Personal Branding and Career Videos

Brand Career Management Newsletter – November 2021

November is Career Development Month and personal branding is a great career management tool so this issue will be devoted to resources and tips on how to share your brand. This is the last topic from the audience-generated, top twelve subjects we have been covering the past two years. As I mentioned in the last blog I wrote, it’s important to first assess your current brand and my post shares a few ways to do that.

Once you understand your brand, then you can share it with others. I recently discovered a cool new way to do that. A few colleagues created Career Brand Videos which provide three high-quality and very short videos to express your brand. There are a variety of options, but each customer receives three videos. I’ll share the results of mine so you can see what they look like. One is for being a subject matter expert (SME), one shows your personality, and one shares testimonials. I was very impressed with this service and would recommend it to other business owners, job seekers, and those who care about managing their brand. If you want to find out more, write to me and I can explain the process. Or click here. I felt strongly enough about this product to become an affiliate so if you click on that link and make a purchase, I will receive a modest percentage.

As we gear up for the holiday season, I wish you all the best as we near the end of 2021. Much hope for a better 2022! And if you’re looking for gift ideas, share the gift of career assistance.

Warm regards,

Paula

P.S. Please forward this to a friend if you like what I have to share. Anyone can sign up for the Brand Career Management Newsletter by going to the bottom of this page.

1) Display a good headshot – As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, and this is also true for your profile picture on LinkedIn. To express your brand in a positive way, the picture should be up to date, in focus, and only of you from the neck up. To add aspects of personal branding, consider how you are dressed and what’s in the background. You should look approachable and professional.

2) Use a background image – This is the wide image that displays behind your headshot. You could brand yourself geographically by displaying a panoramic picture of a city skyline or a well-known nearby landscape feature. You could also create a word cloud using keywords related to your field. One idea that I implemented was a compilation of four images related to my business using canva.com. Anything professional is better than the generic default background. Note that keywords in this image will not be picked up by Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

3) Edit your Headline – This appears right below your name and is the most heavily weighted field on your profile. LinkedIn will default to show your current title, but you can edit this section of up to 220 characters. The keywords you employ can help you be found by SEO, but they can also give a quick indication of your professional skills to the human eye. You can list keywords related to your expertise using verbs or nouns (for example mine includes Global Career Coach and LinkedIn Expert). You can also share a tagline that speaks to who you are as a person. For example, my headline ends with, “Empowering mid-career to executive women”. I’ve seen other headlines that include humor (coffee aficionado) or share a passion (animal advocate). To jazz up your brand visually, add small icons in between words (such as a globe, a dollar sign, or a lightbulb). You can find a previous post on using symbols here.

4) Utilize the Featured section – Formerly called Media, this section is now bigger and allows you to highlight your previous posts too. For example, you could feature a blog you wrote on LinkedIn or a quick update you posted. This area displays as a fixed visual, near the top of your profile. You can also add other media by uploading a PDF, slideshow presentation, or other documents. Try adding URLs to articles you have published elsewhere online or where you have been quoted. Consider uploading links to videos, brochures, or professional pictures that showcase your brand.

5) Customize your URL – This is probably the quickest tip to implement. It should only take a few minutes if you don’t have a very common name. When someone opens a LinkedIn account, they are assigned a URL which becomes the internet address for your profile page. The assigned URL adds a series of letters and numbers after your name, but you can edit this. At a minimum, it’s best to remove the extra letters and numbers from the end of your URL. Having the URL show only your name will help you be found more easily. If your name is already in use, you will have to modify it in some way. You can add a middle name, maiden name, or a word that speaks to your profession. In my case, LinkedIn.com/in/paulabrand was taken so I created LinkedIn.com/in/paulabrandcareers. If you want to know more about why and how to change your URL, read this.

Branding is such an important piece of career management that I strongly encourage you to set aside some time to assess your personal brand. When it comes to expressing yourself, there is a fine line between branding and bragging. You must share your brand for others to know about you, but you must do so in a thoughtful and tactful way. The articles below share advice on ways to respectfully share what you’re all about.

Let’s start with the pioneer of personal branding, William Arruda. In this post from Forbes.com, he explains why personal branding is still more important than ever.

Branding can be seen as synonymous with being too boastful but Susan Joyce on workcoachcafe.com explains why bragging may be necessary to land your next job.

Branding can be uncomfortable for many of us but especially so for women and for people from cultures that don’t encourage bragging. Dorie Clark addresses both of these concerns in two articles from Harvard Business Review. The first post offers advice specific to women, and the second post co-authored with Andy Molinsky covers the cultural angle of bragging.

For very practical advice on how to skillfully talk about yourself, check out this book by Peggy Klaus, appropriately titled BRAG! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn without Blowing It.

And if you’re considering your personal branding for the long-term, this new release by Dorie Clark is a must-read. It’s titled The Long Game.

Finally, when preparing to share your brand, considering color is an important aspect when it comes to choosing logos, clothing, and websites. On GoDaddy.com, Sarah Guilliot shares detailed advice on choosing colors for yourself and your marketing.

** Please note that some of these media sites, such as Forbes and HBR, only allow a limited number of views during a specific time frame for free.