I cannot emphasize enough the importance of mindfully and strategically building your professional brand in today’s digital-first scenario. We have in our arsenal some amazing, brand new tools to put ourselves (and our body of work) out there. It’s a wasted opportunity if we are not doing it.

Why It’s Important

It’s a great way to put your best foot forward and curate an impressive professional persona. This will add value to your profile in your own company as well as with potential employers.

How To Get Started

Start with a deep cleanse of your social media—delete anything you don’t want your professional network to see. Today we use social media differently than we did a few years ago. It’s okay to curate it according to today’s needs.

What To Post

Amplify all of your professional achievements. Let people outside your workplace notice you. The goal is to be looked at as an expert in your industry.

Be Consistent

Your content doesn’t have to go viral every time you post. Engaging with your audience is important. Consistently putting content out there will eventually build your network as well as display your expertise. Each post adds up!

Plan Your Feed

Focus on topics you’re passionate about, maintain a posting schedule and pay attention to how your feed looks. It should be neat and have a cohesive message.

Showcase Your Skills

The content you create should be a way of sharing your expertise. If you are a writer, talk about writing. If you are a graphic designer, showcase your designs. Keep updating it with projects you work on.

Create Engaging Content

Create content that gets a reaction—it can be funny, insightful or educational. Keep a tab on what doesn’t work. You don’t only have to shout out about your achievements, talk about your failures and what you learnt from them.

Be Authentic

Do what comes naturally to you! Don’t try to jump on a bandwagon just because everyone else is doing it. Your social media should be an extension of who you are, not some projected personality that people won’t even associate with you.

Work On Building A Network

If you like someone’s work, share and engage with their content. It’s free of cost to be supportive and nice, right? Besides, they might do the same for you in the future – you never know! This is how you build a network.