When it comes to personal branding advice, thousands of stories have been told and many of them might just start with setting up a LinkedIn account. Well… that’s only one side of the story. For marketing graduates and professionals, Reggie Waterman will tell you a different story. The tale where he took the extra steps himself to build his personal brand more effectively.
During the Tech Effect’s most recent Diversity in Digital – All Brands on Deck career summit, we had the pleasure to invite Reggie Waterman to be one of our workshop facilitators. Reggie is currently the Director of Marketing at 360insights.com while also running his podcast, ‘Discover Your Other Self’ (DYOS) as a side hustle. At the event, Reggie shared his thoughts on why self-branding was important and how YOU, graduates & professionals can optimize their branding strategies.
Before getting into how to build your personal brand, here was how Reggie defined the term “Personal Branding”:
A unique set of skills, attributes, and “swag” aka “Je Ne Sais Quoi” that differentiates you from everyone else. It’s your superpower that YOU utilize for the sake of building a connection, appeal and impressions. In other words, it’s an Unapologetic Display of Who You Are.
The very first step is to define your powers aka What You Do Best… Being introspective and make a list of what your strengths are. Ask yourself:
- Which are the areas that I excel in the most?
- What projects can I spend my whole energy on working out till the end?
Next, whatever your power is, Reggie’s advice is here to help you create values from it. Here’s what to do when shaping your best brand – YOU.
#1 – Build a community and service others
Getting people to pay attention can sometimes become a daunting task. But not if you take initiative and really push yourself out of the comfort zone. Reggie told the story of how he created a community through a podcast that inspires and teaches others how to define themselves distinctively.
He also mentioned the importance of talking to people. By taking small steps to open up and make others understand your personality, you can easily break the “distance” barrier and even make people have more thoughtful conversations with you once they know you’re in the same “tribe” as them. Or, you can simply just offer your expertise for those who are in need of it.
This is all a part of what is called “networking” which is required for everyone who is looking to build meaningful relationships.
#2 – Think less, focus, and act more
Instead of overthinking on how to make your content stand out the most, it’s better to focus on engaging with your niche audience, or maybe that one person who just recently engaged with what you put on social media.
Reggie suggested that you ask yourself what you’re good at, what your followers should know and how can you make an impact with what you have. By doing that, you’ll have the right mindset to start caring more for your current connections.
#3 – Create opportunities by searching and filling up a need
Opportunities exist but they’re not always visible. This was why Reggie suggested creating them instead.
An example given was the need for college/uni graduates to learn how to thrive in future workplaces. While it’s easy to search for the terms online, it’s preferable for students to attend live workshops, share their hardships and find answers while voicing their opinions.
Using your skills to help people is another option to support your network, maintain your relationships, and strengthen the community.
#4 – Add values from content creation
Create…create…create!
Pay attention to the engagement your content gets from your audience. Let’s say you have around 500 followers. Have you ever considered how many of them consistently engage with your content?
Reggie mentioned some goals for content creation that you can have when you build your personal brand. It can be anything such as useful tips inspirational quotes and leadership. Anything related to your strengths and personality.
“When you create content or build a community, partnership forms.”
Reggie Waterman
If you ever receive an offer to post branded content onto your channels, don’t accept right away. Instead, try to negotiate a partnership out of it. Reggie was able to leverage opportunities such as these and expand his network while adding public events to his portfolio.
#5 – Build up your voice
Be Unique and Different by creating experiences
Think outside the box when it comes to creating experiences for your audience. During the event, Reggie prepared a story in which he gave book authors opportunities to promote themselves digitally. It was a learning experience for the audience to see their favorite writers talk about the purposes of writing the published stories.
“There are so many variables and so many added values that you can get when you take the time to be unique and put the personal brand on display,”
Reggie explains.
When taking that first step, eventually you’ll realize the values that keep people together.
Be inspiring and uplift others
Shaping your brand is more than just networking and creating content. It involves thinking about how your legacy will live on and create positive changes in the community around you.
Consider using storytelling when you are developing your personal brand. Storytelling is key when it comes to creating inspirational content that features your journey. When you become the narrator of life stories, you develop a voice that commands people’s attention. After you have built your community, keep their attention by educating them about your goals and the achievements you’ve made with them.
Show gratefulness along the way
A few lines of thoughtful gratitude to show your appreciation can go a lot further than you think. Whether it’s sharing pictures of your loved ones or a video of a place you traveled to, as Reggie did. It’s an opportunity to create a stronger bond with your audience.
#6 – Show what you love – Be YOU
Last but not least, be authentic and genuine; be yourself! It is a waste of time to copy another brand. Invest your time and attention into managing yours. Use available resources and think of ways that you can reach your audience more creatively.
With these tips above, we hope you will be able to effectively build your personal brand.
At our Diversity in Digital – All Brands on Deck career summit, we also had Ryan Hinkson and Jasmine Williams as workshop facilitators for our event. Check out what they had shared on the top digital skills and the mindset you need as an entrepreneur and key shifts to make if you’re guilty of these 6 freelancer mistakes.