Talk given to 700 apprentices in Scotland in November 2018 about how to do basic personal branding and marketing by Craig McGill, communications, PR and marketing expert.

2. Personal branding is the practice of people marketing
themselves and their careers as brands.
Personal branding is essentially the ongoing process of
establishing a prescribed image or impression in the
mind of others about an individual, group, or
organization
WHAT IS THIS PERSONAL BRANDING STUFF?

3. “I’M A PERSON, NOT A BRAND”

4. “I’M A PERSON, NOT A BRAND”

5. “I’M A PERSON, NOT A BRAND”

6. • Your personal brand is what others say/think
about you. “I’m hiring, know anyone?”
• Employers look on social media, Google,
Glassdoor and YouTube
• People tag others to see if they are looking
for work
• Everybody leaves reviews
• References
• You’re already doing it anyway – what you
post at the moment defines you – but is it
the whole you?
Why it matters, regardless of job

7. • You’re already a brand
• Up to you if you want to make it
work for you and your career or not
• But you need to work at it
• It takes time, effort and patience
• You could be the first in your field to
build a brand… or the last
• Starting right now you could easily
have a strong personal brand – and
who knows where that will lead?
WHAT’S THE POINT HERE?

8. • Ewan Spence
• Non-journalism background
• Decided to change
• Wanted to write
• Wrote about mobiles
• … and Eurovision
• No qualifications
• No family connections
• Started with a blog
• Now writes for Forbes
FROM NURSE TO…

9. FROM COATBRIDGE TO NETFLIX MILLIONS

10. • Mark Millar
• Guy from Coatbridge
• Learned from others
• Stepped out on his own
• Made sure media picked up on him
• Made outrageous claims to get people
noticing his stuff – but was always consistent
• The work was always mentioned
• Millar self-built a brand to build an audience –
publishers wanted the audience
• Had comic characters look like real-life people
FROM COATBRIDGE TO NETFLIX MILLIONS

11. FROM COATBRIDGE TO NETFLIX MILLIONS
How did Jackson feel about having his likeness used without permission?
Millar told BI over email what happened when he finally met the actor on
the set of "Kingsman: The Secret Service" (emphasis ours):
The first thing I said was I hope you don't mind me completely exploiting
your appearance in my book thirteen years back, and he said, “No, man.
Thanks for the 9 picture deal."

12. • Do a good job at work
• Help people when you can
MINIMAL EFFORT TO POTENTIAL BRAND SUCCESS

13. • All of the stuff from the previous slide
• Keep personal social media really private
• Remember 9:1
• Content should be 5:3:2
• Consider not having your name on
personal social media channels
• Set up social media channels purely for
work-related material
• Read lots and start to offer comments,
thanks and opinions, tagging people if
you can find their online details
• Go to events – network!
DOING A BIT MORE TO BE A BRAND

14. • All of the stuff from the previous slides
• Own your domain name – either your own name
or your skill ‘Glasgow plumber’ or ‘Scottish
cybersecurity expert’ can be as handy as ‘John
Smith’
• Grab YouTube and other channels while at it
• Think about what interests you professionally
• Use tools to find people of use – Mention,
Hootsuite, Google Alerts
• Look at what works and doesn’t work online
• What works in Arkansas may not work in Alloa
BRANDING AT THE EXPERT LEVEL

15. • Wear a kilt
• Eat dirt
• Work on having a slogan
• Do something just a little bit different
• Do good work
• Take chances, be memorable – but
always be able to back up and justify
what you said and did
• Take advantage of everything you can
HAVE SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU STAND OUT

16. • Use the keyboard
• If people look at you on LinkedIn, connect with
them – and send a note
• Leave comments on blogs
• Going to events? Engage with people online
beforehand so they aren’t strangers – but don’t
leave it to the last minute
• Do write-ups of events – and tag people
• Do good work so that others build your brand
for you
BUILDING A BRAND WHEN YOU HATE F2F
OR SUFFER FROM ANXIETY

17. • Don’t swear unless you have a really good reason
(and normally you won’t)
• Don’t slag off others. Criticise but be kind with it
• Don’t be inconsistent
• Don’t try to take on the world overnight (give it a
month)
• Don’t forget to say hello and check in with as many
people as you can
• DBAD
WHAT NOT TO DO

18. LAST TIP: DON’T BE THE NUMPTY

19. LAST TIP: DON’T BE THE NUMPTY