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Have you dedicated time to growing your personal brand as a tech leader? If you haven’t, you should. Your personal brand can help create serendipity for both you and your company. A lot of people get hung up on the expression “personal brand,” and if that’s you, look at it this way: Your personal brand is your reputation. Your reputation is everything, and it’s time you start cultivating a good one.
What Having A Strong Personal Brand Does For You
I have spent a lot of my time building my personal brand. I’ve grown my account on one social media platform to over 130,000 followers, and the benefits for me personally have been tremendous.
Having a strong personal brand can create serendipity. Word of mouth is a powerful tool, and it used to be confined to people I’d personally met. Now, that includes more than 130,000 people who follow me on one single platform (I have thousands more across additional platforms as well). Most of the 130,000 people know who I am and what I do. This means I have more than 130,000 people who have the ability to recommend me or my business.
This has led to some incredible opportunities, including many speaking engagements and even being given the chance to write my own book. All because I’ve dedicated time over the last five years to actively grow my personal brand.
1. By taking my online connections into the real world (whether that be through hosting events or one-on-one meetups). I have met many people in the real world who followed me online first. This has led to valuable connections and friendships. I even met our company’s chief growth officer through a connection I made online.
2. By creating content that features other people. When I started producing content, I began interviewing high-profile individuals about their successes and posting the interviews as articles. This gave me access to people I never would have been able to reach otherwise.
How Your Personal Brand Aids Your Company
Having a personal brand is not only good for you, but it also greatly benefits your company. I think it is extremely valuable for a company’s CEO to be visible and accessible to the public.
One of the ways this is beneficial is through exposure. I can siphon some of my more than 130,000 social media followers and push them toward my company’s page. My personal brand can act as a funnel for my business — it is many people’s first touchpoint with our brand.
Your personal brand also can benefit your business through people. I already mentioned how we made one of the most important hires in our company’s history through one of my online connections, but the people I’ve met have impacted the business in other ways. Some of those people I met through interviews have since become investors in our company or advisors, or they’ve referred me to others. And of course, many of our customers came to us through my personal brand.
How To Start Growing Your Personal Brand
I strongly encourage you to develop your own personal brand. Here are four steps to help you get started:
1. Pick a medium.
Are you a writer? Are you comfortable on camera? Are you a talented photographer? Figure out what medium you are most comfortable with when it comes to creating content. If you aren’t comfortable in front of the camera, don’t force yourself to use that medium. Lean into wherever you’re strongest and most comfortable when it comes to creating content.
2. Pick a platform.
There are many different platforms that you can use to develop your brand. I have found one that works well for me and my interests. Take a look at the social media landscape and figure out which one fits the medium you have chosen. For example, written content won’t perform well on a video platform like TikTok.
3. Be consistent.
Posting sporadically every couple of months is not going to help you grow your personal brand much. I encourage you to post at least once a week (if not more). The more content you put out, the more likely someone new is going to see it, discover you and begin to follow you.
4. Put the “social” in social media.
Treat these platforms as a two-way street. Make sure you’re taking the time to engage with people who comment on your posts and with people you’d like to meet. Don’t just post your content and leave. Be a part of the community.
Taking the time to develop my personal brand is one of the best decisions I have ever made. It has led me to so many amazing opportunities, success in my business and incredible friendships. If you make an effort, your personal brand can do the same for you.