Your company’s reputation does not only depend on the quality of your products and services. As a leader, your personality, behaviors, perspectives and online presence also contribute to your company’s image. Your brand online is an important factor in boosting business online growth and achieving continuous success. If you’re a CEO and actively engaging in personal branding but not gaining traction, here’s how you can create a reputable image and avoid CEOs’ most common personal branding mistakes.
Be Transparent
No matter how smart and good you are at what you do, if nobody knows you, it means nothing at all. Apparently, you can’t grow your online presence or be known in your industry if you are invisible. As the CEO, you are the face of your company and it is important to get out of your shell and be transparent. Once you become popular online, it will be easier to gain attention and attract more customers.
Build your Network
One of the most common branding mistakes of CEOs is not building or growing their network. To improve your personal branding, meet new people everywhere you go and develop deep and meaningful relationships with them. Nurture the right relationships and you will surely reap its benefits in the future. If you have many people you can trust and rely on, you’ll resolve your problems more quickly and move up the corporate ladder more easily.
Be Approachable
A lot of people think of CEOs as strict and controlling. You need to change that mindset and make people see you as a friendly and approachable leader. If you come off as unapproachable, your employees, as well as your clients, will find it hard to connect to you. To build a positive personal brand, be personable, flawed and authentic. Avoid being too serious or strict so people won’t find you too intimidating. Create an atmosphere where your employees will be comfortable and will not hesitate to ask questions or express their thoughts.
Share your Story
A company or a leader is nothing without a story. You can’t expect to be famous or reputable without sharing what your company is all about and what kind of leader you are. If you have a website, you can’t skip that part where you need to introduce yourself as people would want to know who the face of your company is and how you ended up establishing your business. It is important to share your story to everyone, your success and failures as well as your goals and visions. Show the world who you are and prove to them that you are ready for your responsibilities.
Be Consistent
Another key to your personal branding success is consistency. You can’t be too friendly today and too cold the next day. If you really want to create a nice image, you have to be consistent in being authentic, transparent, approachable and engaging. Building your online presence starts with improving your character and being committed to your goals and strategies. To find success in personal branding, you have to offer the same look and feel across all social media channels.
Create a Digital Footprint
Again, your online presence is very important in building your own personal brand and not losing potential customers. Create a personal website where you can showcase your work portfolio and some inspiring, personal stories about your niche. A simple website will be effective as long as you maintain a strong online presence through search engine optimization and other online marketing strategies.
Don’t Rely Too Much on Ghostwriters
Ghostwriters are there to help save your time and even the greatest leaders rely on them. However, you should not rely too much on your ghostwriters and let them do all the work for you. You can use them to create content for your website and social media pages but don’t use them in informal and personal interactions. When you rely too much on your ghostwriters, your voice becomes inaudible, making it difficult for you to define your brand’s exact voice. Make some time to create your own content for public speeches and make your message as personal and as clear as possible.
Being a corporate leader is challenging and full of responsibilities but if you know how to leverage your strengths and avoid the personal branding mistakes mentioned above, you can create a great reputation and become a well-respected and trusted CEO.
Author:
Meggie is a web analytics expert and a data junkie with more than six years of experience in the field. Aside from being a marketing nerd, she loves taking her life to the extreme with bungee jumping and skydiving when she feels some freedom.