Has LinkedIn Become Too Personal?

This week’s edition was going to be about losing my vision, but I’m just not ready to discuss that just yet. Instead, I think it’s time to bring attention to personal branding and why it’s such a hot topic right now, especially here on LinkedIn.

Since I began branding myself as The Inappropriate Copywriter, my LinkedIn impressions and engagement have increased by nearly 5,000%, I just hit 10K followers, and this newsletter has almost 900 subscribers – in only three weeks. Talk about girth, density and penetration! Marketing terms, folks! ??

NEXT EDITION: SMART PEOPLE SWEAR.

I see a lot of personal brand posts with comments such as, “this is a professional networking website”. As if it’s not acceptable to ever be personal on LinkedIn. Someone even recently told me that they “wouldn’t hire me based on my LinkedIn profile” and “stop being yourself” (the advice was for me to not share my thoughts so unfiltered and raw).

We all know that is not going to happen. I love my weird, juvenile, fun, silly, smart AF and clever words. They help other people understand that being authentic and genuine is a celebration in a world where people fake their social personas because they live in fear of judgment. Like I said in another article, fuck what people think of you – they’re going to judge you no matter what. So, give them some good shit to judge.

I love to recall my beloved favorite quarterback, Cam Newton, who had crazy pre-and-post game outfits. When the media would squawk at his fashion choices and make a mockery of his “off the field” preferences, he laughed. I read an article once when a journalist flat out asked him, “Why do you dress so flamboyantly?” and his response was brilliant, and it fucking worked. “It takes the public’s sole focus off how I play on the field.”

His personal brand became a big part of his story, despite the fact that he was a beast on the football field. People started looking forward to seeing what crazy outfit he would wear every Sunday. I’d have to dig a little bit, but I feel like he might’ve been the one who started this entire era of “NFL player outfits”. We see those posts EVERY week now from every NFL team, showing off every player’s pre-game outfit. It’s who they are off the field, and we love it (secretly or not).

People are interested in who people are. Not just their field work.

When my agency Tylar + Company was in full-on swinger party success (I learned about swinger parties after discovering my husband was a full-on swinger behind my back, post-divorce, thank God), one of my biggest responsibilities was grinding to get new business. I did this very easily and often by doing one single simple thing everywhere I went: I got to know people personally. By striking up a conversation about their family, their interests, hobbies, passions, etc. – I was able to organically talk about my involvement with similar topics, whether personal or professional. Shooting the shit with a person sans sales talk made the transition into that dreaded sales talk a hell of a lot easier. They trusted me because I expressed how genuinely interested I was in WHO they were as a person before I ever even offered up my services.

I remember when my LinkedIn feed was all “look at my success, look at my accomplishment, look at my awards, look at my new job, look at what my company is doing” – and I’m sure you do, too. I can say that it was a bit exhausting, and frankly, uninteresting as all hell. I rarely turned to LinkedIn for any other reason than to just connect with people professionally. Now, engagements are much higher on content that has personality and tells a story over simple accolades and accomplishments.

I love to see my feed so much more diverse today.

People are finally discussing taboo topics and diving into the realities of profound issues that we, as people, deal with every day. It is here on LinkedIn that we tastefully, respectfully, and maturely debate impactful topics with dignity. I believe this is a direct result of personal branding.?

But your personal brand is not just about your personal life. It’s about your character as an expert. When we put a purpose behind our personal brand, our skills are reflected through personal motivations, values, and thoughts. I have said for many years that my professional character is spirited, fun, personable, and naturally persuasive - and sometimes mixed in with some juvenile humor. The day I decided that the combination of all those things is The Inappropriate Copywriter, I started to win more attention.

I focused on:

The purpose of my content: Sincere insights

Giving it meaning through my passions: Writing and production

Being my authentic self: Inappropriate and taboo

If you’re just starting your personal branding journey, ask a few questions to get yourself started. You can even copy my focus formula above.

What is the moral of your story?

What traits make you you?

What makes you credible?

How do you want people to feel?

Or just answer the smartest stupid question and be done with it:

How can I create content that allows others to see me the way I see myself?

Holy shit, that’s authenticity at its finest. But it’s worth it to assess and reflect on what you stand for in life. Define your vision. But my advice is not to worry about your audience (despite what other “personal branding” experts say). This is not a professional brand where you are targeting a certain type of buyer profile.

Even if you work for a large company and don’t feel like a personal brand is necessary, you can still be respected and regarded in your industry for being true to your craft – and yourself.

Stay inappropriate, friends.