Online Branding: YOU Are the Product
Day 44. Yep. It has been 44 days since our state-wide quarantine here in Florida. But, who's counting, right? I'll tell you who --- Job seekers. Job seekers are counting every single day that goes by, every single opening that they apply to, and every single "Thanks, but no thanks" generic-rejection they receive (if they are lucky enough to get anything at all). As parts of the country start to open up, we are finally starting to see a bit of optimism. But the harsh reality is that many of those job seekers will keep counting, if they don't take intentional action during this time.
The light at the end of the tunnel. We are starting to see pivotal segments of our economy reactivate. As that trend continues over the next several months, organizations will become more comfortable every day. The companies that are smart, and find themselves in a position to act, will hire as soon as possible in order to get "first dibs" on all of the fresh talent on the market. While this is awesome for those early-actor corporations, this presents an incredibly challenging market for you and the rest of those job-seekers to navigate. Among a sea of incredibly talented professionals, how should you expect that your resume will land on the hiring managers desk? Once it's there, how should you expect to stand out among those people? This is true in every job market, but now the stakes have been raised. Your success will rely directly on your ability to effectively leverage your network.
YOU are a product heading to market. I don't mean that you are an inanimate object for sale. I mean that you need to begin building your own personal brand, if you have not already. I can tell you what a brand is, but let's start with what a brand is not. A brand is not your title. A brand is not your company. A brand is not your most recent certification.
Brand: a person's perception of a product, service, experience, or organization.
In order to identify what your brand is, you need to think about where your true strengths and passions lie. These will be topics in your professional life that you enjoy contributing valuable insights on. You should enjoy reading about these topics and actively look to engage in dialogue in these areas. If you were to take a wild guess at what I settled on when I performed this exercise, you might say: (1) Career Coaching, (2) Networking, and (3) Surfing. But, then you remembered that I have terrible balance and that my feet belong firmly planted on the ground, at all times, and so you settle on (3) Account Management. You would be correct! Those strengths are the first thing that you see when you stumble upon my profile on LinkedIn. The content that I generate online directly aligns with the strengths that I have identified. Those strengths prop up my entire branding strategy. I communicate my brand through constantly talking about those topics online using LinkedIn... and I really enjoy doing it because it is authentic!
Branding is also a great way to send a message to potential hiring managers or referrals. After all, the first thing that half of them do is type your name into the LinkedIn search bar. They want to see what you are all about. Put a face with the name. The more clear you make your strengths and passions on your LinkedIn profile, the more competence you will project. I have constantly heard "You have 7 seconds to make a strong first impression. Make it count!", my entire life. In my experience, I would say that is true on LinkedIn. 7 seconds. Make it count. SO the question is, if I spent 7 seconds on your LinkedIn profile, would I know what your true strengths are? Would I be able to discern where your passions lie if I were to see the recent content that you shared or posted? 7 seconds. Make it count.
Oh, Great! Another millennial telling me I need to push out a ton of content on LinkedIn. Not exactly. Identifying your strengths and building out a brand that aligns with those strengths, is the best way to naturally network your way to your dream job. You are posting about things you are passionate about and engaging in conversations that you enjoy having. Choosing three strengths gives you a framework to work within, so you don't have to get super creative and try to appeal to an entire audience on LinkedIn. You are just hoping to appeal to the finite group of people who are also interested in those topics; people who share those same passions.
Branding for organic growth, Learning for active growth. At the end of the day, all of this work in putting together a Networking Strategy focused on learning, and a Branding Strategy centered around your strengths, is to provide you with a game plan to start building relationships with people in the most authentic way possible. Building a brand on LinkedIn and posting content that aligns with that brand will allow you to engage with people that you will naturally enjoy connecting with because they have similar interests. Developing a networking strategy focused on learning, allows you to actively pursue connections because are are genuinely just looking to learn from them and improve on a few skills. You need to be authentic with these approaches, or else people will see right through you! You will come across insincere if you don't honestly want to learn or engage. That being said, if you do this the right way and approach every interaction with genuine humility, you will see your network rapidly expand. Before you know it, you will know someone who can facilitate an introduction to one of those early-actor corporations I was referencing earlier.
Happy Branding!
