When people discuss their fears, they often say heights or spiders, but the fear of putting yourself out there and growing a personal brand is very real.
We often get stuck behind our own self-imposed barriers, stopping us from reaching our full potential. These fears need to be overcome to grow professionally; don’t worry we’ve got you covered!
Being hit with a huge wave of doubt right before you hit post is very common. The thoughts of, “Have I spelt something wrong?” or, “What if people judge my opinions?” may instantly pop into your mind.
Here are some things to think about…
STOP waiting around
Posting something is better than nothing, so the trick is to get started. We all have something worth talking about that’s going to engage with people in your network so take that first step and try saying something.
You don’t have to know it all, simply speaking with your own authentic voice will resonate with people.
It’s the same with confidence, the only way to grow it is to do uncomfortable things until it feels natural.
It’s very easy to put off building your brand because you are comfortable right now, but eventually, it will feel like second nature. When you do, you’ll spend less time reaching out to clients and candidates, instead they will come to you.
So next time you’re waiting around for your fear to go away think: Am I stopping my potential?
Ask yourself: Why do I feel uncomfortable?
It often stems from a fear of judgement - you’re worried about what people will think.
It’s valid to feel this way, however, it’s impossible to please everyone and you shouldn’t focus on the ‘likes’ initially. Everyone’s views are subjective and as a relative newcomer to posting on LinkedIn, your engagement takes time to build up.
What about any negative comments? Although slightly less common on LinkedIn than other social media platforms, they are cropping up more and more, and the way we see it, you have to options when dealing them: embrace the feedback and respond in kind, or simply ignore it.
It’s your brand, so as long as it aligns with the wider business, you should be able to respond to comments as you see fit.
The more you post the more visibility your updates will get, and you can share them round internally with your team to drive engagement. There’s no need to worry about what people may think. Worry instead about all the candidates and clients you’re not engaging with or not reaching by not posting in the first place.
Are there steps to put in place to make it easier?
The good news is the answer is yes.
There are ways to make resolving the fear easier, however, ultimately the success of them is down to you.
One method is to create a strategy beforehand. By creating a clear strategy of what you’re posting, when you post and who you want to target, will help you feel more comfortable when it comes to doing these things.
Step away from only posting your latest jobs and instead, think of 3 principles that you’d like to focus on as a starting point. This should help focus your content and help you build your brand around what’s personal and important to you.
This is a huge help when it comes to the authenticity and consistency of posts as you’re not stuck for ideas or left feeling that you have to come up with something that’s groundbreaking. If you can link it back to recruitment, brilliant!
Tools such as Google Calendar, Asana, Trello and Monday can help with planning and tools like Buffer are great for scheduling posts when other tasks get in the way.
The second method is breaking down the strategy into smaller more manageable tasks, this will make it feel less overwhelming.
With every task ask yourself why you are doing it. For example: why am I sharing a blog about how to make the recruitment process inclusive? You’re hitting share to show potential clients that you have knowledge and expertise in the area.
Asking yourself why can help make sure you're taking steps to improve your personal brand that’s relevant and gives you peace of mind that it’s solving a problem.
Finally, self-belief is key. It’s important to trust yourself, why should someone listen to the views of someone who doesn’t believe it themselves?