After you write your goals for your personal brand, and the details of how you plan to achieve them, you should create a communications plan that looks similar to the one presented here.
A sample communications plan by month
The sample communications plan illustrates how you may put your plan into action within several different goal areas — in this case Personal Communications, Professional Associations/Community, Career Thought Leadership, and Inside My Company.
The details are outlined monthly; note that something is happening each month in each of the categories. Putting together a plan helps you put your thoughts into action and move you toward building a more visible and credible personal brand.
Month |
Personal Communications | Professional Associations/ Community |
Career Thought Leadership | Inside My Company |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | Get a professional headshot taken. | Research groups and associations to join. | Research current topics in my area of interest. | Research current topics of interest in my company. |
| February | Set up LinkedIn and Twitter accounts with my new headshot. | Decide on two community/ professional groups to join. | Write an article about the most interesting topic. | Write an article and post it on the office intranet. |
| March | Build my LinkedIn account. Add 40 connections. | Join a group. Offer to volunteer. |
Start a blog using the article topic. | Offer to do a brown bag lunch talk on the article topic. |
| April | Build my LinkedIn account. Add 40 more connections. | Attend a teleclass or webinar. | Write two blog posts, and comment on other blogs. | Put the article in the company newsletter. |
| May | Follow at least 20 new people on Twitter. | Attend a local meeting. | Write two blog posts and comment on other blogs. | Make a Top 5 list of my research topic to send to my coworkers. |
| June | Post updates to my LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. Update my profiles. | Offer to speak at a local group on my article topic. | Write two blog posts and comment on other blogs. | Find a new topic of interest to write about at work. |
| July | Post updates to LinkedIn and Twitter. | Participate in an online community meeting. | Write a new article and submit it to a professional association. | Write a new article. |
| August | Post updates to LinkedIn and Twitter. | Do some volunteer work. | Write two blog posts. Submit article to more sites. | Break my article down into short info bites for my coworkers. |
| September | Review my profiles and post updates to LinkedIn and Twitter. | Attend a local meeting. | Write two blog posts and comment on other blogs. | Offer to do a brown bag lunch talk on my new article topic. |
| October | Post updates to LinkedIn and Twitter. | Participate in an online community meeting. | Write two blog posts and comment on other blogs. | Put my article in the company newsletter. |
| November | Post updates to LinkedIn and Twitter. | Volunteer at a food bank. | Write two blog posts and comment on other blogs. | Organize a food drive in my department. |
| December | Send holiday greetings to my friends and contacts. | Attend a local meeting. | Send my article to my contacts. | Send holiday greetings to my coworkers. |
Build word-of-mouth support
Every business owner knows that he has reached an important milestone when he begins receiving more word-of-mouth referrals than business from other means of marketing. It means that he has delivered an exceptional service or product that his customers are happy to talk about to their community.
You want to be what others are talking about — in a good way. For example, if you’re a hairstylist, you want to be the first person who comes to mind when someone asks a friend, “Do you know where I can get a good haircut?”
To achieve that goal, you need to be known for something. Do you offer the least expensive haircuts? The best quality haircuts? The craziest haircuts? The best coloring of gray roots in town?
Communication for job seekers
What if you aren’t a business owner? Word-of-mouth support is still crucial. That’s because word-of-mouth-support is what’s known as the hidden job market — it’s where most jobs come from.
When a company has a job opening, the person in charge of hiring is almost certainly going to ask friends and professional colleagues if they know of anyone who fits the bill. Building and keeping a network of fans and supporters can help you find the right opportunities and the right people.
To build a strong word-of-mouth network, you need to show that you’re sharing information to help others and promote them as well. People always like to promote others who are promoting them! The clearer you are about your brand message, the easier you make it for people to spread the word about you and build your network.