, and other news networks.

If you can position yourself as an expert in your niche, you may be able to powerfully enhance your online reputation through wider coverage.

4. Get on a webinar.

Jon Morrow former editor of Copyblogger, built his personal brand in a powerful way. His secret? Webinars.

He explains:

Webinars are live, online presentations where there are usually multiple hosts discussing a specific topic. Companies are using webinars to educate current and customers on specific topics.

There is power in webinars because of the vast potential reach and the level of expertise that you can provide.

Through webinars, you can influence hundreds if not thousands of people in a few short hours. Your name, your reputation, your brand — all of it gets a major boost.

Launching your own webinar can be expensive, time-consuming, and complicated. That’s why I suggest that you find an industry colleague who already runs a webinar. Webinar hosts often look for people to interview, quote, cite, or interact with. You’ll never know until you ask.

Another option is to use Periscope. It's an app launched by Twitter which allows you to shoot and broadcast live feed over your phone. You should definitely take advantage of the new social content platform and become one of the early adopters.

Bonus tip: If you can create really good webinars over Periscope, many of its investors and influencers who are involved in the company will share your content with their audience. For example when Gary Vaynerchuk streamed his "Ask Gary Vee Show" on Periscope, Chris Sacca and other investors in Twitter shared his live feed to their own audiences.

5. Endorse someone on LinkedIn.

Here’s an easy task that you can do right now. It takes five minutes or less.

Go to LinkedIn. Find the profile of someone you work with, and write a quick endorsement.

Easy, huh? In the few minutes you took to write an endorsement, you boosted your online reputation. An endorsement shows the other person that you care about them. You’ve observed their work, value their expertise, and want to make your commendation public.

Ideally, you’ll do this out of the kindness of your heart. But you do get something in return. Everytime someone looks at that individual’s LinkedIn profile, they will see your recommendation. In addition, the person who received your recommendation will appreciate your gesture of goodwill and may reciprocate.

It’s just one small way — a simple act of kindness — that can go a long way in improving your online reputation.

6. Create a group on LinkedIn.

Creating groups on LinkedIn is a revolutionary method of growing your audience. With LinkedIn groups, you can connect with hundreds of real people in a very short amount of time.

I formed the LinkedIn group Marketing Leaders of America. Within a few months, the group grew to more than 9,000 people in it. It doesn’t take me much time to manage the group or to sustain discussions. Most of that is handled by group participants.

Meanwhile, I get to enjoy the interaction of the group, and share what I’ve learned with other people.

7. Have a conversation with a leader.

Never be afraid to connect with influential people. It could be the most significant thing that you do.

Building your personal brand is about using leverage. If you don’t have a big platform, find someone who does. Use someone else’s platform to build your own.

One way to do this is simply following an influential person on Twitter, and engaging her in conversation. Ask a question, mention him, or retweet. The simple recognition you get helps to associate you with this thought leader, thereby improving your own reputation.

8. Make a video.

When growing your personal brand, you need to find what works for you. Not everyone is going to latch on to webinars, or guest blogging, or podcasts.

Brian Dean used videos to build his personal brand. When we reached out to Brian as I was preparing for my personal branding resource, he told us this:

Videos are THE best way to grow your personal brand. Period. There’s no other medium that’s even close. I plan on creating 25 high-quality videos this year so that readers get to know me better.

Videos allow you to communicate on two levels — visual and auditory. This two-pronged approach furthers your brand building and increases your level of influence.

9. Get a professional photo.

A great photo is absolutely essential for growing your online reputation. I would go so far as to say that selecting the wrong profile picture can ruin your reputation. Here are my top three tips for your photo:

• Hire a professional portrait photographer. As easy as it is to take a selfie with your phone, this isn’t the best method for capturing a professional profile picture. Go with a pro. It will cost you a little bit, but it’s an investment that is worth it.
• Use the same photo on all your social media profiles. The same photo across social media sites helps to build trust and consistency.
• Smile. A smile is a universal expression of kindness and goodwill. Just smile.

10. Come up with a tagline for yourself.

A personal statement or tagline is a helpful way to define your personal brand. Michael Hyatt calls this “a compelling brand slogan.” This description fits because you as an individual are a brand.

A brand slogan is memorable and unique, communicating the vibe and culture of the company. Like Coca-Cola’s “Open Happiness” and Capital One’s “What’s In Your Wallet” you can develop your own personal brand slogan that captures who you are and what you’re all about.

11. Keep your visuals unified.

The very best brands have a streamlined visual appearance. The Apple website, an Apple ad, and even an Apple iphone all have a similar look and feel. This brand cohesiveness is an important part of branding.

The same should hold true in your personal branding. Use the same design, color scheme, images, and style when designing your social profiles, website, and other online platforms.

12. Make it easy for people to contact you.

One of the best ways for letting people get in touch with you is through your website. If you have an about page, you can easily add a contact form or your email address.

Conclusion

You can control your online reputation. Through intentional curation and a bit of time, you can develop the online persona that you choose to develop.

What tactics do you use to improve your online reputation?