Deloitte’s Global Marketing Trends 2021 report tells us that trust and brand loyalty are becoming more intertwined, as customers reward companies that meet their needs authentically and holistically. Understanding and meeting those needs is done through your personal branding. In other words, marketing your value is not unlike the way a business would build its brand.
As a long-time people manager, my #1 focus with employees centers on their employability inside and outside the company. That meant giving stretch assignments as a resume-building experience, learning a new technical skill that bridges to a new or expanded role, or taking an informed risk to have people experiment, succeed, or fail. Sometimes it isn’t the easiest or most efficient path for the program or task, but it does create bench strength and the variety and growth that employees crave. An employability approach also demands more coaching and oversight from a manager or mentor – as you’re often learning together.
More often than not, the business and customers benefit from innovative new approaches or optimizing proven approaches. It’s a win-win.
But that doesn’t happen everywhere. So ultimately it’s on you to pursue and use the skills that today’s labor market values most. That’s how you build your value. To market it becomes a different question. Think of your building your value like designing a product. Think of marketing your value as promoting your product.
The idea of You, Inc. is shorthand for employability. It hit me like a ton of bricks in 2001 shortly following the dot.com meltdown and my good luck of just having moved 3,000 miles across the U.S. for a gig at Intel. I felt a tad anxious about what was coming next. That’s when I became a scholar of Andrew S. Grove (Andy) who was one of the three Intel co-founders and who led industry and company-wide transformations since 1968. He was the Time Person of the Year in 1997.
Your career is your business, and you are its CEO
New to the high-tech and semiconductor industry in 2000, I read every Grove, Intel, and competitor book that I could get my hands on. I needed to understand this strange new land and language – the inside Intel business model and technology acronyms that rolled off their tongues.
Many knew Andy as a brilliant technologist and businessman. All of that is true. But what has stayed with me 20 years later was his relentless reminders that career and skill development is the key to long-term success. The innovation cycle at Intel actually demands lifelong learning – both for the business and the individual. If you don’t reinvent yourself every one to three years, you can quickly become obsolete in high-tech. And the thing is, your employer or manager isn’t going to babysit that process.
If you don’t take care of it yourself, then who will? I most associate the term You, Inc. with Grove and what’s known today as personal branding. Here are my Top 5 Tips to build and market your value in 2021.
1. Learn 3 new “hard” skills each year
Whether or not your employer requires it, it’s important for you to stay on top of what’s hot in the labor market and in your craft. Then, write down three new digital or functional skills required to keep yourself relevant. In 2020, when my entire Homeowner Marketing team was laid off from Vacasa due to COVID-19.
In that transition year, I leaned into three new areas of personal growth. From hard to simple:
- Venture Capital: I specifically learned FounderSuite software and deep research on Crunchbase to identify and reach VCs for a new start-up. I was pretty expert on videoconferencing, so we live pitched via several Zoom calls and eventual investment.
- Web Design: Due to my seniority level at big companies, never had I built my own websites. Rather, I had provided the campaign strategy, web vision, and content. Web and graphic designers are increasingly commoditized through Design-as-a-Service (DAAS) graphics and videos with firms such as Kimp, Design Pickle, Digifloat, and Promo. That was good news for me because with a high-end PC, I could suddenly build websites for myself and my clients. During the pandemic, few had budgeted for Creative Services or Agencies, so learning that skill came in handy. I learned WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace and went from scared to confident. For the hard stuff, I’d do a $99/month subscription through Kimp. Modern marketers really need at least editing and updating skills.
- Microsoft SharePoint: In 2016, following a massive layoff at Intel, there was no one left to update our business group’s SharePoint site. Since we were to quash any new marketing initiatives for two months, I archived, organized, deleted, added, changed user permissions, and stored critical documents. The business case was Knowledge Management where I wield a sword in this Digital Age of subject matter experts. While tedious and mindnumbing, ready-made templates, assets, and resources on SharePoint were a gift to my teammates so we weren’t scrambling to reinvent tried-and-true material. So, LinkedIn Learning became my friend for extra SharePoint courses. That investment would pay off big a few years later when my employer today requires SharePoint – now the backbone of Microsoft Teams.
All of us need to muscle down on staying current on technical skills in our fields – not necessarily expert, but proficient. It also tells your future customers or employer that you are ever curious, ever open, and ever learning. Whether you’re an executive, project manager, or new college graduate, if you’re still using manual email, text messages, and PowerPoint, you might be living in 1998.
2. Write Your Personal Positioning Statement
Think about how to position yourself. What three characteristics best sum you up? Three is the magic number because neuroscience tells us that is about the maximum that your audience will remember in 10 seconds or less.
In 2021, CURIOSITY, RESILIENCE, and LEARNING were the top skills that the pandemic job market most valued.
Personally, I went with fast, fearless, and futuristic (as you can see on my website). You’ll need to back up your words with multiple examples, case studies, and quantifiable business results. So when your customers or a future employer ask “tell me about yourself” or “what value do you bring?”, you can quickly rhyme off and repeat your three unique value propositions to frame your responses.
A strong positioning statement differentiates you from your competition. Plus, it is easy to remember if you practice saying it in front of a mirror. Make sure you weave lifelong learning in there as a top 2021 must-have. If you feel rusty, then prioritize a few classes or certifications for yourself. Stuck? Google Analytics or Microsoft BI is a good place to start.
LinkedIn Learning provides over 16,000 free online classes and over 500 professional certifications. As of August 2021, here as the best 35 LinkedIn on-demand courses with certifications. I recommend blocking two hours a week to complete relevant classes.
Now is not the time to be shy or overly modest about your superpowers. It helps to hire a personal brand consultant with an outside-in perspective who will choose words that pack a punch.
3. Update your LinkedIn profile, stat!
In the almost 20 years since LinkedIn started, many people still dismiss it as “my customers aren’t on there” or “I’m not looking for a job.” Whether that’s true or not is irrelevant to what I’m about to say.
If you aren’t on LinkedIn with a fresh personal brand and profile, you are squandering a big opportunity on reputation and revenue.
Even though there is an abundance of social media communities, LinkedIn remains one of the most powerful platforms to use for business. Take LinkedIn Online Sales Navigator, for example. It allows you to target prospective new customers down to their personal Message box. That might be important to a small business or a single business owner if you don’t have a large salesforce. It can either complement or eliminate cold sales calls – or introduce rigor over “word of mouth” references.
Today, LinkedIn has 700 million users from across every industry, role, and geography conceivable.
So, ask yourself:
1. Are my LinkedIn connections mostly friends, family, current and former colleagues? OR:
2. Are they mostly customers, future prospects, influencers, and connectors in my current or desired industry?
Most people admit to #1. But your answer must shift to #2. To play in this area, you need to:
- Create or refresh your own LinkedIn profile. It’s free!
- Post or rate something at least 2x per month. If it’s 5 weeks, you signal that you don’t have enough work!
- Take the time to update a new photo
- Recast your About Me with storytelling
- Make sure your volunteer, education, and work experience are included.
- Ask members of your own You, Inc. Board of Advisors to write short recommendations or rate your skills. You will be happy to return the favor.
In 2020, hard proof abounds of new customers, partners, Boards, and employers finding YOU through LinkedIn. It’s how the National League of Minority Voters found me, as well as my very first marketing clients starting a new pet health tech business.
LinkedIn is not a resume. It’s a personal brand profile based on trust and loyalty.
4. Hire a pro. Branding is time-consuming
Listen, I know taking care of You, Inc. is hard. For me, it took weeks to update a tired LinkedIn profile from 2007. I get it.
Crafting your personal brand is also a honed skill. It’s about storytelling with emotional connection and powerful writing. Today, the first place to practice that story is LinkedIn. Then fan out from there.
Doctors, residential remodelers, automotive tradespeople, and K12 teachers are on LinkedIn – not just HR recruiters and business professionals. As I said, LinkedIn accelerated during 2020-21 with COVID-19 shutdowns as we looked to alternatives to stay connected to customers, partners, and 31 million Americans out of work.
They grew revenue every quarter since 2009, nailing $8 billion in revenue in 2020, an increase of 19 percent year-on-year. Then spiked in Q2 2020 and Q2 2021, and today boasts 756 million users.
By far, LinkedIn’s largest age demographic is 25-34, accounting for 60 percent of users. Ages 18-24 is the second-largest bracket, at 20.3 percent, followed by 35-54 at 16.9 percent. Over 55’s account for 3 percent of total users and yet they have some of the most interesting career stories to tell and are often business owners themselves. (Hootsuite/We Are Social). Speaking of which, over 56 million businesses have company profiles too. At my last company, I built a new business page in less than three days and grew followers from 0 to 3,500 in just a couple of months. Our team repackaged existing content and online events up to three times weekly to attract customers and influencers – and gave an extra push to open jobs.
In addition to small businesses and start-ups, The Brand Bunker focuses on solopreneurs. That means people like you might be intrapreneurs, entrepreneurs, new job, or board position seekers. Or maybe you’re up for promotion or giving an external keynote?
Over the last three months, 90% of my clients have been individuals looking for a brand makeover. They’re on a mission to find new customers, grow their business online, or land a board position. And I’m happy to oblige.
After we talk about personal, professional, or business goals; your audience or industry target; and your unique story, I’ll write down your unique profile and customize a package detailing your personal positioning statement, value proposition, products and services offered, professional competencies, optional video interview, and research on relevant online communities to follow or join.
But do set up your account first (pssst, it’s free).
5. Know your market value
A lot of times, you hear about how much money your neighbor, relative, or co-worker is making. You think “I’m worth at least that much!”
But are you? What I learned in my 10-plus years embedded in Human Resources at companies across three industries is … cold Possibly heartless. But it’s the truth.
Yes, customers and employers really do view you in balance sheet terms, especially in unpredictable times. Of course, relationships, potential, and cultural fit come into it. But at the end of the day, it comes down to:
- Market supply and demand for your skills, expertise, and competencies
- The industry you work in (average gross margin, average net operating profit, growth trajectory)
- Labor market dynamics in a given country, state, and county
- Brand reputation and legal risk
I’m not saying you’re not a valuable employee. I’m just saying the value of your total rewards (pay, health, retirement, childcare, ping pong tables, free soda) is based on external market data AND internal pay ranges (maybe).
So, study the data on your profession and where you live – or want to live. There are great websites to help you. My favorite is Payscale.com unless your HR department or boss is willing to share company benchmarks.
Sure, you may get a value bump for years of experience. But, it’s not as big as you might think. If an employer can get close to the same skill cheaper, they will think about it – or outsource it.
It comes down to labor supply and demand. If you are a “dime a dozen” like me, marketers did not grow earnings, as much as say, skilled tradespeople or senior software engineers in a pandemic. Oh, combine that with a housing boom or an automobile chip shortage.
So know the numbers, labor market, and your market value.
If you need help, I can run a high-level pay analysis for you as a starting point. At least then, you’ll have a range of reality. From there, what skills and experience do you go after to become more valuable?
Corporate brands are worth money. So are personal brands. Figure out your brand premium – why is it worth paying you the same or more? Or why should you manage your time on a Board given that your time is money?
Wrapping up: What the pandemic taught me
In the end, building your personal brand and career plan is entirely on You, Inc. It’s just as Andy Grove said in his writings many decades ago – well before the social media age.
There will always be another recession, hiring surge, housing crisis, terrorist attack, hurricane, or viral pandemic. But there’s not another you. Your employability is your responsibility. You may also find yourself in a business or associated with an executive who is VERY BAD for your brand. Cut ties. Leave. The short-term focus on a paycheck will damage your employability long-term.
You are the company you keep. You’re also your own best employment insurance.
So build your visibility now outside of your current project, job, or customer base. Then, you’ll be positioned for success now and in the future. Then when new opportunities come along, you’re ready.
To adopt some other good steps, 8 Personal Branding Trends of 2021.
Let’s talk! Your business is your brand. And my business is helping you build it.