Creating and contributing unique and differentiating value is one effective way you can communicate and establish your personal brand online and offline and there are countless different ways to publish and share your expertise, opinion and perspective for the world to see.
While no one would ever expect you to do them all, it is important that you choose the one or ones which are right for you, your industry and your career direction to ensure you’re present, can be easily found specifically online and come across as credible and competent expert in your chosen field.
Here are the top 10 ways to publish your personal brand:
1. Books & Publications: Getting published by a publishing house or publication carries certain prestige and credibility. You may know of publications and/or publishers in your industry to which you may want to send your content, but do check out the Writers Market series, as they provide invaluable resources and directories for writers. You may also consider self-publishing a book through CreateSpace or Lulu. You can also self-publish e-books in pdf format and share them via your blog or website, Scribd, SlideShare and across your networks.
2. Your Own Blog: Blogging and contributing value-added content to better serve your industry can be an outstanding way to increase your visibility and demonstrate your unique value to potential employers and career stakeholders. Blogs are very easy to get started, but do require time, energy and commitment. There are both free and self-hosted platforms to choose from, including WordPress, Blogger and Typepad.
3. Guest Posting: If you’re not ready to commit to starting your own blog, consider writing content to contribute to other industry blogs. To find candidate blogs for your posts, do a quick Google search, check out the blogrolls of leading blogs in your area and check Alltop, an online magazine rack that provides a list of all the top blogs by industry or topic category.
4. Commenting: In addition to writing your own content, don’t forget to respond to the content that others publish on their blogs, as that can help you network your brand with other thought leaders and demonstrates your involvement. Again, use Google, blogrolls and Alltop to identify relevant blogs on which to become active.
5. Reviews: Writing a thoughtful review demonstrates your opinion of and take on someone else’s ideas and contributions. Leverage sites like Amazon to share your responses to others’ work.
6. Q&A Forums: Getting involved in asking questions, answering questions and sharing insights and ideas related to your chosen industry is an effective way to establish your personal brand in an area of expertise. LinkedIn Answers is a unique Q&A forum that allows LinkedIn users to post questions and contribute answers to others’ questions. Quora has combined the power of Q&A and Wikipedia into one platform where each question and answer become a living document that users can continuously discuss and update. Quora can be a great way to establish credibility and visibility. It also can be a comprehensive resource for networking and gathering information for future work and content, entrepreneurial ventures and/or personal efforts.
7. HARO: HARO is a free personal branding service that connects professionals and students with writers, bloggers and journalists seeking sources for their articles, books, blog posts, etc. This can be a great way to get quoted in industry publications and increase your credibility and visibility among your peers.
8. Content Publishing Platforms: There are several platforms that allow you share your content without your own blog. HubPages is such a platform where you can share your advice, reviews, useful tips, opinions and insights with hundreds of other authors and visitors without having to host, manage and market your own site or blog. Squidoo is another place for creating single webpages on your interests and recommendations, inevitably enhancing your online presence, search engine rankings and personal brand. Lastly, Google Knol allows you can create, collaborate on, and publish credible web content without managing and driving traffic to your own website or blog.
9. SlideShare: Whether you have a presentation you have given before that you want to post, want to create a new presentation for others to view or have a portfolio of work to show off, SlideShare is a great tool that allows you to feature your presentations and documents and demonstrate your expertise and ideas in your chosen field.
10. Video: More and more professionals are leveraging the power of video to market themselves, their expertise and/or their offerings. Sites like YouTube are popular platforms for featuring and marketing your thought leadership through video.
What are some other ways you publish and share your ideas, opinions and personal brand?
Chris Perry, MBA, is a Gen Y brand and marketing generator, brand marketing manager, personal branding expert and the founder of Career Rocketeer, MBA Highway and multiple other ventures.
