In a perfect world, everyone who worked hard and did their best would be noticed and rewarded in the workplace. But if you’ve ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a raise, you know that it doesn’t always work this way.

This, of course, is the myth of meritocracy.

There are many factors involved in who gets hired, who gets promoted and who gets asked to lead. Some are out of your control. But many of them are totally within your realm of influence. There are lots of actions you could take to make it more likely that you’ll get tapped to offer your contributions in the nonprofit sector.

• You can start getting to know all the movers and shakers in your community. The more people who know your name, the more people who can give you leads on opportunities to serve.
• You could utilize social media to share your expertise with other nonprofit professionals in your area or around the country.
• You can go to all the nonprofit conferences you can afford and get to know as many of your peers as possible.
• You could put at least one networking event on your calendar every month and exchange business cards with as many people as you can.

Why do any of this? Isn’t it enough to just do your job?

Not anymore, it isn’t.

Yes, you have to be good at what you do. But other people have to know about it for you to be able to capitalize on your hard work when it’s time for a promotion or a raise. The more people that know who you are, what you do and how well you do it, the more likely it is for your resume to make it to the top of the pile in a job search or even when it’s time for a career change.

In addition to working hard, it’s getting increasingly more important for nonprofit professionals to become more visible in the field. Why?

Because invisible people don’t get seen. 

Duh, right? But, really. Think about it. If your personal brand is virtually nonexistent, how likely is it that your name will come up in conversations about leadership positions? Speaking opportunities? Board membership?

You want to be seen.

The nonprofit career field is just like any other in the sense that it’s all about who you know. But these days, it’s also about who knows you. Your next nonprofit career opportunity could come from anywhere. Especially if you have a strong personal brand.

Do you?

Learn More About Getting Seen

Wanna learn more about personal branding and getting your name out there in your field? Purchase your copy of my popular 90-minute webinar training, Personal Branding 101: How to Use Social Media to Accelerate Your Career.

“Brand yourself for the career you want, not the job you have.” – Dan Schawbel

I’ve been talking about personal branding a lot on the blog lately, so I figured now would probably be a good time to offer some additional training to help those of you who wish to go deeper in putting the information into action for your own career.

I have recorded one of my most popular online workshops and it is now available for purchase. 

Personal Branding 101: How to Use Social Media to Accelerate Your Career 

Having trouble getting your name out there for juicy jobs, consulting gigs or leadership opportunities? If so, your personal brand may need some work! This session will explain the origins of personal branding, explore ways to “audit” your current personal brand and inspire you to leverage social media for your career. You will also find out how you can grow your professional network and become known as the “go-to” person in your field using four of the most effective online tools available today: blogging, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. By the end of this workshop, participants will have several strategies to add to their personal branding plan. This session will show you how to enhance your online presence if you already have one and how to get one if you don’t!

In this webinar, you will learn:

• The origins of personal branding and how it can accelerate your career
• A simple three-step process for developing or refining your personal brand
• The secret of “social proof” and how to use this age-old concept to further your career
• A powerful, yet often overlooked strategy for becoming known as an “expert” in your niche
• How to use the four main social media tools to build your personal brand in order to advance your career

As soon as you purchase, you will get immediate access to the 90-minute, pure content webinar recording + the PDF handout with all the training slides!

A few months ago, I gave up my apartment to rent a room in someone’s house instead. Why? Because I wanted to downsize my life and start saving money to do some serious traveling over the next year. So, I gave away most of my stuff, ended my lease and in the process, freed myself up to so many new opportunities for my life and work. Since I don’t technically live anywhere anymore, I can go wherever I want, whenever I want, for as long as I want.

I can say, boy wouldn’t it be great to live in Hawaii again. (I lived near Pearl Harbor for six years after my mom married a Navy man. I spent my middle-school and high-school years in Honolulu and loved every minute of it!)

As you may know, I’ll be staying in Honolulu, Hawaii for three 1/2 weeks (November 28-December 21) after Trista and I speak at The Conference of Nonprofit Communities of Hawai`i. This opportunity came about through someone in Trista’s network and it just worked out that their budget allowed for both of us to come and speak. So, I decided to take full advantage of being on the island to stay as long as I could!

What I’m hoping to do though (in addition to kicking back on the beach as much as possible), is to expand my network in Honolulu so I can have a reason to come back more often or maybe at some point, for good. That means I would have to begin scoping out the landscape for potential opportunities for consulting, training or full/part-time work. What’s my plan so far? While I’m in Honolulu for three weeks, I’ll be seeking out networking events to attend and nonprofit folks to connect with, as well as opportunities to provide pro-bono consulting and training to organizations in Oahu around leadership and social media. (If you’re on Oahu and want to schedule something during November 28-December 21, contact me here.)

Who knows where this path may lead. Or others, for that matter. The important thing, for me, is to walk it as boldly as possible, in alignment with my values for the work I want to do in the world.

Where Will Your Next Nonprofit Career Opportunity Come From?

Your next career opportunity could literally come from anywhere.

But it helps to be prepared for the possibilities. Here’s a good place to start: 15 Powerful Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Nonprofit Career.

Even if you’re happy where you are now, it’s useful to begin looking ahead to where you want to be in the next 12 months to three years (for me, maybe it’s working with nonprofits in Hawaii). Then think about what you would need to start doing now to position yourself for that possibility. Things like building your personal brand. If you’re between jobs right now, signing up with a temp agency. Setting aside time every week to grow your professional network. Because what I’ve learned over the last 9 years that I’ve been working in and with nonprofits is that unexpected opportunities WILL start coming to you once you put yourself out there. Like my grandma likes to say, “closed mouths don’t get fed.”

And invisible people don’t get seen.

What can you start doing today to position yourself for your next nonprofit career opportunity?

Wanna learn more about personal branding and getting your name out there in your field? Purchase your copy of my popular 90-minute webinar training, Personal Branding 101: How to Use Social Media to Accelerate Your Career.

But what if you don’t really know what your personal brand is yet?

Like many concepts, personal branding is simple – in theory. Your personal brand is essentially just your professional reputation. It’s what other people say about you when you’re not in the room. The real question is: do you have a good personal brand or not? Is it helping you thrive in your career? What do your colleagues think of you? Do people even know who you are beyond your little cubicle in the corner of the office???

So many questions, Rosetta! I know, I know. Take a deep breath. Exhale. We’re about to take a moment to explore them together today.

What’s your three-word personal brand?

Get out a sheet of paper and come up with three words, characteristics or attributes that you want people to think of when they think of you. What do you want to be known for? Jot down what comes to mind. Think: is this really who I am? Is this who I want to be? Then, tweak them a bit. Important note: As @snotforprofit points out, words like “passionate” and ” hard-working” are often overused.

#YNPChat I think "passionate", "engaged" & "leadership" are overused mission statement words. They're like resume words.

November 2, 2011 12:19 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@snotforprofit

Claire Kerr

So, try to go beyond the obvious. What makes you unique or memorable? What makes you a valuable asset to the workplace? To the sector? Play those things up instead. Then, perhaps you’ll be ready to think more clearly about how you might use social media tools to showcase your personal brand online.

Inquiring minds want to know . . . what’s your three-word personal brand? Tell me what you came up with in the comments!

Wanna learn more about personal branding? Purchase your copy of my popular 90-minute webinar training, Personal Branding 101: How to Use Social Media to Accelerate Your Career.

This post is part of my ongoing Social Media 101 series to encourage leaders to learn more about social media and use it effectively in their life and work.

“Brand yourself for the career you want, not the job you have.” – Dan Schawbel

One of the things Trista and I talk about a lot in our book, How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar: 50 Ways to Accelerate Your Career is the importance of establishing a great personal brand in your nonprofit career. If you’re having trouble landing that dream job or leadership opportunity, it may be because your personal brand needs some work! The good news though, is that in our evolving digital world, there are infinite opportunities to build a reputable name for yourself in your field - online.

This post explains the basic concept and origins of personal branding. Below, I go a bit deeper to share a few ideas for how you might begin to use the four main social media tools to accelerate your nonprofit career. How can you deliberately grow your professional network and become known as the “go-to” person in your field using blogging, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn?

Start Blogging

Blogging offers a powerful entry point for anyone who wants to gain greater visibility in the nonprofit industry. In my experience, blogging is hands down, the very best social media tool to use in building your personal brand. It gives you a platform to talk about your expertise and experience. No, not bragging, but simply showing people that you have something meaningful to offer to the field. Blogging also showcases your writing skills, social media savvy, and utter brilliance to your colleagues and future employers.

If you don’t have a blog yet, you can get one now for the low, low price of $0! Sign up at Blogger or WordPress to get a free blog set up and start writing about nonprofit issues that you care about. Or even better, get a more professional-looking self-hosted blog through Bluehost (the web host that I use). For more in-depth blogging advice, download my free 37-page ebook, The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Blog. Geared toward newbie bloggers, this easy-to-read guide will take you from soup to nuts in terms of your blog concept, software, design, content, promotion and analytics.

Further reading:

• Why Blogging is the Best Way to Build Your Personal Brand Online
• Beyond Social Media: Blogging as Thought Leadership

Create a LinkedIn Profile

If you’re seeking to build your personal brand in the nonprofit world and you’re not on LinkedIn, you’re missing out on a TON of connections and opportunities. It’s an easy way to get your name ranked favorably in Google search as well as an avenue to meet other nonprofit leaders in your community. LinkedIn is also great for getting the attention of hiring managers and headhunters as 86% of recruiters use social media to research applicants.

Once you join LinkedIn, be sure to fill in your profile completely with a picture, your resume and your bio. To really use the site to its full potential, join some LinkedIn groups associated with the nonprofit industry. I recommend joining the following LinkedIn Groups to build your nonprofit network as well your personal brand: Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, Commongood Careers and The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Further reading:

Get On Twitter

A lot of nonprofit folks are still skeptical about why they should be on Twitter, but as someone with almost 14,000 Twitter followers, I’ve learned a lot about navigating this tool for my own networking purposes. If you’re not on Twitter yet, get an account here and use your real name as your username. Using your real name makes it easier to associate that name with your personal brand as well as the unique value and expertise you bring to the sector. If your name is already taken as a handle (or is too long), you can always use a variation, or even a combination of your industry and your name, such as @nonprofitnicole. Right away, you know she works in nonprofits and her name is Nicole. Brilliant! (And yes, if you’re using a weird username right now, you can go ahead and change it without losing followers. Go here to learn how.)

After that? Get to know thought leaders in the field like @robertegger. I love how Robert uses Twitter to share his thoughts as a nonprofit CEO and a courageous advocate for change in the sector. You should also keep up with the latest nonprofit news and trends by following @Philanthropy (Chronicle of Philanthropy) and @npquarterly (Nonprofit Quarterly). Then? Set aside tine to tweet at least a few times every day to establish your personal brand and market yourself as a resource in whatever your nonprofit expertise might be. If you share what you know, people will begin to respect you as a professional, regardless of your age or years of experience in the field.

Further reading:

• 9 Tips for Using Twitter to Build Your Nonprofit Network
• Six Ways to Use Twitter to Enhance Your Nonprofit Career

Develop a Facebook Presence

With almost a billion people on Facebook now, the site represents a huge pool of potential folks to promote your personal bran (as well as your blog). But if you’re like me and you don’t want your readers to friend you on your personal Facebook profile, you can create a “page” instead where people can keep up with your blog updates. I started a Facebook page for my blog about two years ago and I’ve been able to use it to connect with my readers and share updates from not only my own blog, but posts from other bloggers in the nonprofit field as well.

Ready to start? Go here to create a Facebook page for yourself. Use one of the following categories for your page: “Artist, Band or Public Figure” (author, writer, public figure, business person) OR “Brand or Product” (website). Next, link to your Facebook page from your blog so people can keep up with your updates. For extra credit, install the Networked Blogs application (it’s free!) to automatically pull in your blog posts to your Facebook wall. Again, your ultimate goal here is to use your Facebook page to build a vibrant community around your personal brand, so stay consistent on your page by posting links, questions, quotes and articles related to the nonprofit sector.

Further reading:

• 5 Personal Brands with Great Facebook Pages
• 26 Tips for Enhancing Your Facebook Page

What are some other ways you’ve been able to use social media to build your personal brand online?

Wanna learn more about personal branding? Purchase your copy of my popular 90-minute webinar training, Personal Branding 101: How to Use Social Media to Accelerate Your Career.