Popular freelance designer Jacob Cass shared his insights on the usefulness of a personal brand at a TED event in April 2012. Originally from Australia, Jacob found himself without a job several times and each time his personal foundation and social network helped him get out of the crisis situation.
Jacob began his talk with an incident from 2007 when he was a final year student back in Australia. His first ever job offer came all the way from NYC, through Twitter!
This was not the only time his social network and personal foundation had helped him land a job. When Jacob lost his job after working for 6 months with the NYC company, he was required to either find a job in ten days or move back to Australia. And find a job in ten days he did! How you ask?
The same way as before – through his personal foundation and social network. He took to social media sites – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs and other platforms where he had an online presence, to advertise that he urgently needed a job. His personal brand and social media foundation came through yet again and Jacob landed another gig within ten days of losing the previous one.
He shared the three key factors that anyone could use to build a thriving personal brand using blogs and social media –
- Defining a personal brand
- Creating a website or blog
- Utilizing the personal network
Defining a personal brand – According to Jacob, defining your personal brand will help you remain in perspective of where you’re headed. Think about and decide upon your career goals and then choose a target audience for your website and blog. Having a unique selling proposition that separates you from competition and some distinct and intriguing visual identity come in very handy when building a personal brand.
Creating a website or blog – Next, Jacob identified five main pages that should be created carefully on a website to strengthen your online presence in front of the pre-decided target audience. The home page is your website’s holy grail and should include easily visible links to other sections of your website. Include a photograph to provide a face to your brand.
Add thumbnails of your best work in the portfolio page and share as many case studies as you can. The “about” page is the third most important page on your website and should be used to increase your value and sale. Include everything about awards, interviews, photos, associations, and more, to show why you are the best person to do business with.
Dedicate one page on the blog for testimonials. The trick here, according to Jacob is to make the testimonials more credible by including photos and links to website/blogs of those clients who write a testimonial for you. And finish it up with the fifth element – blog posts about things you are passionate about.
Utilizing networks – Jacob stresses on the importance of building a culture through your network. Be genuine, be useful and provide value to your audience by sharing knowledge, advice, links and photos.
With these strategies up your sleeve, there will always be a professional opportunity just around the corner.