How To Use Your Brand To Make Yourself More Visible As A Community Builder

Behind every thriving community is a great leader who inspires, motivates, and organizes the people in the direction of success. Community building is a purpose driven career for dynamic individuals who desire to make positive changes and transform disadvantaged communities into thriving, flourishing environments. Unfortunately, there is a lot of work to be done, but not enough people to fill these positions. The only reason you might be struggling to find work is because your potential employers don’t know you exist. If this is your story, here are some tips on how to use your brand to make yourself more visible as a community builder.

Leverage Word Of Mouth

A community builder is a unique career requiring character traits that are verifiable. For such positions, sometimes a resume isn’t good enough. It may get your foot in the door, but whoever is hiring you will want to know more about you as a person. For example, are you a person of integrity, how do you handle difficult situations, and do you practice what you preach? This information is not easily gleaned from a resume, nor an interview, but the people who know you personally, can vouch for your character. Therefore, ask former work colleagues, friends and family members to put in a good word for you when the opportunity arises.

Advertise In The Right Places

This may sound like a no brainer, but you’ll be surprised at the amount of people who don’t understand this concept. As a community builder, there’s no point in spending your advertising dollars on a half page advert in a business magazine. Logically, this makes sense because magazines of this nature typically have large readerships. However, they are not your target audience. Advertising in a local newspaper is more likely going to get you more leads because the local paper is where employers look for community builders.

Network More Effectively

Even if you feel as if you’re doing enough networking, do some more. As mentioned, community building requires a different skill set than the average job. By networking, you are going out and meeting people face to face which means your connections gain a better sense of who you are. Your online profile might be immaculate, but energy is everything, and gut instincts will tell you what you need to know about a person. To be in the right place at the right time to get the opportunities you’re looking for, you need to be working the floor at these networking events.

Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization increases the visibility of your brand by ensuring that when certain keywords are typed into Google, your website/content comes up first. Most small businesses or solopreneurs never make the connection between SEO and branding because they typically don’t hire professionals with their marketing campaigns. Therefore, by utilizing this strategy, you give yourself a competitive advantage as a community builder. Search engine optimization is extremely effective because if done properly your content shows up on the first page of Google. And research suggests that the number one organic search result is ten times more likely to get a click than any other link. Think about it, when you’re searching for something on Google, do you go past the first page? Most people will answer no to this question because they click on the first three to five listings.

Volunteer In Your Local Area

The best way to get to know your community and for your community to get to know you is to get out there. Whether you’re employed or unemployed, volunteering ensures that you stay connected to the people. A couple of hours on a weekend is all it takes to make a difference.

When it comes to making your brand more visible as a community builder, think outside the box. You don’t have a normal career, so don’t do what normal people do. Of course, you need a strong online and social media presence, but don’t neglect the real world because that’s where you make the most impact.