Whether you like it or not, you already have a personal brand.
And yes, even if you’re working a virtual job and don’t post anything on social media, you still have a personal brand.
Your brand is the thoughts, emotions, and feelings that people associate with you. What do people think of you when your name is mentioned or when you walk past them in the hallway? What associations are they making in their heads?
You can’t control your personal brand because it’s something that lives in the mind of others, but you can influence it.
How? With positive impressions.
Here are three things you can do if you’re working virtually and are finding it hard to influence people’s perception of you.
- Take your meetings seriously. Since you’re not running into people in the hallway and talking at the water cooler, meetings may be the only impressions people get of you. Make sure your mic and camera are working, be ready for questions people may have, and show up on time. These little things go a long way.
- Connect with people individually. Set up regular one on ones with people, ask about what they’re working on and what they’re passionate about and share what you do and what you’re passionate about. Take a genuine interest in those around you and they’ll always appreciate having you around.
- Share and write thought leadership content on social media. Find a topic you’re interested in, do some research, and start sharing your findings. When people scroll through their feed and they see Ahmed posted about branding every time they open their feed, they’ll start to associate branding with Ahmed.
And remember these aren’t one time things. The most important part of these actions is to be consistent with them. Perceptions that were formed over months and years don’t change overnight.