Have you made the transition from corporate life to entrepreneur life or are you balancing the talent of managing a consulting business outside of your corporate job? If you are determined to grow your professional brand as a consultant, there are specific actions that you should take to position yourself. In this day and age, technology has made it very easy for a new connection to research your entire work and educational history by sourcing platforms such as Linkedin. Therefore, if you are wanting to position yourself as a subject matter expert and or consultant, having an updated and accurate Linkedin profile is vital. Having an effectively presented profile can not only position you for opportunities, but it also helps to showcase all of your hard work and effort.
In addition to having an impressive Linkedin profile, having a website, landing page, or about.me page that showcases your brand story, your business why, and professional talents in more detail, is a great way to share your story. The goal is to make it clear on all platforms the value that you can add, who you are as a subject matter expert and ultimately, the problem you solve.
At this point in your career, you have developed an updated and impressive professional resume. However, when is the last time you had it reviewed by someone in the industry that you would like to serve? Having an outside perspective from the audience who’s problem you are trying to solve can be beneficial and an innovative way to spark new ways of presenting yourself.
As you progress in your ability to share with others, you may find paid and non-paid opportunities to present as a professional speaker. Speaking engagements are a great way to gain audience trust, network with additional impressive professionals, and position the problem you solve. Before you take a speaking engagement, ensure that you have a professional bio, an outline of your competencies, and speaker kit developed. Having these supportive materials can help you stand out from your competition by showcasing the organizations you have provided services to and your talents. These resources can also be embedded on your website for easy access and sharing.
Consistent content sharing on social media should supplement communication through your website and speaker packets. Consultants should be sharing articles regularly. In addition to sharing articles, sharing: brief videos, social media images, and downloadable tools are a great way to position yourself as a subject matter expert. Any content shared on social media should be educational and or motivational. Before you share, ask yourself one question, “Can my audience benefit from this information.?” The most important aspects of content sharing are that it is of high-quality and shared consistently.