Actionable advice on how to communicate your personal brand online, including 3 KEY PRINCIPLES of personal branding, plus instructions for how to UPDATE, PARTICIPATE and MONITOR your personal brand online. LINK to printable shownotes: https://talkabouttalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/68-COMMUNICATING-YOUR-PERSONAL-BRAND-ONLINE.pdf CONTENTS * Summary * References & Links * Transcript SUMMARY: Communicating Your Personal Brand ONLINE Personal Branding = Proactively Managing Your Identity * Personal branding is reputation management or impression management. Ideally your personal brand transcends both personal and professional contexts. * Managing your personal brand encompasses two main tasks: * identifying – articulating your unique personal brand * communicating – both online and offline, both explicitly and implicitly * Managing your personal brand is similar to managing your credit score: * Whether or not you proactively manage your credit score (your personal brand), you have one. Just as institutions can access your credit score, individuals are aware of your personal brand. * The implications are significant. A poor credit rating (negative personal brand) diminishes opportunities. A healthy credit rating (ideal personal brand) opens doors. Preliminary Ideas to Develop your Unique Personal Brand Start with a blank sheet of paper.  Answer these prompts, then transcribe your thoughts into a digital document that you will keep updated. * How do you want others to think about you? How does this compare to what others currently think about you? Highlight job titles, personality traits, adjectives… * Consider your past: Think back to when you were 7-8 years old. What made you unique back then?  Has that changed? What failures did you learn from? Do you have a “transformation story”? What are some of your most impressive past accomplishments? * Your current status: What do others think about you? What is your current identity? Role? What are you currently focused on that excites you? * Your future: What is your dream? What do you want your legacy to be? * What makes you unique compared to others in various contexts? Compared to your graduating class? Compared to your peers at work? Compared to your friends? * Start a list of keywords: the words or phrases that become a core part of your identity, including your roles, your unique personality traits, or your areas of expertise. 3 Key Principles of Personal Branding * When communicating, be generous/gracious. Not salesy! Take a tip from product brands you admire. Are they always in sales-mode? * Keep it clear and consistent. Just like product brands can’t be “all things to all people,” neither can you. What’s your one key message? Are you recognizable across media * Keep it updated. Just as product brands evolve over time, so too do people. Yes that photo of me when I was 25 yrs old is lovely.  But if I don’t keep my photos (and other information) updated, I might shock people when they meet me on Zoom or IRL.  (image: Unsplash @ tma, Tianyi Ma) Communicating your Personal Brand Online – 3 Tasks: UPDATE, PARTICIPATE, MONITOR UPDATE 1.    Websites –       Check corporate and personal websites –       update your bio, contact details, photo, etc. 2.    Social Media –       At a minimum, focus on your headline (title,