1. How to Build Your Online Brand
By Miriam Salpeter
brought to you by
Wiley Job Network

2. Online Brand…
• Career experts use the term “online brand”
frequently, but what does it really mean, and why is
having an online brand important for job seekers?
• A “personal brand” is really nothing more than a
fancy word for “reputation.” Your brand is your
reputation, what people know about you, and what
comes to mind when they think of you and your
work.

3. Online Brand… cont’d
• You’ve been building your brand your whole life,
whether you know it or not….
• When someone mentions your name at work or
among people who know you, it immediately brings
to mind a current impression of you.
– For example, “John – he’s a very hard worker and
great to have on your team.”
– Or, “Sue is a nice person, but doesn’t often come up
with a new idea.”

4. Online Brand… cont’d
• In prior years, job seekers mainly worried about
what people who knew them personally might think
of them and their skills.
• Today, with social media tools allowing people to
expand their number of contacts to include people
they may never meet in person, job seekers don’t
have the luxury of basking solely in a community of
in-person people contacts to be competitive in this
new economy.
• We are all judged, in part, based on our online and
social media activity — our virtual selves.

5. Online Brand… cont’d
• You can influence your brand by making a concerted
effort to mold your in-person and online persona.
• Make it a goal to consistently demonstrate your best
and make it easy for people to learn about your
unique skills and characteristics.
• When you are successful at building your personal
brand, it’s much easier to land new job opportunities
via your networking connections.

6. How Can You Build a Strong
Online Brand?

7. Identify What Is Unique and
Special About You
• You want to know yourself first and be sure the
“package” you create represents you authentically as
an individual.
• You won’t be able to represent your brand without
engaging in self-exploration.
• What are your best skills? What do you offer your
next employer? What can you accomplish better
than anyone else?

8. Evaluate the environment;
consider what people care about
• You can do a lot of self-reflection and know what
YOU offer, but that is only part of the equation.
• You must also look outside of your own needs, skills
and accomplishments and understand what interests
your target audience.
• What is important to the hiring managers where you
are applying? What do they need to know about
you? If you try to perpetuate a brand, but no one is
interested in it, you’ve wasted your time.

9. Identify online tools to build your
contacts
• Research to find out which social media tools your
target audience uses. This may depend on your field.
• For example, if you are in a technical job, your
potential boss may be most likely to use Google+.
• If you’re looking for a public relations job, you will
probably find potential employers on Twitter.

10. Identify online tools to build your
contacts… cont’d
• How can you find interesting people on the various
social networks?
• Use tools such as Listorious.com and WeFollow.com
to identify people on Twitter.
• Use the “Find People” feature (in the Circles tab) or
follow the “Communities” tab in Google+ to identify
individuals and groups to follow.
• In LinkedIn, be sure to check out the Groups feature
to connect with new people in your field of interest.

11. Engage and connect
• Once you identify people you want to know and
those who could possibly introduce you to other
useful contacts, it’s time to demonstrate your
expertise.
• What should you share on social networks to help
create a strong online brand?
• Decide what news and information is important to
people in your industry, and make a point to be a
resource by posting that useful information on a
regular basis.

12. Engage and connect… cont’d
• Choose several content sources that regularly share
those details.
• A great suggestion for people in a variety of
industries is SmartBrief.com, where you’ll find free
newsletters geared to people in a variety of fields.
• Subscribe to the topics that interest you (for
example, Accounting, Education or Energy), read the
articles they share with you and then pass along the
most useful links and details to your community

13. When you cultivate and pass along useful information,
you become a go-to resource for your community
and create an effective and targeted online brand.

14. For more tips and insight and the latest
healthcare, science and academic jobs
visit:
www.wileyjobnetwork.com
This presentation is based on an article written by Miriam Salpeter, career expert.