How can you create a personal brand that attracts professionals across all industries?

Make sure you've done for yourself what you claim you can do for your potential client/employer.... For example, I'm a brand designer. Hence my online and/or offline presence must have good consistent branding. Otherwise, how will anyone believe that I can develop good branding for them...? 🤓

One of the first steps in crafting your personal brand is to identify your niche. Ask yourself, "What makes me unique?" Consider your skills, passions, and experiences. Your niche is the area where your expertise and interests intersect. Real-life example: Neil Patel, a digital marketing expert, carved out his niche by specializing in search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing. He leveraged his expertise to build a personal brand that now attracts professionals from various industries seeking guidance on digital marketing strategies.

Stay committed, adapt to changes, and evolve your brand as your career progresses. - Identify your strengths, expertise, and what sets you apart. Craft a clear and compelling personal statement. - Maintain a professional presence on LinkedIn and other relevant platforms. Share content regularly. - Connect with professionals from diverse fields. - Share your knowledge through articles, posts, and comments. - Share personal anecdotes that humanise your brand. - Create a visually appealing social media profile. - Participate in events outside your industry to broaden your network. - Stay updated on industry trends and emerging technologies. Share your insights. - Be genuine, transparent, and true to yourself in all interactions.

Content is KING ... period. Every asset you produce has to focus on the ABCs of job search marketing: A = Accomplishments - What have you achieved? B = Benefits - What have you added as a benefit to your organization? C = Contributions - What have you contributed to the overall success of your current employer? If you answer these questions, you have built the core of your asset narrative. You have defined precisely what organizations will get if they choose you. No rain down these ABCs everywhere you engage in the job search process.

Once you've identified your niche, it's time to create assets that showcase your expertise. These assets can include a blog, podcast, YouTube channel, or a strong presence on professional social media platforms like LinkedIn. Consistent content creation is essential to building your brand. Real-life example: Marie Forleo, an entrepreneur and author, established her personal brand through her YouTube channel and the "MarieTV" show. By sharing advice on entrepreneurship, personal development, and life optimization, she has attracted professionals across industries who are inspired by her message.

This is where you add in your “known statement”. What is it that you want to be known for if someone is talking about your area of genius at a conference reception? Be very specific and drill down to just a few key words that are memorable and repeatable.

Your personal brand is definitely not just about 'what you do'. It's more about 'who you are', your authentic you and 'what you have to offer' an employer or as a business owner. The acid test is what people say about you when you're not there with them. One of the most important aspects of your personal brand is 'how you make people feel' because this speaks volumes about you. Your brand is not what you do, as your job or job title does NOT define you!

Your personal brand is not just about what you do but also about how you can help others. Share your knowledge, insights, and experiences to provide value to your audience. Whether it's through articles, videos, or speaking engagements, your content should offer solutions to common problems or challenges in your niche. Simon Sinek, an author and motivational speaker, built his brand around the idea of "Start with Why." His TED Talk and subsequent books explored the concept of purpose and leadership, attracting professionals from various fields who were eager to understand the power of purpose-driven work.

Eliminate jargon. People in your industry get it. People outside your industry don’t. Readers of your resume have to understand what you are talking about. Otherwise, they can’t hire you.

The professional landscape is constantly evolving. To remain relevant, you need to adapt to changing trends, technologies, and audience preferences. Be flexible and willing to pivot your brand as needed, while staying true to your core values and expertise. Elon Musk, known for his work with companies like Tesla and SpaceX, is an example of adaptability. He started as a tech entrepreneur and has evolved his personal brand to encompass sustainability, innovation, and even space exploration, consistently attracting professionals with a shared interest in groundbreaking technology.

Always stay true to your personal brand purpose when looking across digital channels. Your different channel messaging should complement each other and build towards an actualized personal brand. Staying true to your core and way of being allows your audience to build trust with how you present yourself.

Play for the field. Long form content for the appropriate platform. Short form for the micro blogging platform and similarly video content and visual approach where it works. Contextual focus will be delivering results much faster. Ace one platform and then act on another.

Personal branding is not just about being 'interesting', its also about being 'interested'. Show others you care about their points of views. Engage with them, collaborate. Share feedback, get feedback. Make improvements alongside. Its a partnership and a long term game. Dont play like a sprint. Run like a mararthon.

Building a personal brand is an ongoing journey. Don't be afraid to seek feedback from peers, mentors, or your audience. Constructive criticism can help you refine your brand and make it more appealing to a broader audience. Tim Ferriss, an author and podcast host, has developed a strong personal brand centred around self-improvement and lifehacking. He actively seeks feedback from his audience through surveys and continuously improves his content and approach based on their input.

Once you think you have defined your value and clarified the problems you solve, you need to refine that message. Being a long ranger can complicate things and make your messaging ring hollow. Use your network to both present what your best value is but also to ask for honest feedback and ideas for improvement. We often see ourselves much differently than others and can miss some vital clarity that others can offer. Our personal mirrors are usually cloudy and slightly out of focus, whereas others you trust can see through the best you have to offer and gently point out blind spots that need to be worked on. Don't go it alone. Use your network to improve your career narrative and maximize your responses.

There seems to be a disagreement on whether we should be attracting people outside our industry with our brand. I believe we should, or we will find ourselves living in an echo chamber with no fresh ideas or perspective. Just because a person isn’t in our line of business or industry, doesn’t mean they don’t have a passion for it. They may spend all their free time consuming books, and courses in that very subject and may be very insightful in that industry. A great example is Actress Hedy Lamar during WWII with out any formal training solved a problem with Naval torpedo guidance systems over a discussion at a cocktail party, long before LinkedIn networking. So, lets not be so hasty and dismissive of those outside our industry.

Do we really need to be attracting people from ‘across all industries’, with the power of our personal brand? I’m not convinced that’s the right idea to be exploring here. Creating (or more accurately, curating and building) your personal brand is, of course, a useful exercise to conduct. Demonstrating to audiences that you have both an opinion, and expertise to offer, will always be valuable in a professional context. Ensure you don’t become a jack of all trades, catering to the lowest common denominator and most general possible audience will help you to stand out. Building authentic, engaged relationships and conversations with people and communities where you can add real value, comes from not trying to be everything to everyone.

I agree with Alex Luff below – creating an effective personal brand is about being your authentic self, and knowing your audience – so that means you won't necessarily be attracting people from 'across all industries' – but that's OK. We don't have to be everything to everyone; otherwise, you end up with a very muddy, bland brand. Know that not everyone will like what you're doing - there's absolutely nothing wrong with that because those people were never going to work with you anyway as they are not the right people for you.