Ways To Build Your Brand

This is in the presentation I've given a few times, but I thought it made some sense to put these things out here as well.

I see there are a few major ways for you to build your brand and raise your profile in the modern world that is highly interconnected and built on digital technologies. I'll give a quick summary here and then expand upon each of these in future posts.

1. Blogging
2. Leadership
3. Authoring
4. Speaking
5. Volunteering

There are some variations, but these are the main ones.

Blogging

I separated this one out because it's more personal, it's off the cuff, we allow for mistakes and it doesn't necessarily mean exposing yourself. You can blog offline, save the entries and then publish them only to perspective employers when they interview you. I do think you should have a career blog that shows off what you think, learn, do, and understand.
And you don't have to be a great writer!

Leadership

You can be a leader in your company, be a manager, run a project, be a thought leader, but this involves taking responsibility on to help others (or things in the case of a project).

Authoring

This is a step above blogging where you are showing what you know. This is definitely public presentations of your work. It can be within the company, perhaps working on a manual, a procedure, or something else formal that others will read, but your name is attached to it.

Speaking

A step beyond authoring is when you actually teach someone. This can be one on one in your company, a brown bag lunch to your peers, or standing in front of a group at a conference.

Volunteering

I think the last stage of your career in anything is giving back to the community. You've built some expertise, you're comfortable, and so you now have the time and freedom to help others. This doesn't mean leading them, but giving them assistance. It can be speaking, running a group or event, or even working with a charity of some sort.

Take credit for it, use it for your brand, but be sincere. Don't do it because you want recognition, but do it because you want to help.

I'll talk more about each of these in future posts as I further the develop the ideas and get more of them down on paper.