From Personal Branding to Board Membership

I recently met with an expert with a brilliant educational background and 24 years of cross-industry experience. She was well-regarded within her field but confessed that she had a hard time getting extra-curricular engagements including a board seat. I reviewed her background after the meeting and discovered that she has almost no presence on the web. Her LinkedIn profile with less than 50 connections was plain and missing a ton of important details. No presence on Twitter either. Obviously, she is very knowledgeable and could add a lot of value to many companies that did not know she even exists.   

Don’t let that happen to you. No matter where you are in your career progression, start building your professional brand now and let the world know about you. Here is how.

Online Presence

Online presence is a must. No matter how many live events or meetings you will attend, you can only reach that many people and places. Going online expands your presence and influence worldwide. The more people recognize you as an expert, the stronger your influence. First, you will directly benefit from establishing your professional brand and create new opportunities for board engagement. Second, the company you join will equally benefit from strong brands of its directors.

Start building your on-line presence. Time and money invested in learning and building social media accounts today will yield a great return in the future. Start with LinkedIn. Max out LinkedIn profile details and features, but go far beyond that. Use smart tools like SocialQuant to grow your  following on Twitter and engage with your audience.

Write an article on your area of expertise and publish it on LinkedIn. Once you have plenty of posts in your bank, secure your domain and start a simple blog on WordPress. Be a guest publisher. For those who want to advance one notch further: join Podcasters’ Paradise and launch your own podcast.

Net Worth

Your net worth is determined by the quality of your network. We all know the importance of networking. However, not many of us approach expanding the network strategically. Treat it as project, and not as sporadic activities. Be strategic about who you connect with. Ask yourself who you need to meet to expand your knowledge and network to the next level and help the company you would like to join.

Make it your priority to meet one new professional every week. Create a networking calendar and schedule not only meetings (in-person, virtual) but all the important follow-up activities (calls, emails, social media interactions). Contactually is a great software for managing and following up with your contacts. Remember, that social capital is one of the most valuable assets you can bring to the table as a member of a corporate or advisory board.

On-line presence and networking go hand-in-hand. The more you advance in building your presence the easier it will be to reach out to other experts and influencers. The first places to look for new connections is LinkedIn, social media groups, alumni & business associations. Ask for referrals and introductions.

Cultivating a network is a long-term (lifetime) endeavor. Yes, it takes months, if not years, before you build your A-level network. But as Brian Tracy teaches:

“Time will pass anyway”.

In 24 months, you will be two years older no matter what you do. But it’s up to you to decide whether you will be worth 100+ valuable connections more than you were two years ago.

Treat networking as a duty to serve others. Think of all the great introductions you can make to help people and companies prosper.  Take networking seriously, work smart on making new connections and see your network (as well as your brand worth) grow in value exponentially. 

Portfolio

We often easily forget how many of diverse experiences we have had. As we master our daily duties, work becomes more mundane, letting us overlook all the learned skills, accomplished projects and, volunteer experience. Try to look at your professional path from the third party (brand manager) perspective. Make a list of all the assignments or projects you have been involved that will add value to companies you would like to join. Capture those moments to create your own professional portfolio. Supplement experience with evidence: photos, papers, recommendations, quotes by people you worked with.

Creating a professional portfolio is not only rewarding, but extremely fun. Take photos and videos with influencers you met and worked, events and trainings you attended, and presentations you delivered. Prepare briefs of the most important projects that you have been involved. Use numbers, people and venue names to depict a vivid picture.

Where should you showcase your professional portfolio? LinkedIn can be a good place to start, but I would highly recommend creating your own website for this purpose. You can create a simple yet beautiful one-pager resume website in a couple of hours using drag and drop website builders like Wix or Weebly. Your own website showcasing your professional achievements will build social proof. It will create trust and establish you as expert.

Building a strong professional brand will pay off in many ways. Don’t wait for a chance, create them. And, as you work on your brand, please reach out and connect. I would love to be a part of your net worth.  

Found the article interesting? Please, spread the knowledge by sharing it!