BernieBorges.com Blog: Social Media and Web Marketing

Build Your Personal Brand Everyday..No Excuses

Building Your Personal Brand Requires Daily Commitment

Do you brush your teeth everyday? Do you bathe everyday? Do you take vitamins every day? Do you eat at least two meals everyday?

You don’t wait until your teeth are rotted to take care of them. You don’t wait until you smell so bad no one will come near you before you decide to bathe. You don’t wait until you’re sick to take care of your health. And, you don’t wait until you’re suffering from hunger pains to eat.

Each of these routines requires some level of commitment and time. But, the truth is each of them is important enough in our lives that we make them a priority and we take the time to do them EVERYDAY. Right?

Then, why do so many people wait until they lose their job to work on their personal brand? Why do so many people ignore their LinkedIn account until they lose their job? Why do so many people contact former colleagues and friends out of the blue after years of no contact after they lose their job? Isn’t your career a big enough priority to work on it everyday?!

Life is Short and So are Jobs

We all know the old saying “life is short.” The reality is jobs are short too. The likelihood of you working for a company more than five years in this economy is pretty low. Sure, there are exceptions especially in larger companies. But, even in larger companies, people move around the company into different jobs.

People who ignore building and maintaining relationships with a long term mindset may miss out when an opportunity becomes available. Relationships can open a door to a new opportunity in a heartbeat.

In today’s world of social networking, it’s easy to maintain a relationship. We don’t need to have frequent phone conversations to stay in touch.  If you aren’t connecting with hundreds of people with whom you’ve worked in your career, you’re missing the chance to build and sustain relationships that can be valuable to you.

I admit that I get a little irked when I hear from someone with whom I worked in years past that I have had no contact with in years, only to learn that he or she is out of a job and they want to connect with me in hope of me providing a lead for their next job. I always help if I can. But, that’s not the point.

The best relationships are those where one person proactively helps another expecting nothing in return. I enjoy doing that for people I’ve never even met based on the professional and social credibility they’ve created through their personal brand.

Recently, I proactively reached out to Jon Ruben to offer my support for his job search because I was so impressed with his personal branding journey and his creative use of social media. Check out his Labor Day Challenge social media job search incentive program on his LinkedIn page.

Is it a priority for you to continually develop your personal brand just like it’s a priority to brush your teeth everyday?

If it is a priority to you, I invite you to connect to me on LinkedIn. Send me an invitation with a personal note. I’ll become part of your LinkedIn network and I’ll help you if I can. If we’re already connected on LinkedIn I invite you to share this article with your LinkedIn network to inspire them to grow their network everyday.

Make it a priority to build your personal brand every day. Just the same way that you brush your teeth everyday.

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