By Amanda Athuraliya
Remember when a CV was all it took to impress a potential employer? Those were simpler times, indeed. But somehow it feels limited when I look back now.
When I applied to my first job, all I had to forward to my then-employer was a resume listing my qualifications and a cover letter. However, by the time I was applying to my third job, things had changed, somewhat drastically. In the face of the increasing popularity of social media networks and digital marketing, the good old CV became inadequate, like it’s the least “cool” way to get a job.
Last time I checked, there were a plethora of ways one can use to build his or her own personal brand, both online and offline. And what is personal branding? In its simplest terms, personal branding is a way to become a recognized person or a person of authority in your industry/niche or among your customers or peers. It’s not necessarily about selling yourself or your talent, but creating an identity based on what you are capable of (your expertise). It’s about making yourself available to those who can use your help.
Following are the steps I took to build my personal brand when all I had was a PDF of my CV. Note: These methods are not limited to job seekers—entrepreneurs can also incorporate them to build their brand, increase their credibility among customers, and earn a well-recognized status within the industry.
Step 1: I started with a personal blog…
I am a content marketer, so a blog seemed like the most natural platform for me, but by no means is a blog only fitting for a writer. Whatever your profession or business, a blog or a website is an indispensable platform on which to build your personal brand.
Setting up a blog or a website is only the first step. Next comes promoting it to the right crowd: your potential clients or employers. But in between, you need to work on what you are going to offer your audience.
I started with writing and publishing blog posts based on my experience as a writer. Every post I wrote, I shared via my personal Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ accounts. At first it did not bring immediate results, but I persisted until I was able to generate traffic, and my posts started getting shared across social media channels. (Refer to steps 3 and 4 to see how I built a considerable social media following.)
Step 2: Then I reached out to other blogs
Once my blog was substantially established, I started reaching out to blogs where I could become a contributor and share my knowledge and expertise with their audiences. With this strategy I had two goals in mind:
- To expand my online presence and grow my network as a writer
- To increase the rank of my blog and generate traffic to it
To accomplish these goals I created a four-step plan:
1. Google and list blogs relevant to my field along with their domain authority. Reaching out to blogs with a higher domain authority than mine accomplished my second goal.