Should your personal brand also take a break until Spring Break?
Almost all of my 11 Personal Branding Tips for a Hot Summer apply in the winter too, so you may want to read that first, and then come back to read this followup list.
How to build your personal brand this winter
Whether you’re waiting impatiently for the holiday season, or waiting impatiently to get over the holiday season, here are some brand-building ideas you can use throughout:
1) Don’t break
As the job search myth goes, not much hiring takes place in the month of December, so you might as well hold off job searching until after New Year’s. And many people will.
If you’re a job seeker who believes this myth, then spend the extra time following the next ten tips.
If you’re anyone else, you should also follow the next ten tips to get ahead of the many “winter breakers”.
2) Have business cards
Whether at the ski chalet or beside the pool, always have a business card or two on you, because you never know who you’ll meet. On the slopes? Keep them in a jacket pocket. Like to read at the pool? Use one as a bookmark.
3) Renew old ties
Planning to visit a destination you’ve been to before? Get reacquainted with some of the people you’ve known there and bring each other up to speed on who you are today. Perhaps you know someone they should know, and vice-versa. You might want to leave them some business cards for later.
4) Use mobile apps
Unless you’re staying in one of those new no-cellphones-allowed hotels, you’ll have your cellphone with you. Take advantage of the many personal branding-oriented apps for iPhone or Android while you’re away from your desktop.
5) Show off your brand, and get others to do so too
If you still don’t have one, design a personal logo and put it out there.
Make stickers for your skis or snowboard, laptop cover or luggage. Ask your friends to show your stickers too, at least while you’re hanging out together, so that if any passerby reacts, you’re right there to respond.
6) Show off your brand, in a more subtle way
Without overdoing it, look for ways to demonstrate your expertise in conversations. How to avoid overdoing it? Don’t steer conversations in your brand’s direction, but do take advantage if the conversation is already going there.
7) Own any events
Take an active role in any events you want to attend, from volunteering for the event or just being an extremely active participant at the event itself. You want people to remember you were there.
Fishing for comments
What are you planning to do differently this winter for your personal branding? Tell us in the comments below.
Author:
Jacob Share, a job search expert, is the creator of JobMob, one of the biggest blogs in the world about finding jobs. Follow him on Twitter for job search tips and humor.
