Personal branding on LinkedIn a waste of time? 5 myths debunked! #agencypublisher

"Personal branding? It's a waste of time. I'm too busy working". Actually that's not my opinion but that of an ex-colleague of mine. Who is currently unemployed. Go figure. Seriously though, anyone who doubts the importance and value of a powerful personal profile on social channels like LinkedIn must be deluded. Or as Gary Vaynerchuck, expert social commentator states:

"It’s important to build a personal brand because it’s the only thing you’re going to have. Your reputation online, and in the new business world is pretty much the game"

The notion of personal branding has been around for some time. As Oscar Wilde put it so eloquently "be yourself, everyone else is already taken”. So why is that some people have such an issue with it? I've taken a look at the top 5 reasons why people are so cynical about developing their own personal brand and debunk some of myths surrounding those barriers...  

Myth #1. Personal branding is only for extroverts - or as someone once said to me, it's just bragging. Rubbish. As Muhammad Ali was famously quoted "it ain't bragging if it's true". That said, it is a common misconception that personal branding is really just for gregarious types. The truth is that showing some humility is a distinct advantage when developing your own brand. Authenticity is absolutely key as any savvy employer will easily sniff out any BS. As William Arruda in his article for Forbes puts it:

"If your approach to personal branding involves wearing a mask... you will fail"

Myth #2. LinkedIn is just like Facebook - The two platforms are entirely distinct and should never be confused (although the lines of demarcation can occasionally be blurred). As Chris J Reed, Global CEO at specialist LinkedIn agency Black Marketing puts it:

"LinkedIn is a peer to peer network in a business context. It's like a business networking event. So whatever you do in a business networking event you should do on LinkedIn"

So, no matter how funny that clip of cats being scared by cucumbers is (that is a thing by the way) just don't share it on LinkedIn. Like I just did. Doh. 

Also it's probably a good idea to have a different profile picture on each platform as well. A decent picture of you can increase your profile views by 14x according to LinkedIn. So whilst a shot of you chomping on a mezcal worm whilst ligging out in Cabo may garner some interest it's probably not the best first impression for a prospective employer. 

Myth #3. Your personal brand is at odds with the brand of your employer -Your personal branding should actually support corporate branding. Most enlightened employers will empower their employees to express themselves. The only caveat is that it must adhere to the brand values of the organisation. In other words it is 'applied' personal branding. Again, LinkedIn expert Chris J Reed hits the proverbial nail on the head:

"By leading from the front you will also encourage all your team to do the same thing and posting their own blogs is a great way of marketing your brand and services directly and indirectly"

Myth #4. Personal branding is just too difficult and time consuming - I hear this excuse all the time. The point here is that you will make time if it's important to you. Just 10 minutes a day makes a huge difference. And the fact is, your personal branding should be important to you. According to an article in The Huffington Post failing to regularly update your LinkedIn account is a big mistake... Jesse Siegal, MD at ExecuSearch was quoted as saying:

"Posting to LinkedIn at least once a week is key. One way recruiters gauge someone's level of interest in a field and knowledge of industry trends is through frequency of relevant activity on LinkedIn"

What you read, share, like and comment upon all adds to your personal brand. More importantly any content that you may write on your blog, for a trade magazine and via LinkedIn Publishing is a strong indicator for any company that you share the same values and belief system.

Myth #5. I have a decent résumé / CV so I don't need a personal brand - my opinion is that your personal profile on platforms like LinkedIn actually IS your résumé / CV. Have a read of my previous post 'Burn your Resume - LinkedIn has made it obsolete' which makes that very point. 

In that piece (which was picked up by the likes of Yahoo Finance and Business Insider) I make the case for how your personal profile is taking the place of the humble résumé And one quote that still jumps out at me is from a CNN interview with Christina Cacioppo, an associate at Union Square Ventures, experts in VC for tech start ups:

“A résumé doesn't provide much depth about a candidate. Love it or hate it, social media is your new résumé. Embrace it happily, accept it begrudgingly, outsource it - whatever it takes to keep from getting left behind.”

So what do you think? Is a powerful online personal branding presence a prerequisite or is it just a pile of pixels? 

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