Today I’m going to bring up a topic that is softer in nature, but critically important to your career path in equity compensation: building your personal brand. Now, I know some of you may be thinking – “I don’t have time to think about my brand!” If that’s you, recognize that you are not alone. In fact, you have a lot of company in that mindset. I’ll attempt to convince you why you should be actively working to build your personal brand, starting today.

Is your brand on life support?

There are a lot of estimates, guesstimates, and surveys that try to pinpoint just how many people are a bit, shall we say, “relaxed” when it comes to focusing on their personal career brand. One study quoted on Monster.com suggested that 45% of people don’t think about it at all, ever. That got me thinking about how many of us probably realize that it’s a good thing to create a name for yourself in this industry, but haven’t put the priority into actually doing it.

Building a brand is about two things: recognition for your value inside the company, and recognition for your value outside of the company. I think many people tie their brand to the next job search – meaning that it only needs to be worked on, or polished off, when it’s time to look for that next position. That is a mistake. The process of working on your personal brand should be ongoing – there isn’t an end to the process.

5 Quick Ways to Build Your Brand

I’m a fan of tangible action items, so I’ve gleaned some tips from many resources on brand building. Here are 5 of my favorites – and they are all things you can do or begin right away.

#1. Own your online presence. “If you don’t brand yourself, Google will brand you,” says Sherry Beck Paprocki, co-author of the book, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Branding Yourself”. According to the New York Times, “That means you need to try to control what information comes up when your name is searched online by a potential employer, as it inevitably will be. Will she see a professional LinkedIn profile or that embarrassing photo of you from Halloween 2005?”

Have you ever Googled yourself? Try it and see what comes up. An increasing number of recruiters and employers are trolling online sites to learn as much as possible about prospect candidates, often before scheduling interviews. Be very careful about what you post online, as almost nothing stays hidden forever. According to data published in the Wall Street Journal, 44% of employers consider trashing another employer on social media to be a hiring deal breaker. 30% of employers consider the use of foul language (even if not employer related) a guaranteed trip to the reject pile as well. The bottom line: guard your online presence and use your best judgment, even on personal social media sites.

#2. The rich is in the niche. I can’t guarantee you’ll be monetarily rich from picking a niche, but your brand will likely become more lucrative if you master a few things rather than dabble in many. How do you choose a niche? Think about what you like the most about equity compensation. Are you crazy about calculating taxes? Do you love recordkeeping? Are you a lovable accounting geek? Figure out what gets you excited and start there. Next, think about your unique strengths. Are you really good with details? Do you have a knack for writing or performing calculations in your head a light speed? The key to the niche is marrying your passions with your unique skills.

#3. Show your face. All I can say here is network, network, network. A 2010 survey by Right Management (an arm of staffing giant Manpower) reported that 41% of respondents said they landed a job through networking. I’ll make an unscientific guess that in this small industry of equity compensation, that number is even higher. Never underestimate the power of a strong network. How do you jumpstart a network? Volunteering in the industry (including local NASPP chapters), participating in industry events, attending conferences, speaking, and mentoring new professionals should give you a few ideas.

#4. Add more value. Let’s face it, we live in a culture driven by an ever-present question: “what’s in it for me?” When it comes to increasing your brand value, the number one thing you can do to ensure sustained growth of your brand is to add value to your community first. So in everything you do ask yourself if you’re adding value. What are examples of adding value? Creating something really useful, solving a problem that has yet to be solved, being accessible/approachable/and helpful, developing a unique expertise, teaching a new skill. It’s a simple shift in approach that can bring huge returns to your brand.

#5. Create a LinkedIn profile and keep it updated…regularly! LinkedIn’s own statistics report that only 50.5% of users have a “complete”profile. That screams “untapped potential” to me. The average LinkedIn user spends 17 minutes per month on their profile. At the same time, 94% of recruiters use LinkedIn to vet candidates. Imagine if you just completed your profile and spent 20 minutes a week managing your profile, making new connections, and participating in groups. You’d be way ahead of the “average”.

Bonus: Write down three career goals that will help you build your brand. When I say “write down” I mean, “write down.” The best way I can give color to what I mean is to share the story of a study of 1979 Harvard Business School MBA students. There have been articles and books that depict this study, and it’s been widely analyzed, but I’ll summarize it as described by the site Life Mastering: “In the book ‘What They Don’t Teach You in the Harvard Business School,’ Mark McCormack discusses a study conducted on students in the 1979 Harvard MBA program. In that year, the students were asked, “Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?” Only three percent of the graduates had written goals and plans; 13 percent had goals, but they were not in writing; and a whopping 84 percent had no specific goals at all.

Ten years later, the members of the class were interviewed again, and the findings, while somewhat predictable, were nonetheless astonishing. The 13 percent of the class who had goals were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84 percent who had no goals at all. And what about the three percent who had clear, written goals? They were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97 percent put together.” Hmmm…something to think about.

Building a personal brand you can be proud of is not hard, but it does take consistent work. For more tips and resources, visit the NASPP’s Career Center. We’ve got an entire blog dedicated to career development, resources, and our Equity Expert podcast series.

-Jennifer