Your personal brand can help you get noticed and put your career on the fast track, but how do you create an awesome personal brand?
With personal branding, you have the opportunity to create and maintain a specific image of yourself. Just like companies brand themselves to be known for things like providing a great customer experience or having great products, you can brand yourself to be known for anything you want.
Organizations all around the world have been utilizing the power of branding for many years, and a great example is Apple. Have you ever thought about why you know it’s an Apple commercial, even before you see the logo? Or that feeling you get when walking into an Apple store? Or why products made by Apple always have the same look and feel? You know your having an Apple brand experience, even before seeing the logo, because they have branded themselves so well.
You can use this same power of branding to advance into your dream career, but how do you do it? Read on as we share our five steps to creating a strong personal brand!
Step 1: Align your personal brand with your professional goals
In order to create an awesome personal brand, the first thing you must do is decide exactly what you want your personal brand to be. This will be your brand identity and figuring it out is an important first step because everything else will be built on it.
Here are some questions to ask yourself to figure out exactly what your personal brand should be:
- Why are you creating a personal brand?
- What are your professional goals?
- What do you want to be known for?
- What are you passionate about?
- What are your strengths?
After answering these questions, you should have a good idea of what you want your personal brand to be. For example, if you’re a student trying to break into the medical field, some of your answers could be to start your career in healthcare and become known as an expert in your local medical community.
Step 2: Choose your platforms
Due to the growth of mobile devices and social media, personal branding is easier now more than ever. We can all create and promote our personal brands from anywhere, at any time. With so many options, it can be a challenge to decide which specific social platforms to use. Should you start with Facebook or Instagram? Or are LinkedIn and Twitter the better choices?
To decide which social platforms to use when creating your personal brand, you need to answer this one question: Who do you want to see your brand and which social channels do they use?
For this step, it’s really that easy. As an example, if you’re a medical student who wants potential employers to see your personal brand, then Facebook and LinkedIn are where you should be.
Step 3: Network with other professionals
After you know what your personal brand is going to be and which channels to focus on, the next step is networking and starting to build relationships with others. The best way to begin is by following people and accounts relevant to your field. Commenting when you have something relevant to add and liking their posts are great ways to continue building these relationships online.
Local healthcare leaders, potential employers, industry organizations, and medical experts are all great examples of people to follow. Feel free to share their posts, as long as they align with your personal brand. For example, if a potential employer shares a relevant blog post, you can share it to your page too.
Step 4: Share your knowledge and expertise
Showcasing your knowledge and expertise by sharing content on your chosen social media channels is the best way to build your personal brand. Some examples of great content to share are photos, videos, infographics, articles, status updates, and story posts.
When creating content, consider your audience and the things they would be interested in or want to see. For our medical student example, photos and videos of hands-on skills like performing EKGs or taking vital signs would be perfect content to share.
Step 5: Be yourself
When creating your personal brand and working to advance your career, always remember to be yourself! Even on social media, people connect with other people who are genuine and authentic, so let your great personality shine through.
Put Your Career On The Fast Track
Now that you’ve created your personal brand, take the next step toward your career with healthcare training from Boardman Training Center. Request information now to get started!