Jeff Bezos famously said, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
In other words, your brand is how other people perceive the value you offer, beyond the words you say about yourself.
As I’ve chatted with dozens of copywriters, I’ve found that many don’t think much about their own brand.
After all, the idea of a brand can feel like it’s reserved for big corporations like Amazon or Nike, not freelancers or in-house copywriters.
But in my experience, taking control of your personal brand is one of the best things you can do for yourself!
Many freelancers and in-house marketers have shown it’s a fantastic way to become an in-demand marketing professional who can land better clients and projects with better pay.
Plus, whether you realize it or not, you already have a personal brand. So, you might as well use it to your advantage.
Let’s unpack this further — and discuss how to begin shaping your personal brand on LinkedIn.
You Already Have a Personal Brand…
But Is It Intentional?
Everything you do online and professionally shapes your personal brand.
For instance, does your LinkedIn presence communicate you’re an in-demand, experienced writer… or that you’re totally new and desperate for projects?
When you submit a piece, are you keeping the promises you made to your client… or delivering sub-par work?
These are just a couple of ways you’re establishing your brand… even when brand-building is the furthest thing from your mind.
The harsh truth is, even before you begin working together, your prospects will be making split-second judgments about you based on how you present yourself on LinkedIn in your:
- Profile photo
- Header photo
- Headline
- Posts and comments
- About text
… all of which shape the value they think you can offer.
The other tricky thing is that branding is subjective. What will attract one type of client might repel others.
This is actually good, since it means you don’t need to worry about pleasing everyone.
Instead, shaping your personal brand is about deciding what you want to communicate to the people you wish to serve — and using your digital presence to communicate this message.
The Benefits of Taking Control of
Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn
I started paying attention to my own personal brand on LinkedIn about two and a half years ago.
At the time, I was transitioning from in-house copywriting work to my freelance business, and I knew a polished LinkedIn profile would be key.
It’s taken some time for me to learn the ropes, but this year alone, I’ve landed two clients directly from my LinkedIn content. And, I’m getting more and more inquiries on LinkedIn.
I’m still in the early phase of my LinkedIn brand-building, but other freelancers and marketers have reached much bigger milestones:
- After 2.5 years of consistent LinkedIn posting, Erica Schneider was able to launch a new $200K-per-year content-coaching service in just 30 days.
- As Chief Marketing Officer of SparkToro, Amanda Natividad has used LinkedIn to build trust and brand awareness for her company.
- Consultant Brendan Hufford was able to use daily LinkedIn posting to help him transition from a $40K teacher’s salary to $400K in personal income from his business.
So, how exactly does LinkedIn build a personal brand?
- More trust and affinity: When you generously share your learnings, perspective, and experience, you help build authority and likeability with your audience. This makes people more eager to do business with you.
- Better visibility: When you’re more visible, more people know about you and your company. When more people know about you, more people will be willing to buy from you.
- Clear differentiation: There’s a lot of competition for freelance-copywriting services these days — if I type in “freelance copywriter” on LinkedIn, I get 173,000 results. On the other hand, if I count how many freelance copywriters I know with a unique personal brand tailored to their target audience, I could narrow this list down to 20.
All these benefits result in one major boon for you as a freelancer or in-house marketer — more money!
When more people know about you, like you, and understand how you can help them, you’ll create more opportunities for yourself. And, you can cherry-pick the best ones.
It often takes years to build trust with an audience, but these marketers and many others show how well this effort can pay off.
How to Get Started
We’ve established the benefits of taking control of your personal brand.
So, how do you actually do it?
If you’re looking for more or better clients, here are five easy steps to get started building your personal brand.
Step 1: Focus on ONE platform
The first step is to focus on one social media platform, plus your website, if you have one.
If you try to build a brand on every platform at once, you won’t get very far. Maximize your output on one platform before you add in another. For many freelancers, LinkedIn is the perfect place to start.
Step 2: Do a quick check-up of your LinkedIn profile
Next, do a quick check-up of your LinkedIn profile. Focus on your profile photo, your LinkedIn headline, and your About section.
Do they clearly communicate you’re a professional with experience? Are you communicating what you do for a clear target audience? Is your messaging consistent with the messaging on your website?
As digital-copywriting expert Nick Usborne likes to say, it’s almost always better to be clear than to be clever.
Personally, I’d rather my LinkedIn description, About text, and website be clear and a little boring than cool but confusing.
Step 3: Give your posts and comments time to breathe
Before you make your next post or comment, ask yourself: “What message does this send to my target audience?”
Keep in mind that prospects on LinkedIn can see your comments, not just your posts.
If you’re not sure whether you should post something, wait a day before publishing. You may want to edit the post, or not post it at all.
Step 4: Don’t wait until it’s perfect
I’m a big believer in embracing imperfect progress — especially when it comes to your own marketing.
One way I practice this is that each Friday, I make one tweak to my LinkedIn profile or website, so it better communicates my value to my target audience.
This helps me keep things up-to-date and reminds me there’s always room to make it better.
Without a mindset like this, it’s easy to get stuck trying to make your website or LinkedIn profile “perfect” before you publish.
Step 5: Don’t neglect shorter-term priorities
I’ve loved building my personal brand, and I know it will do amazing things for my business.
At the same time, I’ve learned to think of it as a longer-term investment.
So, even though I’m active on LinkedIn, I also do direct outreach to land shorter-term client projects and prioritize doing great work for existing clients to earn repeat business.
Build Your Personal Brand, Make More Money
Building your personal brand goes beyond just LinkedIn or marketing.
If you really want to build a thriving business, you also need to deliver great services to your clients, set appropriate pricing, and more.
The bottom line is, in 2024, it’s not a question of if you need a personal brand as a digital copywriter — it’s a question of what your current brand says about you.
Many freelancers and marketers have shown it’s possible to have thriving, lucrative careers thanks to strong personal brands.
Will you be one of them?
