BernieBorges.com Blog: Social Media and Web Marketing

Your Content Strategy Fuels Your Personal Brand

Good Content is an Asset To Your Career

A common scenario I encounter among gainfully employed professionals is a mix of complacency and a perceived lack of time (or need) to build their personal brand.

Whatever the rationale, an apathetic attitude toward building your personal brand is very risky. The economy not withstanding, even if you’re gainfully employed, your circumstances can change overnight. If you wake up tomorrow with a need or desire to leave your current job, or you reach a point where it’s time to climb the next rung on your career ladder, the single most important asset you can have is a strong personal brand.

And, the best way for you to build your personal brand is through a strong content strategy. Let’s look at four ways and four examples you can build your personal brand through a strong content strategy.

Blogging: Amanda Borges

Amanda is a student at Florida State University. Her career aspiration is to be a sports broadcaster on television. Her dad (that’s me) has advised her to “be” who she aspires to be now. My advice to Amanda is not to wait until she has graduated from college to be a sports broadcaster. Her blog, FSU Sports Central by Amanda Borges covers all sports activities at Florida State. She writes blog posts and shoots videos at FSU sporting events which she posts to her blog. By the time she graduates in about two years, she will have produced an impressive amount of content that will define her personal brand as an up and upcoming sports broadcaster.

LinkedIn Answers: Charles Caro:

Charles Caro is a sales and marketing veteran of the technology industry.  Not long ago, Charles was in transition seeking his next career opportunity. Charles has long been an active user of LinkedIn where he continually builds his network. But, the most influential aspect of his LinkedIn content strategy is his use of LinkedIn Answers. Charles regularly answers questions asked by professionals on various topics pertaining sales, marketing, social networking and internet marketing. While answering questions, he often recommends other “experts” (using the recommend an expert feature). He also has achieved expert status in his use of LinkedIn Answers. His use of LinkedIn Answers helped him land his current position as Director of Marketing for a national software distributor.

Radio: Joe Pippen

Joe Pippen is an attorney. His firm has a dozen full time attorneys handling estate planning, family, real estate, Medicaid and various business law issues. Joe has had one or more radio shows since 1984.  One of his shows; Ask an Attorney with Joe Pippen is very popular. He takes calls from people with legal questions and provides answers on the spot. Joe’s radio show content has been a big contributor to his success in the west central Florida market. His content strategy has fueled growth for his law firm with twelve attorneys across five offices.

Video: Andrew Davis

Andrew (Drew) Davis is co-founder in a consulting agency in Cambridge, MA called Tipping Point Labs. His firm provides a special type of marketing service. They help companies develop unique marketing plans that are rooted in content marketing strategies. So, it should be no surprise that Drew is a practitioner of content in his personal brand strategy. His video channel is among the various content channels he uses to spread his content. Drew uses video to educate anyone with interest on the merit of content marketing. His videos are produced with flair and his presentations are delivered with charisma and some humor.

Let’s get back to the main point of this blog post. Building your personal brand should be an ongoing pursuit in your career. And, your content strategy should be at the heart of your personal brand strategy!

No matter your profession, there are four questions to ask yourself when developing your content strategy to build your personal brand:

• What do you want to be known for?
• Who do you want to reach?
• Where can I reach them?
• What content can I produce to reach them?

In the four examples provided above, each person has asked and answered these questions and taken action.  Maybe you’ve answered these questions?  Have you taken the action to produce a content strategy that can fuel your personal brand and set you up for new opportunities? Whether you seek a new job or you’re a business owner seeking new clients, a content strategy is NOT an option.

You can spend a lot of money on advertising, but your content will build your personal brand better than a lot of advertising. Hey, I’m not opposed to advertising in “moderation.” My point is that your content strategy will build credibility and trust. Good advertising can build more awareness. But, your content will win trust more than any advertising plan.

If you are not continually building your personal brand, you are taking a big risk. And, if you haven’t thought about your content strategy for your personal brand, I hope these four examples provide inspiration and insights. It’s never too early or too late to start your career’s content strategy.

Want to learn more about creating good content to build your personal brand? Join Career Central and download my eBook on “Business Blogging.”

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