The successful and savvy job seeker will develop a compelling personal brand and spend 75% of their time (or more) promoting it. Here are seven key ways to promote your personal brand:

1. 7 Key Ways To Promote
Your Personal Brand
Original article by Sean Harry

2. By now, you understand finding the perfect job
requires more than simply writing a resume and
posting it online.
In fact, if you are going to take the “apply
online” approach, you should spend no more
than two hours per week at it.

3. Less than 5% of jobs are ever posted online, so
if you are going to find your next job fast you
need to spend your time elsewhere.
The successful and savvy job seeker will
develop a compelling personal brand and
spend 75% of their time (or more) promoting it.

4. Here are seven key ways to promote your
personal brand:

5. 1. Buy Printed Business Cards

6. I am consistently shocked by the number of job
seekers who have absolutely NO way of letting
other people know how to contact them other
than by shoving a resume in their face.
And no, the ones you print at home on your
own computer are NOT good enough!

7. Business cards are inexpensive. Sometimes
you can even get free business cards from
places like Prints Made Easy or free shipping
from stores like Office Max.
When you're done reading this article, learn the
three rules to smart business card etiquette.

8. As for what to put on your card? I recommend
the minimalist approach. Put your name, e-mail
address, phone, and LinkedIn profile address.
You don’t need a title or a cute picture. Get a
non-glossy finish and leave the back empty so
people can jot down notes about you.

9. 2. Develop A Concise Elevator Pitch

10. Give just enough information to make people
want to ask you to tell them more. Don’t focus
on your past, instead focus on your future.
Nobody cares you have 15 years experience in
micro-processors. They want to know what you
can do for THEM now! Be memorable, but not
flippant or “cutesy.”

11. Lastly, rehearse it at least 100 times out loud
BEFORE you use it in a group.
You want it to be polished, but not too
formulaic.

12. 3. Show Up

13. You have business cards and a concise
elevator pitch, but what good are they if you sit
all day at the computer?
Plan a strategy to show up in places where
your target audience is (i.e. potential employers
in key companies within your target industries)
or where the people who know them will be.

14. 4. Listen And Build Trust

15. Networking is NOT about you.
It’s about building a relationship. It’s about
helping people in your network of friends and
colleagues connect for mutual benefit. It’s
about finding out what someone else needs
and helping them.

16. 5. Complete Your LinkedIn Profile

17. This is one of the most important online tools
you will have.
A great resource for learning more about how
to beef up your LinkedIn account is from
Joshua Waldman with Career Enlightenment.
Check him out. He’s is THE premiere
professional on this topic!

18. 6. Follow Up

19. Develop a press kit you can send if asked.
Better yet, create a blog (I like WordPress).
Online you can store video clips, PDF files,
work examples and much more.

20. 7. Send A Thank You Card

21. Every career coach from here to Katmandu
tells their clients to do this. It’s an inexpensive
way to keep you on the top of someone’s mind.
Personal, handwritten cards get past the usual
gatekeepers and are absolutely read by their
intended recipient.

22. If these things are true, then why is it so few job
seekers actually do it?! I must meet with 10-15
people per week. You would think my mailman
and I would be on a first name basis after that.
The reality is, only about 1 in 100 send a
written thank you card. Does it make an
impression? You bet it does!

23. Keep thank you notes and stamps at your desk
within arms reach, and write thank you notes to
everyone you talked to that day – in person or
on the phone.
Include another business card along with a
note as to how much you appreciated their
time. Trust me, it will make a HUGE difference!

24. I hope you can see these things aren’t difficult.
They aren’t hard to remember. They don’t
require an advanced degree to implement.
They are easy, and there are only seven of
them. You can implement this strategy in just
one week by doing just one each day.

25. Read The Original Article!
We hope you enjoyed this presentation!
Click here to read the original article by Sean
Harry on CAREEREALISM.com.