WHAT'S THE KEY TO PERSONAL BRANDING?

A guide to thought leadership and branding on LinkedIn.

Navigating ways of building a personal brand online and starting to be perceived as a thought leader requires, first of all, to be a professional in your line of work. Most likely you want to bring clarity and share your knowledge to a wider audience, receive feedback and engage in meaningful conversations. To create a compelling online presence, it requires insights into a specific topic that can help readers and inspire action.

LinkedIn gives its users a channel to network, enable sales opportunities and it creates thought leaders through the platform's reach. LinkedIn has more than 500 million users where 40% access it on a daily basis.

Consistency is the no. 1 focus when it comes to building a personal brand. Sharing knowledge with the right audience can increase reach and let you interact with the professionals that ultimately will be trusted followers of your content.

Here are 3 steps to build a brand on LinkedIn:

Build a professional profile

• Start by keeping your profile clean & updated. Pay attention to all the updates you add and keep it professional. 

• Ask for skills endorsements. You can add up to 50 skills that other users can endorse you for such as communication, strategy, finance.  

• Ask for recommendations from peers and employers. Personalize the message when sending the request.

• Share relevant content - as much as you can

Create an audience

• Be open to new connections. Add relevant connections based on your industry/segment.

• Connect after networking events. Express appreciation.

• Share/Like/Comment weekly on relevant content and join discussions.

• Use ”Note” to connect with new users. Personalize the message and share why you believe the contact should join your network. Be genuine.

Become a thought leader

• Post strategically: find your topic and add value by sharing tips, personal stories, learnings and offering advice.

• Create how-to posts and list posts as the formats are easy to follow and popular for readers. Vary the format: use videos, write articles, share guides & infographics and give credit to sources of your data.

• Mention people you know will find your content relevant. Comment or tag in your original post.

And remember...

Key Sharing #1

What is usual to you, it’s a treasure for someone else

• Our individual understanding creates value for others

• Thought leadership should deliver facts, insights and substance

Key Sharing #2

Your viewpoint is as legit as anyone else’s on the subject-matter

• You don’t become an expert overnight

• Relevance, timeliness and referrals from trusted sources matter the most

Key Sharing #3

Take your chances to understand what works best for you

• Test different topics you are directly interested in or you work with

• Write and speak about your personal experience

Until next time, I challenge you to start sharing your thoughts on LinkedIn,

Alexandra Ciobotaru works in business development for a tech start-up in Copenhagen. She is actively involved in promoting Women in Tech and female leadership initiatives and she has been nominated for Business Leader of the Year in 2018. Through her professional experiences, she advocates for knowledge sharing and has started an outbound sharing circle for the tech scene in Copenhagen. A co-creator of Tech Festival in Copenhagen, she is now working on initiatives meant to help the business community as well as being aboard member of the International Rotaract Club of Copenhagen.