Building a personal brand online is an important step to take if you want to establish yourself as an expert in your field, grow in your career, network or reach a larger audience.

It’s easy to get lost in the weeds and absorbed in your day-to-day tasks, that you have little or no time to think about building something as seemingly lofty as your “personal brand”. However, building a personal brand is a great investment in your career, whether you’re starting out in your industry, building your own business or project or a seasoned practitioner in your field. A strong personal brand can help you stand out from the crowd and attract exciting new possibilities your way. But what exactly is personal branding, anyway? How does it benefit your career and wider ambitions?

What is personal branding, and why it matters

Personal branding is the process of creating and promoting an image of yourself that conveys your key values, experiences, and skills. It involves taking control of your online presence and shaping it in a way that communicates your identity and highlights your strengths. 

The internet has made it easier than ever to reach a wide-reaching audience and build your personal brand. Against a competitive job landscape where many qualified candidates are gunning for the same jobs, having a strong personal brand can be the deciding factor between you and another candidate. Even if you don't have a full-time job, a personal brand can help you stand out and gain attention for your ideas, projects, and work.

Using content to connect with your audience

Content is a powerful tool for creating and promoting your personal brand. Publicly sharing the projects you’re working on online or your thoughts on current affairs can also be a form of inbound networking, that can lead to serendipitous connections with the right people or new opportunities. There are many ways to create content that builds your personal brand, but here are some ideas to get you started:

• Repost an interesting article and share a thoughtful perspective on it 

• Tell your story and draw from your background and experiences 

• Create a short video or reel on social media that showcases your talents and experiences

• Publish a blog post or articles on a topic related to your field.

• Share stories from your career journey on social media

• Create a podcast and invite guests to share their experiences

• Answer a common question in your field or industry

• Develop an online course or guidebook and share your expertise

How to get started with using content to build your personal brand

The idea that personal brands are important has become popular, but it can be hard to figure out how to get started, find what to talk about or how to do it in a way that doesn’t feel cringe. In an Uncommon workshop last year, our member Nina Terol (who was named one of LinkedIn’s Top 100 Most Influential Filipino Women in 2021) organized a workshop, “Creating Content that Connects” that helpfully broke this skill down. During the hour-long session, she guided our members through a strategic and creative content creation process for building strong personal and professional brands, which we’ve summarized below. 

1. Define your ‘who’ and ‘why’. Before you launch into your brand strategy or content plan, there are two ‘whos’ to think about: “Who are you? (“How do you want to project yourself to the world?”) and “Who is it that you’re trying to speak to?” (“Who shares your pain? Whose problem are you trying to solve?”) Being clear about who you’re speaking to is important in being relevant and targeted in your messaging. In addition, be intentional about your reasons for sharing. Do you want to help your audience? Do you want to connect with like-minded people? 

2. For content to connect, it must be relevant, engaging and elevating. The content we share should ideally be relevant to us (either on a personal or professional level), engaging and elevating. “Engaging content can take many forms – it could be funny, insightful or a hot take on an issue.” According to Nina, it should also be relevant and valuable to the audience you’re trying to reach. Content that elevates inspires your audience to be better and do better. “Think about how you can guide your audience from where they are to where they want to be,” Nina explains. 

3. Start before you’re ready. Content creation is about progress, not perfection. Many of us tend to overoptimize the conditions when we’re ready to get started. We might think that we don’t have enough experience or expertise to position ourselves as thought leaders or tell ourselves that we’ll start at “a better time” if things feel busy at work. However, Nina stresses there is no better time to start than the present. 

4. Keep your eyes and ears open to feedback. Be prepared for people to provide you with feedback, whether positive, negative or constructive. Engaging your audience is a two-way street; just as you’re able to share your thoughts freely, others will share theirs. Of course, not all responses or feedback is constructive; but this exchange of ideas or insights can be a useful way to reevaluate your own perspective or ideas and think of new ways to communicate your ideas better next time. 

5. Be compassionate to yourself. Creating content, especially original content, can take some time and effort. Don’t be discouraged if your posts don’t get the traction you expected and, more importantly, don’t tie your self-worth with your number of likes. If you share content that offers perspectives that are thoughtful, fresh, well-researched and ethical, people will respond and resonate with that. Over time, your personal brand will grow slowly, but organically.

6. Use the ikigai framework. The Japanese word ikigai means a life purpose. It refers to defining your personal meaning in life around your talents, passions, profession and what value you can give to your wider community. While the original concept of ikigai isn’t specifically about your career or business, understanding your reason for being is a crucial foundation of your personal brand. Your ikigai is based on the intersection of these four areas: what you love, what the world needs, what you can be paid for, and what you are good at. Finding the overlap among these spheres can help you get clarity on your values and uniqueness, which in turn can help you offer fresh perspectives on your passions or interests. 

Content is a powerful tool for building a personal brand. By leveraging your professional experience, previous projects, and network, you can create content that will help you stand out from the competition and build trust with potential employers.

About Uncommon

Connect, learn, and grow at Uncommon, Asia's first private network for female leaders. We select established, high-potential leaders across industries and equip them with the tools to succeed: a personal advisory board, top-level executive coaching, and access to a network of subject matter experts. Apply for membership and surround yourself with stand-out women. Applications are open.