Personal Branding Mistake #1: NOT HAVING A BRAND PROMISE

Believe it or not, most senior professionals don’t have a brand promise. Big opportunity lost.

A personal brand is not a portrait or a tagline (although it may include these). A brand is not a biography or a website (although it may be expressed in these). A brand is a promise you can keep… a benefit to your audience that is understandable, believable, delivers superior value and differentiates you from your peers. Whatever your current branding efforts are intending to do, they are perceived by your audience as making a promise. And if that promise is not what you want to communicate, then you’re in trouble. So consider doing research with your audience to find out what they think: what your brand really is, what people perceive of you as promising. And discover if you’re standing out in the way you want.

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.

Personal Branding Mistake #2: SOCIAL MEDIA PICTURE MISSING

People are 16X more likely to look at your LinkedIn profile when you post a picture. Post a good picture that supports your brand promise. 

Many people do not understand the importance of a good portrait on social media professional profiles. In a study conducted by The Ladders, an eye tracking heat map shows that recruiters spend 19% of the total time looking at your picture then your current job position and education. Not as much time is spent on your skills, specialties or older work experiences. Social media profiles are today’s first impressions. Complementing personal branding with a strong photo gives your audience a picture (both literally and physically) of who you are that goes beyond words. A recent study published in Psychological Science discovered that we draw conclusions about people based on a photo in less than a second. Not having a photo causes your audience to question why not. Leaving your audience questioning is not a good move. 

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.

Personal Branding Mistake #7: YOU'RE NOT A PURPLE COW

Are you standing out in the crowd? Do you know where you rank in LinkedIn searches? Do you have a personal brand that sets you apart from competitors?

Cows are boring. They are all look alike and do the same things. Be a purple cow, have a distinctive brand promise and stand out from the crowd. A personal brand that says why you are different and better is key to your success. Capitalize on your brand’s uniqueness by posting interesting, relevant and innovative content that will capture your audience and set your brand apart. Be exceptional - be a purple cow. Don’t be like the rest of your peers. It’s boring, and do you really want to be boring? 

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.

Personal Branding Mistake #11: YOU'RE NOT ENGAGING YOUR STRENGTHS

Identifying and engaging your strengths is key to your brand promise, and your brand promise is key to your success. Have you considered an executive coach as a first step?

Many people struggle with the identification of their biggest strengths. It’s not easy to determine what makes you different and better than your peers. Without knowing your personal strengths you cannot develop a strong brand promise. It takes a high degree of introspection and honesty to arrive at your strengths. Many professionals need an executive coach to help. One of the biggest benefits of a coach is to provide you with unbiased advice that enables your success. The perspectives they provide and the alternatives they discuss are designed to help you reach your goals. Engaging with an executive coach is a commitment but well worth it. 

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.

Personal Branding Mistake #13: BRANDING MEANS GETTING YOUR NAME OUT THERE

Your personal brand is not just about getting your name out there. It’s about controlling and attaching a brand promise to your name.

Getting your name out is key to personal branding success. However, your name alone means nothing if not clearly attached to your brand promise. What is the point of having professionals know your name if they don’t recognize your value? Get in the habit of attaching your name to your brand promise to win meaningful recognition from your network. Think about the relationship with Nike and “Just Do It” - it's been that way for years with a value in the billions.

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.

Personal Branding Mistake #19: YOU DON'T HAVE A CLEAR BRAND PROMISE

It can be difficult to assess your brand, but it's an important step in building your brand. Once you assess your brand with an outside professional, you can move towards a better brand promise.

Before creating your brand promise you must evaluate your brand. Obtaining an unbiased opinion is key to getting an accurate assessment of your brand. Working with a professional branding expert provides you with the knowledge and feedback needed to create a strong promise that communicates your brand’s value to your audience. If you don’t take control of branding by making a great promise, your audience will continue to brand you in ways you may not want – and to that extent your future will be out of your hands and in the control of others. 

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.

Personal Branding Mistake #21: YOU'RE NOT PROVIDING THE "SAILS" FOR YOUR PERSONAL BRAND

So you’ve developed your brand promise… But is this promise backed up by your brand story? Does it support your brand as different and better than the competition? 

A great brand is supported be a great story. Don’t make a promise without a solid rationale behind it. Having relevant content with important keywords reinforces your brand promise and increases the number of viewers of your profile. Those views are important to your professional success. A recent survey showed 93% of professionals use social media for business. And 34% say they have generated leads using LinkedIn and Twitter. So make sure that the story you’re sending to your professional audience reinforces your brand. 

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.

Personal Branding Mistake #23: YOU'RE ANOTHER BLUR ON THE SCREEN

Don’t underestimate the importance of a good headshot. A profile picture that's clear and professional can give you character and credibility  – not to mention 11x more engagement.

Happy faces come off as more trustworthy and likeable. Chemistry is everything in business so why not start with a friendly portrait on your social platforms. Keep in mind that people remember only 20 percent of what they read and 10 percent of what they hear, but retain 80 percent of what they see. Visuals matter when it comes to social media so keep your content interesting to keep it working hard for you.

 LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters. 

Personal Branding Mistake #26: GRAINY BE GONE!

Grainy profile pictures look bad and show a lack of effort. Lose the grainy picture and pick one that's flattering, professional and clear. 

Over 25 million LinkedIn profiles are viewed daily, so you want to be sure that your picture will stand out. The first step is to include a professional and attractive profile picture. Investing in good photography will pay long-term dividends. According to a recent survey, 89% of recruiters look at your profile picture first. Get a good one! 

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.

Personal Branding Mistake #28: NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OUR PERSONAL BRANDING ASSESSMENT

Great personal branding starts with an assessment of how you stack up to competition. Do you stand out from the crowd? Check out our complimentary personal branding assessment.

Personal branding is all about your promise, what makes you different and better than competition. It’s tough to have a unique brand promise without a competitive audit. Stand out from the 97% of business executives who use LinkedIn. 43% of employers hired a candidate because they were creative on social media. Harness your creativity and show your audience why you are different and better than your peers; Be a purple cow in a field of brown cows.

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters

Personal Branding Mistake #37: YOU'RE HIDING YOUR BEST QUALITIES

Although you never want to be too personal on LinkedIn, listing organizations and causes you’re affiliated with can definitely give you an edge over the competition. Employers want to hire real people with interests and passions, not just a picture and a resume.

58% of employers hire people because they got a good feel for the candidate’s personality on social media. 42% of LinkedIn users update their profile regularly to keep it fresh and showcase their brand’s value. Visuals, organizations and causes are great places to get your visitor interested in your brand personality. 

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.

Personal Branding Mistake #38: YOU'RE TOO HUMBLE

Get out of your employee mentality! Although it’s great to promote the company you work for you need to promote yourself too. Don’t be so modest; at the end of the day YOU are the bigger brand. 

Get out there and promote your brand! 44% of hiring managers look at your social media pages to determine your level of creativity and to learn about your qualifications. LinkedIn members that include skills get 13X more profile views than those who don’t. So if you’ve got the goods it’s ok to brag. It will support your brand promise, separate you from the herd and get the phone to ring. 

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.

Personal Branding Mistake #55: YOU FORGOT TO SHOW AND TELL

Are you telling but not showing? Consider using LinkedIn Showcase pages. A Showcase page can be an effective tool for presenting your product as well as your personal brand.

Every minute 684,478 pieces of content are shared on social media, so post interesting and relevant content in unique ways to build brand awareness. Consider LinkedIn showcase pages as an extension of your company page to shine a spotlight on your brand. Use this feature to drive traffic and attention to content that you’re proud of. 61% of LinkedIn users use the platform as their primary professional networking site. Make it more effective with showcase pages.

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.

Personal Branding Mistake #56: YOU’RE HEARING CRICKETS

If you’ve been actively posting without success, it’s time to try something new. Switch up your branding strategy by changing content, posting time, or group involvement.

The same old song only gets attention for so long. The most common reason to unlike a social media page is uninteresting posts, so change it up and make it interesting with new stories, visuals, videos, etc. When you post is important as well. The best time to post on Twitter is Mondays-Thursdays between 9am-3pm. TrackMaven analyzed over 1.7 million tweets and found that the best time of day for a retweet is after hours, between 10:00 pm and 11:00 pm EST. Friday is the worst day to post on LinkedIn. Create, share and post relevant content during prime time to get the attention your brand deserves.

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.

Personal Branding Mistake #57: DON'T BE SO COLD

If a connection comments on your post be sure to respond! The point of posting is outreach. If you’re not responding you’re not communicating your personal brand story.

Engaging with your audience is the key to creating and maintaining meaningful connections. By responding to a comment, answering an InMail or simply liking a post, you are positioning your brand as responsive. Questions have proven to drive more engagement than statements. Posing a question or responding to one will benefit your brand. Emails with social sharing buttons increase click-through rates by 158%, so think about including social sharing buttons on your social platforms to drive engagement. Take the time to get ahead of competition and interact with your audience!

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.

Personal Branding Mistake #58: DON'T BE A BULLY

If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all. Poor behavior on social media means a poor perception of your personal brand. Don’t be rude, play nice.

Your online reputation is critical to building your brand. Using inappropriate language, making rude comments or posting opinions on highly sensitive topics can hurt your brand. 35% of recruiters have rejected a candidate because of online slander. 26% of employers react negatively to overly religious posts and 18% react negatively to political posts. Keep your online presence professional and appropriate. Your brand will thank you for it.

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.

Personal Branding Mistake #59: YOU'RE HOGGING THE FEED

Sharing content is always encouraged. Drowning the feed in posts is not. Try to find the happy medium. If you get the sense you’re over posting chances are your intuition is right. 

While regular posting is helpful to building your brand, drowning your audience in content is not. 59% feel that over sharing on social media sites is a huge no-no. 53% of social media visitors say they dislike those who share information that they consider private. LinkedIn recommends 5 posts per week. Consider creating a posting schedule to help monitor your activity. HootSuite is a great way to distribute and monitor your posts.

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.

Personal Branding Mistake #60: BE MORE VISIBLE

Want people to know you’re checking them out on LinkedIn? Make sure to change your visibility settings so people can see who you are and what you’re about when you view their profile.

Make your online presence more visible by actively searching for connections and checking out their profiles. Social networking sites were created for users to see and be seen. Use the publish post and activity feature on LinkedIn to allow your audience to view your activity. 75.7% of LinkedIn users have found the “Who Viewed Your Profile” feature to be the most helpful. Make yourself more visible by using industry specific keywords in your profile. Adding keywords helps your audience find you.

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.

Personal Branding Mistake #61: NOT WEEDING OUT YOUR NETWORK

Keep expanding your network, but make sure it’s the right kind of network! Don’t simply establish new connections – weed out the weak and remove any unwanted connections.

The number of your connections matters only if they are relevant to your brand. While LinkedIn recommends you invite connections that you know and trust, having a network strictly made up of your closest contacts may not be enough. Most optimized LinkedIn users have between 500-999 first degree connections. Don’t make connections and build your network just for size, but do search for connections that positively impact your brand.  

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.

Personal Branding Mistake #62: BE MORE SNEAKY

If you’re looking into jobs or prospective clients and you don’t want either to know that you’re looking for them, make sure to switch your visibility settings to anonymous. This allows you to look at other profiles without being seen – very sneaky!

LinkedIn includes the anonymous feature for a reason. Recruiters are able to check out prospects prior to contacting them without blowing their cover. Recruiters use InMail as the primary way to contact passive candidates so make sure you regularly check InMail. Just like recruiters, if you’re checking out prospects and companies make yourself anonymous so they don’t see you coming.

LEARN MORE about why Personal Branding matters.