Episode Summary
The way you build a personal brand depends on your personality and the goals you want to achieve. And today, LinkedIn is the most popular platform for presenting yourself and your views, promoting your goals, sharing valuable posts to let people know who you are, and creating a personal brand.
But not everyone is successful at building their brand on LinkedIn. Some people don’t connect with the audience; instead, they focus on how many “likes” they get. However, the truth is that these “likes” do not determine whether your brand is successful or not.
In the new episode of Rep Your Brand, Nick Bennett welcomes Liam Moroney, the SVP of Revenue Marketing at Notarize. Liam has more than ten years of experience as a demand gen SaaS marketer. Nick and Liam get into what makes a successful personal brand, identify ways to connect with the audience, and emphasize the importance of authenticity when presenting your brand to the target audience.
Guest Profile
- Name: Liam Moroney
- What he does: Liam Moroney is the SVP of Revenue Marketing at Notarize.
- Company: Notarize
- Noteworthy: Liam recently launched a brand new podcast called Marketing Revisited.
Key Insights
- Be authentic and let people get to know you. A personal brand refers to a person and all the characteristics and qualities by which he is recognizable and stands out from others. To create a personal brand, authenticity is key. "If you're not authentic, then why are you doing it in the first place? Because, at the end of the day, the whole point of everything that I'm putting out there is that I want the people who work with me and the people who hopefully will work with me in the future to know exactly who I am before they even meet me."
- Videos are very important for branding strategy. Although Liam thinks it's not natural to stare at the camera and talk to yourself and still feel like you're being personal, he considers it important. "If I'm thinking of my personal branding strategy, it's the bit that's missing. [...] I want to have a reputation where, when people meet me, they feel like they've talked to me before. And I think you can't do that unless you have audio and video."
- Never pretend. Show your vulnerability. While creating a personal brand, Liam never tried to pretend to be tougher or more perfect than he was. In 2020, he published his article 'What ten years of sobriety have taught me about decision-making.' "We're all going through hardships, and you never know what's happening behind the doors of someone's house. I totally agree with that message. The things I write are personal because I want to make sure that someone who might need to hear, 'Oh, yes, you're not the only one going through it,’ they'll hear it."
Episode Highlights
Text Content Versus Video Content
“Textbooks are great because everyone can consume them. No need to know them. They’re independently valuable. But I remember Chris Walker said this one time — firstly, there’s the risk that people can just take them, copy-paste them and then use them.
[…] The other side of it is that if your goal is to try and get exposure, you have to put your face on it because you’re trying to build who you are, and if they don’t hear your voice, if they don’t feel a connection with you, then all you’re doing is being a journalist and trying to write content that people will just read.”
“What 10 Years of Sobriety Have Taught Me About Decision-Making”
“I wrote the post, and I thought this is it. This is an accurate representation of who I am. This was a tough part of who I was. And I felt like it was something that other people may find value in and say, ‘I needed to hear that.’ And that was the whole point. That was the reason I posted.
[…] I remember when I posted that ten-year one, I was nervous as hell. Because I guess this is going to be like a Scarlet Letter. You can’t take it back and you’re forever and out going to be that guy who quit drinking, and you’re like, ‘Okay, I don’t want to be that.’ But I realized — no, I have to commit to it.”
Dealing with Stressful Scenarios
“The way to deal with stress is not to find some hobby. The people who create that stressful environment in the first place need to change. We need to build really strong gaps in the middle of people’s workweek, so they can take breaks. I tell this to my team all the time.”
Advice for a Rookie Marketer Who Starts Posting On LinkedIn
“You genuinely have expertise that is worth sharing. If you were doing the job, if you are hired in a role, and have not been fired by us, you have to be good at your job to some degree. But it’s also important to think about, ‘Why am I sharing it? And what is the point of this?’
[…] And when you start writing about it, you start to realize that there’s a big difference between getting lots and lots of ‘likes’ on LinkedIn and adding value to your personal brand. Here’s the real question. What are you trying to achieve with your personal brand? Most of us don’t want to have to interview for a job ever again. Therefore, it is your resume. It is the thing that you were showing people. I know what I’m doing. I have opinions on how to do it. I am innovative. I am informed. I am intelligent. So write about your job and the things about it that you know, and the rest will take care of itself. ”
