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How To Create A Strong Personal Brand Through Storytelling And Digital Content

Not sure where to begin building your personal brand? Here are some tips to get you started.

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In today’s digital landscape, your personal brand matters more than ever, and lawyers are not immune from having one. Whether you own a law firm, work in Biglaw, or serve as a corporate counsel, your unique value, passion, and the work you do should be easily recognizable. In fact, the very first place companies, law firms, and clients venture to search for you is on Google. Not sure where to begin building your personal brand? Here are some tips to get you started.

Build Your Social Media Presence

With social media being the foundation for how we network, engage, and converse with our target audience, it’s incumbent upon us to showcase our professional image and business value. Having a distinct online presence is key, especially a robust LinkedIn profile that gets you seen and noticed.

Before you launch your brand on LinkedIn, first determine what your unique value is to the outside world and your target audience. Ask yourself the following questions: What makes you different? What’s your practice area? What are you an expert in? What are you most passionate about? What problems do you solve for your clients?

In your LinkedIn profile, consider the wide range of people you may connect with, since you want your profile to speak to a broad audience. Be sure to include your contact details, and complete all pertinent sections: headline, summary (“about”), experience, education, and skills. Don’t overlook the “featured” section, which is great for linking your law firm’s bio, a recent blog post or article you’ve authored, an upcoming speaking engagement, or even a podcast interview.

Tell Your Story And Engage

Whether you believe it or not, your hobbies, struggles, and other facets of your career are part of your story and personal brand. They can form the impetus to a new connection, a new client, a new conversation, or even a written story behind your “why.” Let me give you a real-world example. I ran the New York City Marathon in 2011. I am not an athlete by any means. I was just an average woman with health struggles who had a dream to run a marathon and finish it.

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I entered the lottery, got in, ran the race injured, and crossed the finish line. One of my first HuffPost articles chronicled how it led me to chase my long-time dreams of leaving law to be a professional writer. That article was promoted by the editors and led to a surge of outreach once I shared it on social media. The moral here: reflect on your passions, talents, and hobbies — look for the ones that can tell a story and connect a reader with you.

When it comes to posting content on LinkedIn, I’m a proponent of publishing content off LinkedIn (via a blog or article), and then sharing it on LinkedIn — whether through a link to your post, or via a comment in your post. Outside content is part of a long-term strategy that will continue to remain searchable on Google. Tell your story and have a way for people to connect with you or link back to you. Otherwise, you are just waiting for someone to “click” on a long-form LinkedIn post without sending them to your firm’s website, other published media, or the link to the event you want them to register to attend.

Remember that building a personal brand takes time. Building an audience takes time. Building your legal career or law firm takes time. However, all of it circles back to your story and brand. Your personal brand is just that — personal. Start thinking about how you can share that story through digital content.

Wendi Weiner is an attorney, career expert, and founder of The Writing Guru, an award-winning executive resume writing services company. Wendi creates powerful career and personal brands for attorneys, executives, and C-suite/Board leaders for their job search and digital footprint. She also writes for major publications about alternative careers for lawyers, personal branding, LinkedIn storytelling, career strategy, and the job search process. You can reach her by email at wendi@writingguru.net, connect with her on LinkedIn, and follow her on Twitter @thewritingguru.  

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