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7 Quick Tips to Boost Your Personal Brand

Social media can help your personal brand garner the attention of industry professionals

Featured Author:

Abby Locke

Abby M. Locke is an executive career strategist and job search specialist who has been interviewed, quoted and featured in Essence Magazine, the Washington Post, Washington Post Express, Wall Street Journal, CEO Update, Monster.com, Kiss 105.9, Black Enterprise, ABCnews.com and the Society for Human Resource Management. Abby partners with senior-level executives and women MBA professionals to help them discover brand distinction overcome job search obstacles and achieve career mastery in highly competitive, crowded marketplaces. She serves as a Résumé Consultant for Women-for-Hire career fairs, contributes thought-provoking advice articles to The Ladders.com and ExecutiveAgent.com, DCjobs.com, Localcareers.com, and Careerealism and is the Seattle Resumes Examiner for Examiner.com. Abby holds a bachelor's degree in business management from Clark University and MBA degree in Finance from Boston University. For more of Abby's professional insights, check out her blog. Add her to your professional network on Excelle.

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You cannot live or breathe today without hearing about personal branding. By now, you should understand that identifying your own unique personal brand is very critical for personal, business and career success.

After all, who wants to blend in with everyone else? Without a standout, memorable personal brand where would successful people like Martha Stewart, Michael Jordan, Madonna, Prince and Donald Trump be?

Well, let’s assume that you have done the hard work, soul-searching and in-depth analysis required to identify your personal brand, now how do you make it a part of your everyday life?

Here are 7 ways that you can successfully exude and promote your personal brand so that it becomes natural perception of who you are – both to yourself and to others who encounter you.

1) Develop and master a unique subject matter – focus on area that you want to learn more about, one that is close to your heart and something that drives your passion. Aim to be that “go-to” person on the topic or area of specialty.

2) Write about it – why keep your expertise and area of knowledge to yourself? Identify online channels and print publications to share your knowledge wealth with others.

3) Take it to the road – partner with professional, social, association and other membership-based groups to offer lectures, seminars and speciatly classes.

4) Create a following – want to consistently share your thoughts with others? Establish your own blog, set up a Twitter account that links to you blog and talk/write to your heart’s content.

5) Design a customized email signature – allow others to quickly learn more about you and your value proposition through a distinctive email signature. Don’t be afraid to be creative and add your photo, personal brand statement, links to your social profiles, blog and website and your own signature colors and/or symbols.

6) Use personalized note cards/business – maintain a consistent theme with colors, brand attributes and messaging with all your stationery and accessories. Don’t forget nice pens that carry your brand message.

7) Prepare a 30-second pitch that sells you – put together a personal introduction that is memorable and compelling – you want to make it easy for people to remember you. Use this pitch in networking events, group presentations, and even social events.

This article was originally published on Executive Career Insights.