How to Build Your Brand When You Hate Attention - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How to Build Your Brand When You Hate Attention - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career How can I build my personal brand if I don’t like being in the limelight? The following answers are provided by members of  Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the worlds most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched  BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses. 1. Let Your Work Speak for Itself   Put the focus on your accomplishments. Let people react to the work you’ve done rather than the fact that you’ve done it. It’s a slight change in perspective, but it allows your achievements to be on center stage with you playing the background. Trust me, once you start piling on the accomplishments, people will know who you are.    Rakia Reynolds,  Skai Blue Media 2. Stay Behind the Scenes and Use Social Media and Web-Based Initiatives   Use social media and business listing websites, comment on other blogs in your industry, and tell family and friends more about your business. Of course, you should still work on becoming less introverted, as the ways to publicly build your brand are immense.    Andrew Schrage,  Money Crashers Personal Finance 3. Gather Customer Testimonials   Most satisfied customers are happy to give you a testimonial for your website. Use their stories to help you build your personal online brand  by funneling traffic to your website. Consider using video testimonials, too. These are powerful representations of the benefits you provide that are easily and quickly consumed by visitors.    Nicole Munoz,  Start Ranking Now 4. Endure the Short-Term Discomfort for the Long-Term Gain   Much of your job as an entrepreneur  can be uncomfortable, but Id go as far as to say that building your personal brand as a business leader today is almost necessary. The advice I often share with  companies  we represent is best summed up as suck it up â€" itll only take 15 minutes and smile through the pain.    Elliot Tomaeno,  Astrsk PR 5. Focus on the Brand   Personal brands are difficult because they require you (e.g. your ideas and your thought leadership) to be tied intrinsically with the brands identity. That being said, its entirely possible to hyper focus on the brand itself, conveying your personal ideologies onto what that brand represents without bringing attention to yourself.    Blair Thomas,  First American Merchant 6. Be Authentic   When you do end up speaking or presenting yourself publicly, its OK to make it clear that youre not there to build up yourself but that youre there for  your  business. In fact, this is pretty compelling and relatable. Even if youre not perfectly polished, just be upfront  about why youre in the public eye and what you hope to get out of it and people will take you at face value.    Roger Lee,  Captain401 7. Grow a Presence on Quora   Quora  is a QA community that allows users to answer as many questions as they would like. You can ask a question, suggest a question, and answer questions. It allows users to go under the radar and become largely successful in their profession. Quora is one of the best ways to grow your personal brand and build a following without undesired publicity.    Tommy Mello,  A1 Garage Door Service 8. Build Individual Relationships Instead   You dont have to be on a stage or speak to large groups to establish a solid personal brand. Work  to establish personal relationships with people in your industry by meeting them for lunch and coffee. Make yourself unforgettable to them by creating educational and informative content through a book, blog or podcast and publishing it in places where people in your industry will see it.    Matthew Paulson,  MarketBeat.com 9. Demonstrate Your Industry Expertise   Create great content that really shows off your expertise and has an impact in your industry. You can also engage audiences on social media and use it to prove your expertise and promote your content. At some point, you’re going to have to be under some sort of limelight to build your personal brand, even if it’s just digitally.    Zev Herman,  Superior Lighting 10. Give the Spotlight to Others   My business isnt about me and my accomplishments. Its about the people I want to inspire, encourage and feel beautiful though people tell them otherwise. I prefer to give the spotlight back to them â€" the very reason why I have this company. I also want to highlight my team and their efforts for the company. The focus should be on my beautiful customers and the team who help me on this mission.    Daisy Jing,  Banish