Last month, I had the pleasure of addressing a bunch of entrepreneurs at a conference called “Breaking Barriers” on ‘Building a Personal Brand’. It’s a topic that is relevant not just to entrepreneurs, but also to owners of small-medium organizations and key executives in any large enterprise.

Here are some of the key lessons shared in my slide deck, if you are looking for a primer on How to Build a Personal Brand…

Step 1 – Online Presence

If you are in business, you probably have a domain name booked already. If not, get one today. Then figure out how to host a basic page about what you are with relevant contact info. Then deploy an email service that maps your domain name to your mailbox so you can send/receive emails from your own domain e.g. yourname@yourdomain.com. In terms of building an online brand, there is no comparison between this and using a free email service like GMail. So, if you don’t know how to do this, seek help. But get it done.

Step 2 – LinkedIn

The minimum expected of an online presence for your professional self or your business is to have an active profile on LinkedIn – the most popular business social network today. That means including a professional-looking profile Picture, an appropriate Headline that captures what you do, a Summary paragraph of your current role and a short description of relevant Past Roles you may have experience with. Don’t start sending out LinkedIn invites to others before you get this going – it’s just unprofessional. Have a look at others’ LI profiles to get a sense of what’s good and what’s not.

Step 3 – Marketing

When you’re an entrepreneur, “Marketing” is not the name of a department. It refers to creating a basic set of collateral which captures your credentials plus describes the product/service you offer. If you are an executive (not a business), this means having an updated CV, an active LinkedIn profile, recommendations from others, etc. in place. Create templates from this material so that you are ready to respond to any requests for information in a professional, timely manner.

Step 4 – Sales

Again, entrepreneurs shouldn’t mistake “Sales” as a label or a person. If you are in business, you are in Sales. Create a system to respond to leads or prospects, and follow it religiously. Use social media to research what your customers and competitors are up to, so you can reach out to relevant folks with information that they will value, instead of simply sending out a standard note. Who should you target in an organization? Who do you know already in play? What conversations are already happening? You will need to invest time and effort in an ongoing manner to make this work.

Bonus Tip – Get Productive

The more efficiently you manage your time, the more you will be able to do what’s important (but not always urgent) to make your personal brand a success.

Do remember that brand reputations take years to build and seconds to destroy. Keep at it, and you will see results.