How to brand yourself as an expert?

Personal Branding is the 21st Century method of improving your visibility and perceived value in the career marketplace. Branding yourself an expert is just good business.

Everybody trusts an expert, the world admires experts, companies hire experts and experts get more attention and compensation. Whether you’re a doctor, lawyer, auto mechanic or writer, being perceived as an expert in your field will help your career.

People believe what they perceive to be true. Consequently, the first step in your ascendency to expert status is deciding who you are and in what field you are an expert. It is wise to focus on what you genuinely care about rather than what you happen to know the most about. That should be the foundation of your personal brand.

First, decide whether your brand will be your name (Jane Brand) or a “company” name (DanceLand). Strive for a short brand name which works best on social web sites like Twitter.  Pick your top two brand names and purchase the domain names for them from GoDaddy. For around $20 you will own both of them. If, let’s say, “DanceLand.com” is not available, trying buying Dance-Land.com.

Using the brand names for which you purchased your domain names, register your brand names at all the free blogging and social networking sites, so they’ll be reserved for you. Blogging sites such as Blogger, LiveJournal and WordPress are free and easy to use. Anyone can do it, without needing to create web pages. Blog from the heart, demonstrating your true emotional passion for your favorite topics of interest and people will start following what you write.

You can create your own branded FaceBook fan page, a Twitter feed, and appear on Internet radio shows and podcasts. Consistency is the key to successful branding. Make sure that your bio, if on more than one social media site, is consistent on all the sites to consolidate your brand. In this visual age, they are also influenced by graphics, images and logos. Create a simple but memorable logo and use it consistently.

Go to forums and network sites related to your field and post or make comments. Go back in a week or two and make sure to reply to any comments about what you wrote. As an expert, you want to be known as someone who cares and likes feedback. The goal to getting sales is to build a brand image. People will go out of their way to find you if they are consistently treated great, or consistently greeted with your brand.

However you become an expert, a strong branded Internet presence gives you the necessary proof to position yourself as one. The quickest and easiest way to build your reputation is by using the power of the web and social networking. Connections can be made instantly and thousands of people can be reached at one time with your branded name as an expert in your field.

Guest post by Sarah Harris, of Zen College Life, the premier directory for online schools. Find out more information about criminal justice degrees.

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