As a #millenialwomeninsales I came into the workforce in 2011 during the tail end of the recession. The outlook was still bleek on the job front and branding yourself was of utmost importance.

Problem was it wasn’t the branding or networking our parents or grandparents had done, showing up at an office unannounced and introducing themselves.

We were in a new age of branding, a digital age.

@Dorie Clark of @Reinventing said it best (in my opinion):

“Personal branding is the process of taking stock of how you’re perceived by others, determining how you’d like to be seen, and then taking strategic action to make that a reality”.

I read an Interview of Dorie back in 2014 which changed the way I viewed social media. Instead of focusing on all channels I choose to narrow in on LinkedIn for a professional personal brand.

What I have learned over the past few years via my own and others experiences is a strong personal brand provides a form of career insurance. Having a brand means you will always be wanted and because of this you are indispensable to the organization you work for, raising your ability to barter for career progression.

Caution here - putting yourself online leaves you to vulnerability of criticism. As women we often take feedback to heart, online you must be open minded to others point of views and ideas.

As you shape your personal brand remember that this is something that all potential future employees will likely view and remind yourself - would you hire the person writing this?

Items I thought about:

-DO I VIEW THIS AS FUN?
-Does this brand fit what I believe in?
-Is my brand attractive and fun?
-How can I keep my brand consistent post to post and tie each tweet/post together?
-How will this channel act as a #lever for me to get to the next step in my career?
-The individuals that have chosen a channel (twitter, Linkedin etc.) and cultivated their PERSONAL (aka do you believe? Is this fun for you?) brand have taken off on social media.
-The reality is we live in a world which is most ways is out of our control but personal branding is within your control!

When you have a moment check out these rockstar profiles:

★Jill Rowley's Interactive LinkedIn Profile

★Matt Dixon's Twitter where he interacts directly with clients   

★Stefanie Mueller's Honest and Open Blog

Keep reading #millenialwomeninsales and feel free to email me subjects you are interested in reading about, [email protected]!

Shout out to @Jill Rowley for the blog topic idea!