The Road to Recognition is a book that details personal branding tactics from A to Z. Each chapter is previewed in this infographic.

1. 26 MILESTONES ON
THE ROAD TO RECOGNITION
Who knows your name?
The answer is all-important to your professional success.
Understand your brand’s all about
the real you. You, my friend, are a
brand. Anything other than the real
you won’t do. Discover exactly what
makes you fascinating. Build your
brand on your true strengths and
allow it to navigate your road to
recognition.
Establish and expand a list
of email subscribers. Own
an audience. Email is your
ace, the money medium. It’s
private, permission-based and
pervasive. Commit to developing
an email list and using it to
nurture relationships with your
subscribers.
Build your personal
brand with a
blog. Publish your
point of view. The
most important
personal branding
development in
the age of digital
media is the power
to publish at will and
express your ideas.
Start a blog and keep
building on it.
Design a smart and stylish
identity. Look good.
Everything you create
should be presented with
class and continuity.
Develop a tasty logo,
color palette, and design
standards that reflect well
on your brand.
Grow a following and lead the
conversion. New media is a two-
way street. You can’t have a brand
without an audience. Social media
makes it possible to develop a tribe
of followers—like-minded people
with common interests—you’ll aim to
educate and inspire.
IS FOR
BLOG
IS FOR
AUTHENTICITY
IS FOR DESIGN
IS FOR
EMAIL
IS FOR FOLLOWERS
IS FOR GOOGLE
IS FOR JOINING
IS FOR KEYWORDS
IS FOR
LINKEDIN
IS FOR MEDIA
IS FOR NETWORK
IS FOR PODCAST
IS FOR QUESTIONS
IS FOR
RECOGNIZING
OTHERS
IS FOR SPEAKING
IS FOR TARGET
IS FOR UNIQUE
IS FORVIDEO
IS FOR WEBSITE
IS FOR eXAMINE
IS FOR ZEAL
IS FOR “YOU DO”
IS FOR HELPING
IS FOR
INFLUENCERS
IS FOR CONTENT
Create content to connect
with your target audience.
Valuable content has
magnetic power. On your
blog—or in addition to it—
create an interesting mix of
content in various formats
to earn the mindshare and
trust your brand needs.
Assess how the world sees you.
Search yourself. Think of Google as
the business card the entire world
has instant access to. You need
to “Google yourself,” evaluate the
results and create and execute a
plan to look good in the eyes of the
searcher.
Your personal brand is the engine of
your career. It’s fueled by the content
you publish and things you do.
Recognition ignites it.
Ready to rev it up?
Here are your keys.
Offer what you can, whenever
you can. Put goodwill to work.
Don’t wait for opportunities to
come to you. Find ways to be
helpful. Be the first to volunteer,
connect people, or get behind
meaningful missions.
Lookup and connect with
the people you look up to.
New friends will open doors.
Influential professionals have
prominent friends. Seek out
leaders, surround yourself with
them, and find ways to be of
value to them.
Join communities where ideas
are incubated. Make your way
into social circles. Affiliations are
all-important to the growth of
your brand. Find groups you’d be
proud to be a part of, get involved
and make your presence known.
Position your personal brand
with some choice words. Got a
personal glossary? When surfers
go a-Googling, which words
will lead them to you? Build a
short list of relevant keywords
and use them often on your site
and across all your social media
profiles.
Master the personal branding epicenter
of the Internet. Cats and dogs don’t
belong here. LinkedIn is the social
network that means business. It’s the
personal branding epicenter of the
Internet. Take LinkedIn seriously and
learn how to work it.
Channel your energy into the
right channels. The web is wide.
Media is more complex than
ever and more vital. Identify the
outlets that are most valued
in your field and use the tools
available in them to elevate
your brand.
Connect with professionals—
and with purpose. Make friends.
Make connections fearlessly and
frequently—locally, regionally and
globally. Have a business card or
something of even greater value to
distribute. Follow-up and follow-
through.
IS FOR OFFERS
Offer your visitors great
value—for free. Meet readers
where they’re @. Expand your
email list, build relationships
and position yourself as an
authority by offering your readers
value-added content—or lead
magnets—in exchange for an
email address.
Turn on a mic and say what’s on
your mind. Get people to listen
to you. Top professionals appear
on podcasts and create their own
shows to capitalize on the format’s
growing popularity and because
the power voice offers for making
genuine connections.
Ask your audience to join the
conversation. Everyone loves
a good listener. Identify the
questions your audience seeks
answers to. Ask questions. Ask
people to tell you their stories.
Ask for their ideas. And listen
closely.
Point to the people that
empower you. Share the
spotlight. You won’t achieve
your goals on your own.
Privately and publicly,
recognize the contributions
of every person who’s
played a part in your brand
development.
Get in front of an audience.
The power of the podium is
undeniable. Public speakers
gain credibility as subject-
matter experts and enjoy
many networking benefits.
You need to step up to the
mic and share what you know.
Develop keen insights of your
target market. Who cares what
you have to say? Develop a clear
understanding of your target
market. Develop personas with
a focus on the needs of your
audience and their pain points.
Conduct interviews and surveys to
learn as much as possible. Identify your unique value
proposition. What makes you
special? Every meaningful brand
has a unique value proposition.
Though you may be one of millions
specializing in your field, you need
to develop and nurture a one-of-a-
kind point of differentiation.
Look into the lens and engage
viewers. Roll video into your media
mix. Video increases trust and helps
you come across as human and
sincere. It’s become easy to make
and distribute video. Look in the
lens, relax and let it roll.
Construct a home on the web in
your name. Master your domain.
Your website is the mousetrap and
your content is the cheese. Work
with professionals to plan, design,
write and publish a website that is
the HQ of your personal brand.
Keep close tabs on your progress.
Measure what matters. Your x-ray for
all online efforts is analytics. Deploy
Google Analytics and/or additional
tools to stay informed of how visitors
behave on your site and what you can
do to improve their experience.
Let no roadblock slow you
down. Shift into overdrive.
Zeal is a “strong feeling of
interest and enthusiasm
that makes one determined
to do something.” There
is no more essential
ingredient of a successful
personal brand.
Make a plan to achieve your
personal branding goals.
Know what you’re doing? The
development of your personal
brand is a perpetual exercise.
Create a plan for getting
started as well as a list of
proactive actions YOU DO
regularly.
READ THE BOOK CREATED TO
ACCELERATE YOUR PERSONAL
BRANDING SUCCESS
www.TheRoadToRecognition.com
26 answers
detailing the exact
strategies and tactics
accomplished personal
branders master
A roadmap you can
use to accelerate your
professional success
Insights
from many of
today’s best-known
entrepreneurs