When you hear the name of the Benz brand, what comes to your mind? What does Benz mean to me and you and the rest of the inhabitants of the planet? The Benz brand has created an image for itself that is equal to being special, high quality, superior technology and, of course, luxury. In fact, the brand name is equal to a specific image and association in the minds of people and the market.
What comes to your mind when you hear the name Steve Jobs? I know that for many people, Steve Jobs means Apple, iPhone and Macintosh. But Steve Jobs is much more than that. Steve Jobs means creativity and continuous effort and firm belief in a different and superior quality while being beautiful and special. Steve Jobs was his own brand, independent of Apple.
Of course, it is clear that neither Benz became Benz easily overnight, nor Steve Jobs just by making a Steve Jobs computer. In fact, it should be said that it is much easier to become Benz than to become Steve Jobs. It means that it is much easier to make a product brand than a personal brand. In personal branding, you have to create an image of yourself to be associated in the minds of people and the market. This is a very time-consuming process.
Today, with the expansion of the digital world and social networks (especially Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn), everyone is looking to create a personal brand for themselves. But believe me, personal branding is much more than publishing a few controversial or different posts on Instagram or even having 10,000 followers. It does not happen in a few simple steps. If someone tells you that you can have your own brand in 6 simple steps, don’t believe it.
You should have a strategy and plan to build a personal brand and get help from social networks. One of the social networks that helps a lot in building a personal brand is undoubtedly LinkedIn. Why LinkedIn? And what are the ways to start and continue building a personal brand on LinkedIn, these are the questions that I will answer in this article.
Table of Contents
Ways of personal branding on LinkedIn
Before we get to the ways, it is better to first talk a little about what personal branding is and why LinkedIn is very important and useful for this work.
You have a job title. For example, you are a programmer and you work with a very reputable company. But being a programmer of a certain company or a digital marketer of a certain company is not your personal brand. Your personal brand is actually your career identity.
Your career identity is your professional reputation, and it is also known as your “personal brand.” It reflects other people’s opinion of you as a worker, leader, the associations they make when they think about you, and what you do or don’t do well.
The importance of LinkedIn is also clear from the definition of personal brand. LinkedIn is a social network to connect professionals and help its users find the job they love. LinkedIn has more than 740 million users worldwide. Therefore, there is no place where you can share your birthday or holiday photos like Instagram. It is a network for business and professional communication.
So it is the best place for you to show your professional identity to others. It doesn’t matter if you are Bill Gates or an affiliate marketer. In LinkedIn, you should show your colleagues, classmates and the whole world what abilities and skills you have, what you have done, what successes you have had, what interests you have and what missions you have set for yourself in your professional life.
First step: profile
The first way to personal branding on LinkedIn is to have a professional profile. That is, about the profile picture, profile picture cover, descriptions and skills that you write in your profile; You have to think and choose all the pictures and words carefully. Your profile picture should be taken in the right light and show your face clearly. Do not take photos with a hat or sunglasses. Selfies are not for LinkedIn.
Profile picture cover is another possibility with which you can say something about yourself and your job. Use a photo related to your profession and job. If you work with a reputable company, you can also include its logo in the cover photo. If you do not find a relevant and appropriate image, use a simple image without special elements.
Highlight your greatest accomplishments that will be relevant to the clients and/or jobs you want to attract.
In the about section, be careful to write with the first person pronoun. Write about yourself and the things you did very well and the challenges you overcame. Be yourself and write authentically so that the reader can relate to you. Another important part that you should spend time on is Professional Experience. This section should be written in the third person pronoun. You should first write what you did and then the result of your actions. For example, if you are an SEO freelancer, write that when you delivered a site it was ranked x and when you delivered the site it reached the first position on the first page.
The second step: presence and content production
After you’ve taken the time to build your profile, it’s time to make your presence known through the content you write or share and show yourself to the people you want. First, write an article for LinkedIn. There is no need to write articles of several thousand words. If you have something to say about a topic related to your expertise and job, or if you have done research or have experience, publish the same in a few paragraphs.
Pay attention to the fact that your writings and content should be helpful and positive. With this content, you want to show the readers how much you master what you do and how much knowledge, information and experience you have. In addition to writing for LinkedIn, you can also post a part of it with a link if you write something related to your expertise on your site or blog or elsewhere.
Second, find groups related to your job and join them. Be an active participant in them. Don’t forget to like and comment on other people’s posts. If someone asks a question or wants help, be sure to answer. If an employer has a LinkedIn page and you are interested in working with him one day, be sure to introduce yourself to him with the help of likes, comments and shares.
Comment, start threads, pose questions, offer advice – strive to be a useful, active member of a few key groups, rather than a silent lurker in many.
The third step: networking
Accept all the invitations you receive from your peers. For those who you want to communicate with and introduce yourself in some way, take time and write a short message. An invitation without a message has a lower chance of being accepted.
Optimize your profile page address (URL). That is, write your name, something that can be searched in Google, in the address of the page. If that name is already used or similar to another, you can take help from dash or even add the name of your specialty to your name.
Optimize your profile page. LinkedIn is like a search engine. For this reason, the words you write in each section of your profile are very, very important. You want someone to find you and see you if they search for product designer or UX designer on LinkedIn. In the skills section, LinkedIn allows you to add up to 50 skills. Think very carefully about the skill sets you want to add and choose them consciously and with foresight.