"Whether you like it or not, you have a personal brand." - Gary Vaynerchuk

This is one of the many things I've been really delving into over the past year. As of about six months ago, I started actively creating content to help boost my own personal brand as a digital marketing professional. I've been working in the social media marketing world since 2012 but only recently have I taken the concept of content creation for my personal brand seriously. Let me first define what I mean by personal brand before I jump into why it's highly important to begin creating content for your future:

Personal branding is the means by which people remember you. It's the practice of people marketing themselves and their careers as brands. Having an established presence online is important for us all. If you work for your family's business, a law firm, a university, or you're an entrepreneur. Here are 3 reasons you should be creating content, no matter what industry you work in, or want to work in.

1. It establishes you as an expert and backs up your credibility.

If I'm looking at someone's profile on LinkedIn or Twitter for example and I see that they've been posting their own content for over a year around the industry they work in, they have established themselves as an expert. It takes effort, passion, and knowledge to produce content like videos, blog posts, white papers, etc. It's easy to say you're a "digital marketing expert," everyone claims that they're an expert. But how many of them take the time to demonstrate their expertise? That's how you can separate yourself from the competition. By being the one that has an active blog, the one who helps people solve problems, the one that creates videos, and the one that uses the latest technology to do business and make connections.

2. It will set you apart when you're job searching

Let's say you're applying for a new job at a digital marketing agency and it's down to you and another candidate. You both have the exact same job experience, education, and references. One of you has a personal website with an up to date blog about all things marketing. Who do you think will get the job? The person who shows that they have passion, knowledge, and work ethic of course! Today, you're only as good as your online reputation. You might as well shape what people see when they search your name.

3. It's a way to be "on the record" or "the right side of history"

Creating content on your personal website or third party sites like LinkedIn, Medium, or Tumblr are fantastic ways to be able to time stamp opinions! Say you're huge into new technology and sustainable energy. You just know that any year now the Tesla stock is going to skyrocket and be THE next thing. If you start creating content around things in that sphere that you care about, over time it's going to pay off. For example, right now the new Tesla Solar Roof Panels have got you and everyone talking. This is the perfect time to time stamp your prediction or opinion about the future of solar energy! Down the line one day it'll really be invaluable when someone is checking out your online presence, say the hiring manager at that renewable energy company that you're applying. See where I'm headed with this?

Now that you know why you should be creating content. Here a few examples of the different types of content you can produce for your personal brand. You can create blogs, articles, lists, Q & A sessions, live broadcasts, Snapchat stories, Twitter chats, white papers, podcasts, YouTube videos, the list really goes on and on! As long as your goal is to deliver value to your audience, there really is no right or *wrong way to do it. Creating content is going to benefit you immensely in the long run.

I'll end with a couple of people to go follow if you want to learn more about why you've gotta start creating content for your personal brand. Check out my friend Matt Holmes article on why you gotta start walking the walk if you'd like to be taken seriously and the Godfather of content creation and brand building, Gary Vee. Gary talks about this extensively in his blogs, videos, and more as one of his biggest audience groups are entrepreneurs.

*Let me preface my statement about no right or wrong way to do it. There IS a wrong way and that's creating crappy content. I will save that for a future blog post.

Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read. If you have any questions or comments please leave them below. Would love to get your feedback.