Back in the dark ages, when I graduated from college, in order to get a job one went armed with a resume, a good GPA and a copy of the Help Wanted Ads. If you were lucky you had a connection somewhere that might help to pull your resume out of the pile and if you were smart enough you used it.
There was no Internet, no LinkedIn, no personal websites and no Google available to do a quick search to see what skeletons you might already have lined up in your closet. There wasn’t even anything referred to as your “personal brand.” Back then we called it building a reputation – one based on who we were, what we did and how we went about doing it.
But now things are different.
The digital age has created a new dimension for personal branding.
While Tom Peters first coined the idea of personal branding back in 1997, it’s only recently that we’ve all sat up and taken notice that each of us is truly a brand.
It’s important but no longer enough to put on your good shoes, comb your hair, pop a fresh batch of business cards in your pocket and head out to a networking event with your best self ready to impress and make a new connection.
That best self is now available 24/7 for others to peruse online.
First impressions still count – but today they happen online through a quick search on Google.
The choice is to tell our story or let Google tell it for us.
We can do that with well-written profiles and the content we choose to share. If we’re really interested in building our brands we can influence and position ourselves as thought leaders and experts in our field.
Resumes are still necessary, but they don’t get us the job.
We get us the job. Not to mention that in a digital world, most of the time we’re uploading them to an online portal which then rearranges the order we spent hours creating.
The way you show up online is as important as the way you show up offline.
New clients, new business connections, and potential employers are Googling us in advance of that first meeting – and afterwards as a way of learning more about us and staying connected.
The lack of a digital presence sends a signal you might have something to hide.
Recruiters are searching your social profiles with increasingly more sophisticated tools before making a hiring decision.
That’s why I believe in a digital first approach to personal branding.
Your personal brand is a living breathing organism and will evolve as you do. In a fast changing world, you need to be agile and grow and adapt with it online and offline.
But you know that already. That’s why you’re here. You’re ready to do something about it.
Here’s some of what I offer.
personalized advisement and accountability on an ongoing basis
Entrepreneurs, Authors, CEOs, Thought Leaders, Job Seekers or those about to take a Career Pivot have specific goals and needs. For those individuals, I created Office Hours, personalized advisement and accountability on an ongoing basis.
a 9-week one-on-one course in the basics of marketing your brand – digital first
This a more structured approach to Office Hours where we go step-by-step through the marketing process from assessing where you are online, to getting your brand message straight to creating a social media and content strategy. We work with your ideas and my advisement to create a plan for implementation that meets your intentions and goals.
one time only (aka pick-my-brain)
Some people just want a check in every now and then with specific questions as to how to move things forward. For those I created Pick my Brain, a single 75-minute session available via Zoom, no matter where in the world you reside.
self-paced online courses
My signature online course, Your Digital You – a self-paced online course in personal branding basics including five modules designed to help you build your personal brand online and offline, has been updated and relaunched and is available for purchase here.
For the announcement of the launch of additional online courses designed to improve digital IQ and improve your business plus more tips, tools and inspiration to help you manage digital so it doesn’t manage you, please subscribe to my weekly newsletter here.
content services
Good content is at the core of digital marketing. That includes your LinkedIn profile, About Me page and any blogging you choose to engage in. I write copy that engages and delivers. More on that here.
For more information on how to hire me drop me a line here!
I look forward to hearing from you!
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