Building a Personal Brand on LinkedIn

“Do you have a personal brand on LinkedIn?”

When my friend asked me this, it really made me think. My initial response was:

“Of course, I have a personal brand. Everyone has!”

“But what if I’d like to change it?” asked my friend.

Perhaps you aren’t happy with your personal brand? Would you like others to see a better version of you? Are you attempting to be something different from the real you? Is your LinkedIn not up to the mark?

The Importance of Personal Branding

Nearly every day I base my decisions on what I believe are people’s personal brands. Whether it’s tipping in a restaurant or choosing a builder for an extension. When selecting someone for any decision I make involving a service, it comes down to trust. The higher the value of service, the greater the trust required.

And yet, so many people seem to care so little about their online personal brand and how much trust it builds in potential customers. When they try to pursue a business relationship with me, do they not realise that I will be checking them out on LinkedIn before making my decision?

If you want to hear my advice on building trust, listen to my discussion with Gillian Whitney on LinkedIn Live:

How to Build Trust & Credibility

What Is a Personal Brand on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn user Gary Vaynerchuk suggests:

“Personal Brand is really just reputation.”

In this regard, we all have one.

Your reputation is what people say about you when you leave the room. When a topic of interest comes up, do they think about you? Do they recommend you when people ask for referrals?

But what do you think defines a personal brand? And how can we change ours? Should we be portraying a different version of ourselves to be attractive to an audience? Let me know your thoughts over on LinkedIn.

For more advice on how to use LinkedIn the right way, check out my LinkedIn Training Course.