How To Build Your Personal Brand While Working Remotely

Have you ever thought about how people would describe you both professionally and personally? Well, that’s personal branding for you.?

My name is Jia Ying and my career has always revolved around physical office spaces - from private cubicles to coworking spaces and multistory corporate buildings. That was until I joined LottieFiles as a Growth Hacker and Social Media Manager, where my go-to destinations are Google Meet calls and Slack huddles.??

LottieFiles is an all-remote company with team members distributed across the globe. This whole setting eliminates in-person communication, but that doesn't mean you can't develop your personal brand or seek to improve it.

What's So Important About Personal Branding??

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon said this about personal branding, “Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room."

Having a strong, polished personal brand will not only help you stand out from the crowd but impact your company's growth.

Here’s an example - When you publish a blog post about your learnings, be it about your company or industry, you’ll reveal facets of your personality to the people who read it. This will gradually increase professional impact in your niche and position you as a champion for the company’s mission – all in a personable yet distinctive voice.?

Furthermore, in this day and age, your brand has to have an online presence. Social media has the power to amplify your reach within seconds. How cool is that??

So how do you do it in a fully remote working environment? I'll discuss that below.?

Tips To Get You Started

1. What drives you?

You can start by asking yourself these questions:?

• What skills are you curious about but have yet to build?
• What kind of projects energize you??
• What subjects pique your interest the most??

Take note of any overlap between your answers and build your branding ethos from there.?

2. Map your stakeholders and connect with them?

Since LottieFiles is an all-remote organization, both formal and informal communication is highly valued. This can build friendships - making the entire work experience an enjoyable one.?

Here, we regularly go into informal chat sessions or what we call “donut sessions” aka “do-not-be strangers sessions”! These chats allow us to meet with teammates outside of our immediate team, making time to connect with them.?

Additionally, you can grow your professional circle by following subject matter experts on social media and engaging with them - all without having to travel, look for parking, or wait in line!

3. Share relevant company content on social media?

Create or share content around topics and interests specific to your industry, and your role or department. You may even personalize it with comments that reflect your point of view as well.?

The extra effort that you take to add your voice helps create authentic engagement with your audience, which allows an extended reach and lasting impact.?

PS, make sure you don’t disclose proprietary or confidential information! Check with your team or HR for any content guidelines beforehand.?

4. Say yes to exciting opportunities (even if it's outside of your job scope)

When building personal branding within the workplace, forget about being an invisible hard worker – grab opportunities to participate in company activities whenever you can!?

In LottieFiles, different types of activities are held to encourage our team members to share their expertise and knowledge. Some of the prominent examples would be our in-house hackathons, knowledge-sharing talks called Lottie Tuesdays and community livestreams.?

The fact that it is expertise-agnostic means that anyone within the company can participate, no matter what their role is – which is a good way to build one’s personal brand.?

Time to Polish your Personal Brand Already

In this digital age, everything you do can either strengthen or dilute the personal brand you are trying to create. Yet, it’s all necessary.?

One recommendation is to invest the time necessary to further strengthen your brand. Plus don't forget to leverage every single interaction and opportunity that comes your way.?

In the end, remember to just be yourself. That’s the part of your personal brand that generates trust — a quality that never goes out of style.