Dig, Dig, Dig....

Get out your shovels because Day 2 is all about digging! Today we’re locating all the important info that we’ll need to create a powerful personal brand that highlights your best assets. We need headshots and photographs, an up-to-date resume, honors, awards, previous publications, etc.

Pictures

Have you had any professional pictures or headshots taken recently? If not, maybe you can find a great one from that conference or event a couple years ago. Now is the time to find the photos that you’ll want to use to represent your personal brand on your website and social profiles.

We don’t want your primary picture to be from 20 years ago, but it can be helpful to find some photos from important times in your career. That way, you can weave them into your bio as you discuss your past experience.

If you cannot find an appropriate headshot, do not settle for something mediocre. Your headshot is the logo of your personal brand.

That smartphone in your pocket means you are just a few minutes away from an excellent picture. Or go find a photographer online and get some real photos taken.

→ Spend time now collecting all the important photos so you know what you have to work with.

Resume:

Do you have an up-to-date resume? Or perhaps an older CV that you can update and tweak with a little work? Having this handy will make it much easier to fill out your website and social profiles.

→ Spend time finding your most recent resume or CV and update it as if you were looking for a new job (and maybe you are!) This may take a while but it is WORTH IT.

Rich Media Content:

Do you have any video or audio content? Perhaps you spoke somewhere, gave a lecture, or were featured in a company video?

What about a slideshow or a great slide deck that you use to give presentations?

If you have it, rich media like this can be a big edge in the success of your campaign. But if you don’t have it, don’t fret! There is still plenty you can do with a video profile and we’ll be creating engaging slideshows over the next few weeks.

→ Get together your video content, audio content, slideshows, and any other rich media that you’d like to promote as part of your personal brand.

Publications:

Have you published anything? Maybe you’ve written a book or two. Or perhaps you’ve published a paper for a journal, an article for a newspaper, or an editorial for some other publication. If you’re just getting out of college, maybe you have a senior thesis or some other final paper worth sharing.

If you only have something in paper form, feel free to scan it (or take a photo of it on your camera) and upload it to your computer.

If you don’t have anything, that’s okay too. You’re going to be creating 4 pieces of awesome written content over the next month that you’ll be proud to share.

→ Collect the important publications you’ve written that you’d like to promote.

Honors, Awards, Compliments:

If you’ve been following these steps, (nice work!) then you should already have an updated resume or CV that showcases some of your best honors.

If you haven’t been, then it’s time to start brainstorming!

Did you graduate from school with honors? Did you make Dean’s List? Did you write an exceptional thesis?

Next, think about your career. Sometimes honors are super tangible and obvious, and other times you need to put them into concrete terms. For example, I’ve helped grow BrandYourself’s VIP division from an exciting idea into one of the company’s fastest growing and most profitable departments. I don’t have an award for this, but it’s impressive and now I’ve made it tangible for a stranger to understand.

Explore your sports, hobbies, and any philanthropic interests for similar bits of complimentary material.

Having this material on-hand will make your life super easy when you write your bio and make your website. As a bonus, you’ll have all the necessary stats to sell yourself effectively in a 30-second elevator pitch.

→ Write down your most important honors, awards, and compliments. Think about your education, career, and extracurriculars.

Activity Recap:

→ Spend time now collecting all the important photos so you know what you have to work with.

→ Spend time finding your most recent resume or CV and update it as if you were looking for a new job (and maybe you are!) This may take a while but it is WORTH IT.

→ Get together your video content, audio content, slideshows, and any other rich media that you’d like to promote as part of your personal brand.

→ Collect the important publications you’ve written that you’d like to promote.

→ Write down your most important honors, awards, and compliments. Think about your education, career, and extracurriculars.