I don't chase, I attract: how to make your personal brand visible online
Say it with me… I don’t chase, I attract 🕯️
LinkedIn can feel like a minefield, whether you’re starting out or have a few years of experience - but there are a few things you can do as a standard you can do to make the hard work all worthwhile.
Grab your notepad, a pen, and take notes if you find anything useful (I hope you do)…
As we’ll be looking at:
⚡Positioning yourself as a thought leader.
⚡Optimising your profile and becoming discoverable.
⚡Utilising organic SEO on your profile.
Because how are you going to attract without these important things?!
Who they gonna call? YOU!
The Oxford dictionary describes a thought leader to be “a person whose views on a subject are important and have a strong influence” - but to me, a thought leader is someone who lives and breathes their unique point of view (through both who they are and the content they share).
The term is popular on LinkedIn with various thought leaders (in their niche) building a growing community - including…
👀 Steven Bartlett - for his entrepreneurship, business growth, and personal development content.
👀 Amelia Sordell - for her authentic founder-led content and personal branding expertise.
👀 Ben Francis MBE - for his transparent storytelling, business/personal growth insights, and goal-setting content.
So, Allanah… how do I become a thought-leader?
Define your niche and understand your audience: identify what YOU want to be KNOWN for in the industry of your choice and truly understand the audience that your content will attract. By "understand," I mean… What are they engaging with? What do they already know? What are their pain points?
🔌 Subtle plug but my previous blog has some recommendations to help you with this!
Create content that has VALUE: no more shouting about how you’ve done this or that, without actually giving anyone any value-adding advice to do the same. Experiment with a mix of multimedia (text-based posts, static imagery, carousels, or video), share insights, and give your own opinion.
Invest time into you by optimising your profile: get creative! LinkedIn is no longer a solely corporate platform. Experiment with your taglines, show personality in your 'About' section, and add some creativity to your profile picture/banner. Your profile should be a reflection of YOU – from your tone of voice to your colours and imagery. (We’ll dive into this more below…)
Be SEEN on social: though LinkedIn isn’t ONLY about job hunting, profiles that are optimised are 40x more likely to receive opportunities. Now flip that on its head and think about it in terms of brand opportunities…
Now I’ve got your attention and the fact that we COULD talk about this for FOREVERRR…
Here’s a few (unique) tips and tricks to optimise your profile because you should have done this like yesterday.
Add a bit of you: and what I mean by this is to take the corporate OUT. I want to be able to visit your profile and get a sense of WHO you are - from your tone of voice, to colours, imagery etc. Your online presence should be an extension of your offline one. So get creative in your headline, 'About' section, etc. Show some personality!
Get informational: tell me WHO you are, what you do, what you’ve done and more! The nitty gritty you don’t think is relevant, I want to know.
A lot of people forget to add qualifications, skills, volunteering, certifications, or even details about their day-to-day roles in their experience section – but these details help not only employers but also brands and connections to get a sense of who you are.
Spruce it up: add some of your favourite or most informational posts to your ‘Featured’ section, ask for recommendations, and add a link to external content. 👀
Okay, you’ve got me.
Let me share my MOST important tip with you:
Be discoverable: And what I mean by this: is make contacting you EASY. You might be limiting yourself to brand or job opportunities simply because some people might not be able to direct message you.
By creating a FREE Linktree, I’ve seen my inbound leads for partnership opportunities increase dramatically. It’s also a great place to host your social proof (aka blogs, articles, webinars, credentials, etc.).
But I’m just the social girly…
Is what I thought too! But you can implement organic SEO into your profile to increase profile views, impressions, and discoverability.
Hubspot suggests that social media SEO allows you to optimise your social profiles so you can better attract potential customers through search. We’ve already touched on profile optimisation, but let’s dive a bit deeper…
⚡ Use relevant keywords throughout your profile and content: Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool is great for suggesting keywords relevant to your content. Plug them in where applicable to improve reach. You can also add ALT text to images on social media to make your content more accessible.
⚡ Re-purpose content across platform: not only does this help limit marketing waste (a piece of content being used once and forgotten about), but it also helps establish authority across platforms through synergy. Only want to post on one platform? That’s fine! See if you can repurpose a well-performing post into a video or a newsletter.
⚡ Build a community not a following: whether you’re a brand or a creator, this is a MUST. Two-way interaction doesn’t just boost your visibility in the platform’s algorithm – it also creates valuable connections that will benefit you. More mentions = more eyes on you.
My holy grails:
Now it wouldn’t be fair if I brain dumped all this information on you and let you fend for yourself!
Here are some of my top resources for all things optimising, discoverability, and SEO:
⚡[Linktree] Create your FREE Linktree
⚡[LinkedIn Blog] Establish Yourself as a Thought Leader on LinkedIn With These Steps
⚡[Hubspot Blog] Social Media SEO: 10 Social Media Strategies to Boost SEO
⚡[SEO] Semrush Keyword Magic Tool
To cut the story short:
If you’ve read my entire blog – thanks for staying around! Here’s a quick-fire recap:
⚡ Define your niche, understand your audience, create content that has value, and invest in yourself – and you’ll be well on your way to thought leader status.
⚡ When optimising your profile… add personality, provide detailed information, spruce up your page with featured content, and make yourself discoverable (hello, Linktree!).
⚡ Social media SEO is in, and you can jump on the bandwagon by using relevant keywords, repurposing content, and fostering a community, not just a following.
Digital Marketing Executive and Top 2025
Marketer to Watch
