Building your brand may be overwhelming initially, but it is worthwhile as it will help you stand out and reinforce the qualities you want to be known for as a professional. Beginnings are always tricky. Trust and credibility are of utmost importance in an industry that emphasizes people skills and relationships.

Joanne Palad, a three-year MDRT member from the Philippines, uses LinkedIn to build her identity as a financial advisor. "LinkedIn is an excellent platform to share what I've done and what I'm doing as a professional. It helps me keep in touch with my previous bosses. I'm glad they appreciate the work I do."    

She started to post her professional achievements to strengthen her presence further and maximize the platform's opportunities. "Sharing my career milestones helps build my credibility and branding within my LinkedIn network," Palad says.    

"With LinkedIn, I needed to explore how I can connect with more professionals without the intention of selling insurance but to build my network and help them with the financial challenges they are currently facing. At the end of the day, what we do for other people without asking for any exchange would be our branding," Palad adds.   

Some examples of content she shares on the platform are reshared posts with her thoughts and insights, snippets about the most critical career lesson she learned during the week, and inspiring client stories.  

Palad also tested various ways of engaging with her connections on LinkedIn to figure out what would work for her to close deals with the platform's help. "Activities on LinkedIn, such as reacting to my connections' posts, asking for recommendations from previous colleagues, and having a detailed profile with my experiences and projects, helped me gain clients on the platform as they served as conversation starters. If I see some connections like my post, I message to thank them. I'll keep in touch. If they share their work experiences, I can organically bring up the subject of insurance with them."    

She advises financial advisors to make their branding personal so prospects and clients can identify your competitive advantages from other advisors. This includes skills, know-how, personality, achievements, and uniqueness in terms of servicing and branding. 

"Be resilient, and don't be afraid to benchmark until you find what works. Branding needs patience, time, and effort to flourish,” Palad says.  

Contact: MDRTeditorial@teamlewis.com