5 Simple Steps to Build a Personal Brand on LinkedIn for Small Business Owners
Updated: Nov 22
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In today’s digital landscape, building a personal brand is more than just an option - it’s essential, especially for small business owners. LinkedIn has emerged as one of the most powerful platforms for professionals, entrepreneurs, and businesses of all sizes to create meaningful connections and showcase their expertise.
For small business owners, having a strong personal brand on LinkedIn can lead to increased visibility, credibility, and business opportunities. Whether you're in retail, consulting, tech, hospitality, or any other industry, a personal brand on LinkedIn can significantly elevate your business presence.
Having a strong personal brand on LinkedIn can lead to increased visibility, credibility, and business opportunities
Business owners that benefit the most from a strong personal brand are typically those that rely heavily on trust and personal relationships, such as coaching, consulting, and service-based businesses. However, any business can leverage LinkedIn for B2B relationships, partnerships, seeking investors, and recruitment.
In this blog, we’ll dive into how to build your personal brand on LinkedIn, why it’s important, and how scheduling tools can help you maintain consistency without overwhelming your schedule.
Why You Should Build a Personal Brand on LinkedIn
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Building a personal brand isn’t just about creating content; it’s about being seen as an expert in your field, sharing your story, and engaging with your target audience. Here are a few reasons why you, as a small business owner, should prioritize building your personal brand on LinkedIn:
Increased Credibility: When you regularly share your insights and successes on LinkedIn, it establishes your credibility. This is particularly important for small businesses that may not have the brand recognition of larger competitors.
Networking Opportunities: LinkedIn is designed to help professionals network. By building your personal brand, you increase your chances of connecting with industry leaders, potential clients, and collaborators.
Lead Generation: According to a study by LinkedIn, 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn . If you’re a small business offering services to other businesses, building your personal brand here can be a key growth driver.
Recruitment and Talent Attraction: A strong personal brand can also help you attract the right talent to grow your business. According to LinkedIn’s 2023 Global Talent Trends report, businesses with strong personal brands are 31% more likely to attract top talent.
Step 1: Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
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Your LinkedIn profile is your digital storefront, and it should reflect your professional persona while highlighting your small business. Besides your background and other pictures, here are the key areas to consider:
Professional Headshot: First impressions matter. A clear, professional headshot is crucial.
Compelling Headline: Use your headline to highlight what you do and the value you offer. For example, instead of saying “Small Business Owner,” try “Helping Entrepreneurs Grow with Customized Marketing Solutions.”
Custom URL: Customize your LinkedIn URL to include your name or business name for easy recognition and sharing.
Engaging About Section: Use this space to tell your personal and business story. Share your values, mission, and what sets you apart from competitors.
Showcase Your Work: Regularly update your profile with your latest projects, case studies, and achievements. This not only keeps your profile fresh but also shows your expertise.
If you want to dive deeper and find more information, you might want to check out LinkedIn’s Best Practices blog for improving your LinkedIn profile.
Step 2: Share Valuable Content Consistently
Post by Lisa Riggs on LinkedIn
As seen in the example above, Lisa Riggs, owner of a custom socks brand, posted this fun question and linked it to her recent newsletter for more information.
Content is at the heart of any personal brand. To build your brand on LinkedIn, you need to share valuable content that resonates with your audience.
Here’s how:
Thought Leadership Posts: Share your opinions on industry trends or your experiences as a small business owner. This helps establish you as an authority in your field.
Behind-the-Scenes Content: People love seeing the human side of a brand. Share behind-the-scenes content of your business operations, decision-making process, or even team activities.
Case Studies and Testimonials: Showcase how your business has solved problems for clients. This serves as social proof and builds trust.
Engage with Your Network: It’s not enough to just post content; you need to engage with others. Like, comment, and share relevant posts from your network.
According to LinkedIn's 2023 statistics, users who post once a week have double the engagement rate compared to those who post less frequently. Discover more ideas for great LinkedIn posts in our other blog.
Step 3: Leverage LinkedIn Groups and Hashtags
LinkedIn Groups and hashtags are excellent ways to expand your reach. Join industry-specific groups where your target audience is active. Engage in discussions and offer advice without overtly selling your services. This builds your reputation as a helpful expert.
Hashtags also make your content discoverable to a wider audience. Use relevant hashtags to ensure that your posts reach the right people. For example, if you’re in digital marketing, use hashtags like #DigitalMarketing, #SocialMediaStrategy, and #SmallBusinessTips.
Step 4: Build Relationships, Not Just Connections
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It’s easy to focus on the numbers and aim for thousands of LinkedIn connections. But in reality, it’s the quality of relationships that matters most. Once you connect with someone, don’t stop there:
Send Personalized Messages: Avoid sending generic connection requests. Personalize your message to explain why you want to connect and how you can add value.
Engage with Your Connections: Like, comment, and share the posts of your connections regularly. This keeps you top-of-mind.
Collaborate with Others: If you find potential business collaborators or partners through LinkedIn, reach out to discuss how you might work together. This could lead to joint ventures, partnerships, or even client referrals.
Step 5: Measure and Adjust Your Strategy
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Building a personal brand is an ongoing process, and it’s important to monitor what’s working and what isn’t. LinkedIn offers analytics that show how your posts are performing.
Use these insights to adjust your strategy.
Which types of posts get the most engagement?
Are you attracting the right kind of followers and connections?
Are your profile views increasing?
Regularly review these metrics to ensure your LinkedIn personal branding efforts are yielding results.
Use Social Media Management Tools to Ease the Workload
Building a personal brand on LinkedIn requires consistency, and that can be time-consuming for a small business owner. This is where social media management tools like AI-powered Hookle come into play. Tools like Hookle allow you to plan, create, and schedule your LinkedIn content in advance, helping you stay consistent without needing to post every day manually.
Efficient Scheduling: With Hookle, you can create posts and schedule them weeks in advance. Its AI-powered smart scheduling suggests the best times to post, saving you valuable time while maximizing engagement. Even better, you can post not only to LinkedIn but to all your social channels simultaneously.
Cross-Platform Management: Hookle allows you to manage multiple social media accounts from one dashboard, so you can easily streamline your entire social media strategy.
Easy Post Creation with AI: Hookle’s AI-powered features offer content suggestions, image suggestions, and post ideas, making the post creation process quick and easy - even when you're low on inspiration.
Analytics at Your Fingertips: Hookle provides easy-to-read analytics, allowing you to track which types of posts perform best on LinkedIn, helping you refine your strategy.
For small business owners juggling multiple responsibilities, using tools like Hookle helps ease the workload and ensures your personal brand is growing consistently.
Don't just take our word for it - experience it for yourself! Try Hookle free today and start building your personal brand on LinkedIn with ease!
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