LinkedIn isn’t the only place you should showcase your personal branding. We’re going to dive into that in this article.
So why not just LinkedIn?
Well, while LinkedIn provides an important professional home base, there’s a better strategy to share your experiences across additional platforms.
What are you trying to accomplish with your personal brand? Obviously, you should help folks understand what you’ve accomplished. That is the whole point, after all! Your personal brand is a great place to communicate what you know, what you value, and how you approach your work.
Why Your Personal Brand Extends Beyond LinkedIn
The term Personal Branding can sound intimidating. Why? Well because it sometimes feels like becoming your own marketing department. However, your personal brand simply reflects what people should know and remember about you.
We’ve all been asked the question, “So what do you do?”
Wouldn’t it be a great thing to have a quick and easy-to-remember response?
LinkedIn can showcase portions of this answer. But it’s limited. Think about this: your experiences, expertise, ideas, and personality all contribute to your brand. What other ways can you highlight the answer to that question?
The answer is not to pursue every possible platform. You’d drive yourself batty! Instead, choose an approach that feels authentic and manageable for you.
Let’s explore a few that could serve you in a positive way.
Use Podcasts to Showcase Your Expertise
Podcasts provide a powerful way for people to hear your expertise. You get to show your personality, enthusiasm, and stories through this format. Keep in mind, you don’t need to start a podcast of your own to make this happen.
Look for podcasts within your industry and consider pitching yourself as a guest. You could offer specialized knowledge, an interesting career experience, or a perspective that audiences rarely hear.
Those qualities can give you a strong reason to participate in a professional podcast.
If you want to create your own podcast, keep the concept simple. Choose a topic you genuinely care about and identify the audience you want to reach.
You also don’t need a massive audience to make podcasting worthwhile. A smaller audience that values your expertise can create more meaningful connections than a large, disengaged audience.
Podcasting also creates opportunities to repurpose your ideas across different platforms. One conversation can become a video clip, blog post, social media quote, or future discussion.
That approach allows you to build content from existing ideas instead of constantly starting from scratch.
Build Your Professional Presence Through Public Speaking
Public speaking is a great way to share your ideas to a niche, focused audience. And no, you don’t need to stand on a stage and broadcast your brand to hundreds or thousands of folks to get your message out there.
Some public speaking formats to consider: a webinar, workshop, panel discussion, workplace presentation, or professional meetup. Each opportunity allows you to demonstrate what you know and how effectively you communicate your ideas.
There’s a significant difference between claiming expertise and allowing people to experience that expertise directly. Speaking creates an opportunity for others to interact and engage with your knowledge.
If you feel nervous about speaking, start with smaller opportunities. Look within your organization, professional associations, community, and industry for relevant events. Make your focus to help others instead of worrying about being perfect.
So how do you get a speaking gig? Consider where professionals already gather to discuss topics related to your expertise. Those spaces can provide natural opportunities to begin building your professional presence.
When possible, document your speaking experiences through photos, videos, or reflections. You can share what you learned in a very authentic, relatable way.
Be sure to document your work. Don’t let it fall into the abyss of nothingness once the event ends. You can have month’s of valuable content from these speaking events.
Share Your Ideas Through Thought Leadership
Thought leadership can sound intimidating, but you don’t need to label yourself a thought leader. Instead, focus on consistently sharing useful ideas and meaningful perspectives.
You could write an article, contribute to a blog, join a panel, or discuss something you recently learned. You could also respond to developments within your industry and explain your perspective.
Share your own ideas on a topic rather than regurgitating what others have already shared as their idea. What do you think of their idea? What have they missed? What did they get right?
People may eventually recognize you as someone who understands a particular subject, industry, or professional challenge. That recognition develops naturally through consistent contributions rather than formal announcements.
Build Recognition Through Consistent Contributions
A strong personal brand doesn’t develop because you announce it. Consistent contributions help people understand your expertise and remember what you bring to professional conversations.
You might become known for instructional design, workforce development, marketing, technology, leadership, or another area that reflects your experience. So post your knowledge on YouTube videos, articles, and social media platforms.
The specific topic matters less than your ability to provide useful and consistent contributions. Over time, those contributions can strengthen your credibility and make your expertise easier to find.
Consistency also helps create a clearer connection between your professional experiences and the ideas you share publicly.
Choose One Personal Branding Strategy to Start
If you currently think about your personal brand as your LinkedIn profile, consider expanding your approach. LinkedIn provides an excellent home base, but your professional reputation develops in many other places.
Your conversations, presentations, teaching experiences, ideas, and professional relationships all contribute to your reputation. Each experience can give people another opportunity to discover what you offer.
You also do not need to become a podcaster, public speaker, blogger, YouTuber, and full-time content creator. Trying to manage everything can quickly become overwhelming.
Instead, choose one opportunity that feels natural and manageable. You could pitch yourself as a podcast guest, volunteer for a panel, or finally write an article you have considered.
The goal does not involve promoting yourself constantly. Instead, personal branding beyond LinkedIn helps make your expertise easier for the right people to discover.
Make Your Expertise Easier to Find
Ultimately, personal branding involves more than promoting yourself across professional platforms. Your brand develops through the conversations you have, the ideas you share, and the experiences you create.
LinkedIn can serve as your professional home base, but other platforms and opportunities can add depth to your professional presence.
Start with one approach that feels authentic to you. Then, consistently share what you know, contribute meaningful ideas, and give people another way to understand your expertise.
To learn more about building a strong professional presence online, read Building Your Virtual Professional Identity.