HOW TO: Create your personal brand onlineBeginner tips to expand your personal brand into the digital world

Personal Branding

“Personal branding is the process whereby people and their careers are marked as brands.”

-Source: Wikipedia

What is personal branding?

•As it relates to your career, personal branding encompasses who you are in your “professional life.”

□ Experience□ Communication

Style□ Expertise□ Physical Attributes

□ Track Record□ Mannerisms□ Knowledge□ Industry/Niche

Online Personal Branding (OPB)

Your resume is no longer enough.

•According to recruiting technology

company Jobvite, 92% of companies use LinkedIn, Facebook and/or Twitter to find talent.

LinkedIn | 89%

Facebook | 26%

Twitter | 15%

They will find you…

86% of recruiters review your social media profiles whether or not you share those links

Pro Tip: Add your professional social profiles to your resume to ensure your profile doesn’t get confused with another person.

Other reasons to create an OPB

•Gain creditability with prospective employers

•Show off your skills and portfolio•Meet new people/gain new connections•New opportunities

What makes a good personal brand/OPB?

•Ultimately answers the question: “What are the best things about me that I want employers to know?”

▫Unique▫Creative▫Shows Personality▫Steers clear from extremes▫Is approachable

OPB Step 1: Audit the web (a.k.a. Google yourself)

• Find what represents you on the web ▫ Search photos, video, blogs, news, social media etc.▫ Don’t just stop with your name…combine search terms, (name and college attended,

name and hometown, sports played, etc.)***Clean up your web presence (if you can)*** -OR- Work on pushing undesirable posts toward the bottom of search engines by creating more professional channels and populating them with fresh content that reflects your professional interests (P.S. Keg stands do not qualify as a highly desirable skill…But strong leadership skills do!) *wink*

TIP: If you have a Google/ Gmail account, make sure you log out before completing searches!

OPB Step 2: Become inCREDIABLE

• LinkedIn is a good place to start building your OPB ▫ Start w/ your paper resume by adding

positions▫ Upload a professional photo▫ Write in first person▫ Add a summary that mirrors your

elevator speech▫ Customize your URL▫ Request recommendations▫ Build your network (classmates,

colleagues, family friends, relatives)***Only connect with people you know

Pro Tip: Add your strongest portfolio pieces to your LinkedIn profile by uploading them to SlideShare & then linking to them from your profile.More LinkedIn Tips & Profile Examples: http://bit.ly/linkedinhowto-ac

OPB Step 3: Advanced OPB

• Building blogs and websites are a great way to expand your online personal brand and show your subject matter expertise

• Also essential for showing your portfolio of projects▫ Blogging Tools

Wordpress.com Tumblr Google’s Blogger.com

▫ Your own website Google Sites

▫ Vlogging YouTube Vimeo

▫ Prezi – www.prezi.com

OPB Dos & Don’ts• DO conduct the search

engine audit to see what shows up before you do anything related to your OPB

• DO choose your domains wisely (Tip: use your name whenever possible)

• DO create a website. There are a number of free and easy tools (see previous slide) and it makes you look very professional!

• DON’T feel like you have to get rid of every single negative thing that’s out there (use your judgement)

• DON’T start a blog if you can’t keep up with it (people want to see fresh content!)

• DON’T stop building out your connections on LinkedIn. Make sure you keep in contact with your connections, you never know when you may need them!

Additional Resources

•The YouTern Blog “The Savvy Intern”: http://www.youtern.com/thesavvyintern/ ▫A great blog for new college graduates to

help you land an internship/your first jobs•Article: Digital First Impressions Make or

Break Your Job Search [Infographic] http://bit.ly/digifirst-ac

Thank You!

Ashley CheretesAshleyCheretes@gmail.com

| @AshleyCheretes| www.ashleycheretes.com

| www.linkedin.com/in/AshleyCheretes

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