There’s no doubt it’s getting tougher than ever to stand out from your competitors and be found by your ideal clients.
Finding what makes you unique and individual is at the heart of your personal brand. It’s what makes you different from the rest.
When you can market your products and services with your personality, you’re much more likely to be seen and remembered.
So why do you feel so uncomfortable talking about yourself to promote your business?
Follow these three ideas to help you get comfortable with being out of your comfort zone. Taking small steps is the ideal way to influence a mindset shift to work on your personal brand.
These are based on questions that I have found out bother people the most.
- Find the place where you feel most at home
- Be as ‘out there’ as you want to be
- Post in the way you want to
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Do you need to be on a platform where you aren’t comfortable?
Find the place where you feel most at home
Many marketers encourage being on the platforms where your audience is most likely to spend time. This makes sense to a certain extent because there’s less point trying to speak your audience on Instagram when they are most likely to be scrolling on LinkedIn.
However, if you prefer Instagram then let your audience know that this is where they are more likely to find you. If creating content through visuals ie. photos and video is your strength, I suggest you can still have a presence on LinkedIn but encourage your audience to come over to Instagram to get to know you better.
Your audience will follow you to where you feel comfortable – if what you are saying is of value to them.
I follow some amazing professionals on TikTok. I know that’s where they much prefer creating their content (yes, I’m talking about who work in regulated professions such as legal and financial), so I’m following them there rather than on LinkedIn.
If you are enough of a beacon and you shine your light in the right direction, then your people will find you.
Even if you prefer to get people away from the popular social media platforms and onto an email list (always a good idea in my view) or another community space such as Discord or Circle.
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Do I really have to talk about myself and take selfies?
Be as ‘out there’ as you want to be
How comfortable do you feel creating content? Would you prefer to comment rather than post?
Don’t be afraid to dip your toe into the water when building your personal brand. Go at the pace you want to – but I advise you to do it consistently.
If, for example, you are what some refer to as a LinkedIn ‘lurker’ (someone who reads content and watches videos but never reacts or comments), you could try leaving an emoji reaction.
It’s a small thing but that may trigger the creator of the post to check out your profile.
Leaving a ‘like’ or a ‘support’ isn’t going to put a spotlight on you, but you are letting people know you are there.
You could take the next step and leave a comment, but not just a one or two word ‘great’ or a ‘thank you’.
Leave a comment of substance which shows you have put some thought into how you are responding.
Comments are a great way to share your knowledge and experience. You’ve probably heard the phrase though leadership and you can certainly show this in a comment.
If you leave a detailed, thought-provoking comment, why not use this as a starting point for a post?
Commenting naturally lead to people taking a look at your profile.
By the way all of these suggestions are as applicable across the other social platforms. You can be as visible across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X as you want to be.
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Do I have to post every day?
Post in the way you want to
There are no hard and fast rules with posting. The aim is to feel comfortable with posting and doing it consistently will help.
Once you have created a posting habit, you’ll find the ideas will start to flow more freely, you’ll have more to talk about and you’ll also have a whole bank of posts that you can reuse again in a year’s time!
As a daily user of social media, I notice the number of my connections who post regular as clockwork, just once or twice a week. I know which days they are going to be on the platform and even the time of day in some cases. They’ve worked out a posting cadence which works for them.
Here’s some ideas for what to post if it’s something you don’t do often. Remember you are trying to encourage people to find out more about you.
- Share some news or an update from your industry or sector but explain how this will directly impact on your ideal client.
- Talk about an event have attended or a course that you joined. Explain what you gained from it.
- Review a product or a tool you use in your work. Show how this helps to improve the service that you provide for your clients.
- Answer a FAQ that is often always asked by your network. This will show your audience that you have the expertise and knowledge to match their requirements.
- Give a shout out to someone in your network, especially if it’s a person who’s in a different line of work. It shows you are using LinkedIn as a network and is a catalyst for bringing new people into your respective circles.
- Share something you do outside of work such as a pastime or a good cause you support and why you support it. This will start to give more of a window onto you, so you become more than your job title to your audience.
A bonus suggestion.
Present your content in a way that you enjoy – and which doesn’t take too much time!
How you present this content is very much up to you. No-one is suggesting that one way in particular works best.
It’s fine just to write. Text only posts do well on LinkedIn, but adding an image of yourself or another relevant one to the text will increase its reach.
If creating documents, videos or polls are of interest to you, these will take a little more thought and preparation.
If you’re using another social platform such as Instagram or TikTok, the visuals and video are more likely to be your playground.
Try to test, measure and review what’s working and what’s not. It makes sense t o produce more of the content which gives you greater visibility, reactions and comments.
Hopefully these ideas will give you more confidence in using your personal brand. This is an effective way to be seen, known and remembered, not only by your target audience but by your network who will recommend you.
Would you like to know more about finding your personal brand? I’m keen to help more professionals working in regulated industries use personal branding effectively to attract their ideal clients. Drop me a message here and we can talk about how I can help you.
Also take a look at my Personal Brand Launchpad.
Category: LinkedIn, Personal Branding