26 Different Ways to Build Your Personal Brand (Meaning You'll Like at Least One!)

Updated 6/19/2020

You can build and manage your personal brand in a variety of ways including networking, following influencers, and offering to help others.

Building out your personal brand can feel overwhelming. Not unlike thought leadership, it can seem like something successful people have down pat, but that’s a bit overwhelming for the rest of us.

While you know it’ll help you advance in your career, maybe you’ve been holding off, because you’re not quite sure when (or where or how) to start managing your image. Well, the good news is: There’s no one specific path you have to follow. It’s not like you must give a TED Talk or else no one will know who you are. You don’t have to network in one, specific way to grow your contact list.

Sure, there are various strategies that are tried-and-true, like making sure people Googling you find the results you want them to, building out a personal website, and writing a stellar LinkedIn summary.

But, you can choose where you’ll start—and the infographic below contains 26 strong ideas to kick things off (all inspired by the book The Road to Recognition).

Infographic courtesy of The Road to Recognition. Photo of person walking courtesy of Innocenti/Getty Images.

Sara McCord runs a values-driven marketing firm that helps thought leaders go viral for their expertise. She creates visibility for brands, recently creating an 8-second video for a client that got 50 Million organic views on Instagram in one week. She’s worked with influencers and celebrities, boutique brands and small businesses, as well as large corporations. It’s extra sweet for her to be writing again for The Muse, where she launched her career in editorial. As a contributor, then columnist, then Staff Writer/Editor, Sara penned more than 200 articles for The Muse beginning in 2011, which led to a regular contributor role at Mashable; Business Insider bylines; and syndicated pieces on Forbes, Inc., Fast, Company, and more. For trending marketing news and best practices, follow her on TikTok.