How to Activate Your Personal Brand

In March 2023, I reactivated my LinkedIn account. For some, that act might signal a career shift, a quiet first step toward job hunting, or fulfilling a professional requirement, but for me it wasn’t about changing jobs or checking a box – it was about evolving. I wanted to grow in my role, with my company and in the security industry. I knew this required doing more than just being good at my job. It meant becoming visible. It meant establishing a personal brand.

The idea of a personal brand used to feel a bit self-indulgent to me. I’d never considered myself the biggest proponent of social media and certainly never thought that I’d ever be referred to as an “influencer.” But in today’s interconnected world, visibility is no longer vanity – it’s value. Your personal brand is not just how you present yourself – it’s how others perceive your expertise, trustworthiness, and relevance in your industry. This will help you grow your company and grow with your company, build your personal network, or also land new business or career opportunities. Let’s build off the assumption that you, too, have come to this conclusion. You’re ready to activate your personal brand. But where to even begin? 

A great first step in activating your personal brand is inspiration. Whether you get started on LinkedIn, Facebook or YouTube, start doing some research on your niche in the security industry to learn how other individuals are marketing themselves. Seek out the key figures or influencers as well as business pages or channels. Expose yourself to as much security content as possible. Start following the pages that are putting out content either relevant or enjoyable to you and connect with the folks who are making it; maybe even dropping them a comment or DM to introduce yourself. I’ve never met a creator who wasn’t fired up about helping someone find their own voice in the industry. 

Once you’ve spent enough time studying security content, you will realize that the most successful creators have unique brands that they’ve likely spent months or years developing – to the point of essentially having their own unwritten brand guidelines. 

Now comes the tricky part, where many might throw in the towel: asking yourself what makes you, well, you. Why should someone follow your brand? What value will you bring to the security industry? Will you entertain, educate, or help others?  These aren’t easy questions, and I’d recommend spending a good amount of time on this step before ever clicking ‘post.’ 

Let’s fast forward a few days or possibly weeks. You’ve seen what the pros do. You’ve determined your brand and your goals. Before you start creating content, do a once or twice over of your social media profile(s) to ensure that it is reflective of your brand. You don’t need a professional headshot right out of the gate, but it should look professional. For LinkedIn, your photo and headline are basically your elevator pitch to others – that’s where you want to knock it out of the park. Spend some time going through the rest of your profile(s), removing any unprofessional or irrelevant content.

After you’ve completed the above steps comes the hardest part, where any doubts or insecurities come creeping in: putting yourself out there. There’s a chance you’ve already done everything up to this point before reading this article. Perhaps you were hoping to learn the secret or some valuable insight on how to make the leap. To make it easier for you and anyone else who just needs one final push: you do bring a unique insight to the security industry, and you do offer something that no one else does – simply by being you. Do yourself a favor and just do it.  

Here’s an easy way to start: pick a post that caught your attention recently – maybe because it was helpful or entertaining and simply repost or share it with your own thoughts on it. Why did you find it helpful or entertaining? By doing this you’ve accomplished two things: 1) you’ve taken the first step towards establishing your voice, and 2) you’ve engaged with the content of a creator who you respect. Maybe that creator will engage with your post now. Either way, you’ve just officially activated your personal brand. 

Each social media platform has a slightly different algorithm that will determine the reach or audience of your posts. Typically, each platform will prioritize content that people spend more time viewing or engaging with (remember, getting people to spend time on their platform is how they make their money). Use this to your advantage by creating or sharing engaging, entertaining and/or helpful content. It doesn’t need to be every day. You don’t need to be in videos if you don’t want to be. Unless you’re trying to “go viral,” you really don’t even need to obsess over your reach – it will come with time and with steady, quality content. 

Now, it’s worth mentioning that not every company will be supportive or even permissive of its employees building personal brands. Many corporations have strict policies regarding employee social media use. While these policies are legally questionable and sometimes completely unenforceable, the reality is that most employment contracts are at-will, and if your company doesn’t like what you’re doing online they may retaliate. Take this into account and consider speaking with your supervisor or HR representative just to be clear on their policies. 

Alternatively, you may work for a company that encourages their employees to build their own brands online. Perhaps your employer has a large LinkedIn presence, and your co-workers will engage with your content, helping your growth. In my case, I was the only one in my company who was actively posting on LinkedIn. After about 2 months of this, the president of the company asked me to manage our official LinkedIn business page, followed by Facebook, and eventually becoming the director of marketing. 

I was an installation technician that became a director of marketing— in less than three years. This would not have been possible if I hadn’t activated my personal brand. 

TL;DR: Just do it.

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts and/or profiles are those of the authors or sources and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Security Industry Association.

This article originally appeared in RISE Together: A Newsletter for Emerging Security Leaders, presented by SIA’s RISE community.