Personal branding is overwhelming. As someone who focuses on digital presence management for my clients, partners and myself I can honestly say that it is truly exhausting at times. The following is a true story, and one that you can learn from!

Awhile back I got firsthand experience of the overwhelming nature of all this on a personal branding project, specifically focusing on media management, with one of my clients. This client was an extremely successful independent insurance brokerage in Eastern Canada. They are well-known, well respected, intelligent and innovative. The purpose of our session was to focus on their branding strategy for both their specialties and employees. They have some very specific niches, such as ski resorts, summer resorts, rafting programs, and golf and country clubs, and they are seen as experts in those areas. The CEO’s desire was to expand their presence in those spaces and to promote the individual expertise of their employees in those areas.

I had worked with this brokerage for several years. This brokerage had sat through countless online sessions, calls, and live presentations about branding and brand management. They had heard the advisor team discuss branding and the importance of it in an organization and individuals. We didn’t have to work on selling the importance of this to her. She and the organization understood the concept and had bought in. As we discussed their current situation and desired end in mind, I could tell that the CEO was struggling a bit. She was very agreeable with what we were discussing, yet she seemed a bit frustrated.

At one point she stopped me and said, “I completely buy-in to all of this, and I know branding and media management is crucial to our success in these niches, but it’s a beast. Seriously, it’s just a beast.” It was pretty clear that she was overwhelmed. She was a victim of the overwhelming nature of branding in general. There are so many ways to manage this online and offline, as well as things seemingly outside of your control – like what other people post or say about you. The massive amount of information (some coming from our messages over the years) and items to implement became an overwhelming and complex list of things to do.

I quickly pumped the breaks on the conversation and suggested that we ‘eat this elephant one bite at a time.’ We began looking at the current brand of the brokerage firm and the employees in the marketplace. Then we determined the best-case scenario and their future brand items. After establishing that clarity, we built out specific action items. They now had a plan with prioritized action items and a clear vision of how to implement—one bite at a time.

This short story makes branding seem doable, and it can be—with a plan. However, this “beast,” as our client put it, is big. And worse, it has teeth. The whole idea of branding can include easily managed items, short-term fixes, long-term strategies, future strategies, tactics that take time and resources, media, social media and the complexity that brings, images, videos, thirty-second commercials or elevator speeches, the way you dress, items that support the brand, items that destroy it, trying to align with your organization’s brand, and managing it with clients, employees, key contacts, etc. Breathe.

The trick to taming this beast is to determine your powerful brand items, manage what people think of you proactively (we will discuss how), and do this by focusing on the key items to communicate your brand. You don’t have to do everything, or even emulate what your competitors are doing. You just have to continue to adjust your strategy to discover what works best for you.

As an insurance professional, you have a great opportunity to differentiate yourself and create a powerful personal brand. Download our free eBook, “The Insurer’s Guide to Crushing it on Social Media.” This is a case study and colorful examples of 4 of your peers doing a great job of brand management online.

If you are looking for an additional resource to help you craft a powerful personal branding strategy, then click here! My book, “Brand Aid” is available for pre-order now ahead of the January 7th publishing date.