I am an anomaly. I can stand in front of an audience and present or perform without flinching or butterflies, but give me a room and tell me to network and I want to bolt straight through the door. I don’t have a fear of public speaking, throughout high-school and college I performed alone on stage without a problem. But put me in a one-to-one situation and watch how quickly I lose my cool.
I suck at networking, and I even sucked at virtual networking.
When Twitter came out I hated it. The thought of sharing my thoughts with the world or chatting up a bunch of strangers was not my thing. It’s just a fad, I thought. Boy, was I ever wrong. So I had to start training myself to become more open and more willing to walk up to people virtually and strike a conversation, I’m still not that great at it, but its a work in progress.
Maybe you have it wrong about personal branding, too. If your idea of building a personal brand is boasting about how awesome you are at every opportunity then you are on the wrong track. Building your own brand is a lot more fun than that
What personal branding is (and is not)
It’s the sharing age and you could be a hot commodity
Who’s going to know how awesome you are if you don’t start showcasing your talent and skills? Building a personal brand in the tech age is all about sharing what you know. With your skills and talent you are a hot commodity to someone seeking help with a project or building a team.
Personal branding is about sharing what you know with the world. Referrals from one job or project to another are great but being found when someone is looking for someone with your skills is even better. It’s not enough to just do an awesome job at your company and ignore LinkedIn, Twitter and other networking tools. You have to spend time on creating your own brand too.
People that share what they know get further a lot faster than those that stay mum. So you’ve got to start thinking about what your skills and passions are and how you can use technology to leverage them. Creating your brand or building your reputation is super importnat if you are building a business, but it’s also important if you want to stand out in your field.
Share what you know even if its jut becoming an active member of a LinkedIn group, or guest posting in blogs in your field every once in a while.
Personal branding can help you get work or clients
Whether you are an entrepreneur trying to build your own business, starting out on the job market, or working in a company, building a personal brand can help you get the projects you want to get. It can help you get the right kind of attention without having to straight up brag about it
What do you want to be known for?
Remarkable people are those that stand out. If we were to meet today, how would I remember you?
It’s time to get in the business of building you. What your name and work says about you will set you apart in every instance. The more remarkable you are the more likely you are to be remembered, and the more likely you are to succeed. It’s not just about having a skill, It’s about being able to market that skill to people who need it.
What are you good at? what do you want to spend your life doing? how are you going to share how awesome you are at ____________?
Think about it this weekend.
Daisy Quaker is a Badass 
good read. keep it coming nelliebean. Do you know about Empowernetwork?
Hi Nellie, thank you! No, I’m not sure I’m familiar with it, are to share a link and I’ll check it out.
Daisy, thanks so much. I relate completely to you. I used to be a professional consultant on image and would hold classes in businesses and colleges for people to take stock of the image they portray to others.I had absolutely no problem. However, standing up in a roomful of people and saying what I do (interior decorator) absolutely throws tons of fear inside of me. I am afraid it will come out jumbled, and I offer 3 services under this umbrella. How to say it fluently and not jumbled up as if I don’t know what I do absolutely sets fear in my soul, and I fight it. Anyone else have this issue? If so, how do you deal with it?
Thanks for the comment, my heart goes out to you! I think practicing helps make it a lot better starting small and working up to bigger events. I’m on a mission to attend more networking events, I’m going to avoid making assumptions about how it will turn out and just do it.Hopefully this will get me more comfortable with it.Bringing a friend along helps me know someone is there that I can work the room with.
Thanks for this post Daisy. I think I’m like you in that I suck at networking. Unlike you I also suck at public speaking and presenting! I’m actually a software engineer who can sit quietly in a corner hammering out software. But I’m working at being an author hammering out novels. I’m quite aware of the need for a brand and to network but it scares the hell out of me!
Wow Richard being able to code and write is a great set of skills to have. I’m working on building my tech skills currently. My impression is that most authors are introverted types, as you start out it will be pretty essential to network and build connections with other writing enthusiasts, people that work in publishing and the like. I know it’s hard, trust me I can relate but we’ve got to be brave and go out on a limb -it’s where the fruit is 🙂
Thanks for sharing this. I really liked your point that networking is not boasting about yourself but really its just sharing what you know. I really appreciate the friends I follow on linkedin who share interesting articles and observations about their career and experiences. I realized that because I follow my friends they are developing “points” with me in certain areas and I know who I will turn to in certain instances because they were willing enough to share. Great reminder.
Oh yes, anytime I go on LinkedIn I spend almost an hour reading stuff that other people are sharing or the top stories. Your friends are really branding themselves because now if you have a problem, you’ll remember how so-so works in this industry, seems to know a lot and can help -personal brands are powerful!
Reblogged this on Let Us Wipe out Domestic Violence and commented:
bean.nellie
bean.nellie@gmail Daisy, send me your email address and I will send you a link. I am going to recommend a follower so to teach him on your blogging article. I loved it. though I didnt comment before
Thanks for re-blogging!