Share. It’s pretty simple, right?

When I teach Personal Brand Strategy, I get a lot of confusing looks when I talk about sharing and exposure.

I know what the class is thinking – this isn’t what we were taught in school.

In fact, I was taught that the work you do is enough. You don’t need to talk about it.

Because if you do what you do amazingly well, people will talk about what you do. You will be noticed.

Like Steve Martin said, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.”

But remember Steve was extraordinarily good and his job was to be on-stage in front of millions.

I’m guessing that with your job, you don’t have a stage to stand on. That makes it a little harder to be noticed.

“But, Don,” I can hear you say, “Everyone knows that the guy who is constantly talking about how awesome he is the last person that deserves the credit.”

And I completely agree with that. He’s bragging. And that’s worthless.

Why?

Because he’s not helping anyone.

And I would argue that he isn’t even coming close to helping himself as much as he thinks he is.

But this doesn’t have to be case when you talk about what you do.

Think of it from the perspective of sharing.

Share your work, share your knowledge, share your failures and what you’ve learned from them so others can learn from your mistakes.

I just listened to a podcast from James Altucher (you should definitely be listening to him) and his guest, Austin Kleon: How To Be A Creative Genius.

In the podcast, they talk a lot about sharing your work – daily if you can – will get you noticed.

When I talk about how to use professional branding to be noticed, I used to talk about exposure. Exposure is what I want you to have but sharing is what you do to get exposure.

Share. That’s it.

Help others out. Help them get to where they are going. Help them to understand not just what you do but how you can help them.

This is why I use social media, why I blog, and why I don’t care if you think I’m bragging (I don’t see it that way).

I want you to know that I’m there for you and that I care.

Right?

There’s a great saying from John Maxwell – “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

And they know you care when you are willing to share what you know. When you do this, your professional branding will take off.

It’s the secret to your personal branding success – I guarantee it and I’m sharing it right now. 🙂

What’s your secret to a successful personal brand?