Crafting a personal brand to achieve your professional goals

The culture of work is changing. The gig economy is growing rapidly and providing great opportunities for both organizations and talented individuals to take advantage of contractor and consultant roles. Whether you’ve made the jump to independent contracting, or you're considering it, it’s important to understand the need for a personal brand, or, “Brand of You.” Once you leave the confines of a full-time position, you’re no longer associated with a larger organization or company. We’re here to explain the importance of establishing a personal brand and how we can help you create your own “Brand of You.”

4 phases for success

We address personal branding in four steps:

  • Profile Optimization 

  • Digital Footprint 

  • Skills Roadmap Plan 

  • Marketing Elements 

 We’ll explain each of these in further detail and discuss what they mean to you. And don’t worry, you won’t be working on these things alone. We have dedicated digital talent agents to help you along the way. Our goal is for you to achieve professional happiness. The process is built around our community. By working with others, establishing goals, and creating a path to grow and learn you can achieve the flexibility and independence you crave. 

Profile Optimization 

A profile is a summary of you as a professional. It may look like the standard, traditional resume, formatted digitally on a website, LinkedIn, or any number of ways. It’s your first presentation of who you are to potential employers and clients. By working with one of our digital talent agents, we optimize your profile for the roles you’re pursuing. In this phase of our methodology, a talent agent will examine your current resume and show you how it looks across multiple platforms. Then you’ll work together to plan out your profile so your skills are marketed to the right opportunities. 

Your profile should be dynamic. Some companies use an Applicant Tracking System (which we covered in a recent post) to manage the volume of resumes they receive. In this case, your profile needs to cater to the system with the correct keywords and formatting. Other times you may know that an actual person will be looking at your resume first. You can be more creative with your profile for these jobs. 

An independent contractor resume needs to be different than the one you’ve used for permanent, full-time gigs. It’s important to go into more detail about specific projects, technologies, and methodologies in which you’ve had experience. Use data and specific examples (preferably with measurable success) to demonstrate your expertise. 

Utilizing your digital footprint

You’re probably familiar with the term “digital footprint,” but may not give much thought to how it can boost your professional profile. Employers are actively looking at candidates’ online presence, such as social media, websites, and community forums. Anything they can find when they “Google” your name.  

These platforms can be great assets when utilized correctly. Our talent agents will craft a strategy to build a powerful digital footprint. When employers search for you online they’ll see content that complements and promotes your professional profile. 

Skills road map for your career 

It’s common to see business sites and publications talk about the “top skills” for the current and future job market. However, it’s important to truly dive into your industry and research the skills you need today and in the future. Technology, in particular, is susceptible to rapid change. Skills that were relevant a few years ago are completely out of date now. 

We know this can be overwhelming to research and track on your own. Additional training is often expensive and time-consuming. Our community helps identify the skills that are in demand, connect with you people who can support your growth, and find development opportunities.  

The marketing of you 

Marketing is essential. No matter how talented or skilled, if you do not present yourself well you won’t be able to get your foot in the door. This part of our process will identify the best version of you. We work to define who you are as a professional and create your pitch. Many professionals miss this part of the process. Our coaching will make sure you’re prepared when a potential opportunity asks, “What do you do?” 


Navigating the independent contractor world is a challenge. We want to work with you to maximize your skills and market you to the right opportunities. Check out our resources for more posts and tools to help you grow professionally.

Stuart Balcombe