3 Personal Branding Tips for Baby Boomer Job Seekers

3 Personal Branding Tips for Baby Boomer Job Seekers 3 Personal Branding Tips for Baby Boomer Job Seekers The concept of a personal brand is relatively new. In 2009, when we were in the middle of the great recession and the ideas for Career Pivot were germinating in my head, I picked up Dan Schawbel’s book, Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success. This was my introduction to the term personal branding. It is also what has allowed me to provide the following personal branding tips for baby boomer job seekers. The concept of a personal brand became clear when I read the following quote: “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room” â€"  Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon We all have a brand…whether we like it or not. Let me give you a few simple branding tips that come from my new book, Personal Branding for Baby Boomers â€" What It Is, How to Manage It, and Why It’s No Longer Optional. Want to learn more? Attend my FREE webinar, hosted by, on October 13th! Leveraging LinkedIn to Get Noticed by Employers Branding Tip #1- Your LinkedIn Photograph Your LinkedIn photo is absolutely critical. What does your current photograph say about you? If you are not sure, check out PhotoFeeler.com and get other people’s opinions about your current photograph. I want you to consider three things about your photo: Background This is much more important than you think. Take a look at Jason Seiden’s article called, “Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.” Cropping Headshot photographs are rectangular. Social media photographs are mostly square. Your headshot needs to be cropped. When you crop the photograph, does the background still convey the appropriate message? Check out my headshot and LinkedIn photograph from the book. Clothing Color The color of your clothes has to be compatible with the background. If you are a guy, you may need to get help with this…like I did. Branding Tip #2- Your Brand Story Your brand story tells the reader who you are- not what you have done. This should be written in first person. It is your story. Who should write this story? NOT YOU! In the book, I give you three methods for writing the story, but the actual writing should be done by someone other than you. It could be someone you hire, a friend, or a relative. I have had the best luck with adult daughters. They will brag on mom or dad with an insight few others have. Your brand story should be placed in the summary section of your LinkedIn profile. The summary section is limited to 2,000 characters; therefore, this needs to be tightly edited and well written. Branding Tip #3- Rich Media Links Each section of the LinkedIn profile allows you to upload content or link to content on the Internet. This is a great way to demonstrate what you know. This could include: YouTube videos Articles you’ve written Work products Product descriptions for items you’ve sold or serviced Spreadsheets PowerPoint presentations LinkedIn Publisher posts Links to personal websites You should include anything that shows that you know your stuff. If you are interested in more information on writing LinkedIn Publisher posts that work, read my recent Forbes article, Using LinkedIn Influencer to Build Your Personal Brand. I recently had a client who included links to product descriptions of the multitude of sophisticated manufacturing machines he had sold within the previous 10 years. It was quite impressive. This was a major factor in him getting an interview for the job he was subsequently hired for. If you follow these three branding tips, you will be long on your way to creating a personal brand that people will remember. Readers, are you actively following these personal branding tips for baby boomer job seekers? What other ways have you created a personal brand? Share with us below! Marc Miller is the founder of Career Pivot, a partner, and an avid speaker who has addressed over 1,000 audiences worldwide. A “recovering engineer,” his circuitous career path- IBM, Lucent, two startups, and stints as a high school teacher and a fundraiser- has birthed his vocation helping people find new career paths.