#89: Aligning Your Personal Brand With Your Company with Tony Sousa
Tony Sousa, Vice President of Operations at RPM Living, and the most interesting man in property management, returns as a guest this week on Marketing Home, Marketing You and he’s more interesting than ever!
Here’s a glance at this episode…
What is personal branding and why is it important now?
Why did you choose LinkedIn as the platform?
How can creating a solid personal brand be a win for the company you work for?
Tips for creating your online brand/voice.
How do you come up with content? In the moment or pre-planned?
How do you not get overwhelmed by the interaction?
How do you manage your “perceived” brand with your current employees?
If you haven’t already, make sure to check out our previous podcast, “The Employee Whisperer, Candidate Hacker,” HERE. In this episode, Tony talks about hiring, recruiting, and retaining employees. This is just as relevant as the day we recorded.
WHAT IS PERSONAL BRANDING?
Ultimately, at the end of the day, personal branding is your reputation.
I'm self-aware and also aware of conversations that are had about me when I'm not there. I wanted to make a very concerted effort to be a part of that conversation and help build a reputation that I knew of myself and I think that those close to me, family, friends, and colleagues, knew of me as well. So I've strived to do that.
Today, I'm just so honored that people seem to take my message and become inspired for themselves to create their own brand.
What's important to me is that who I am in real life is the same as who I am in the online world. The things that happen, the accomplishments, the failures, the thoughts, they're all real. They are all mine. I just put them out there for the community and I've garnered so much support over the last few years. Radical authenticity- that's how I try to live my life both personally and professionally.
The result? I'm blessed where I'm at in my career. RPM is an amazing company with exceptional leaders and I feel privileged to be where I'm at today.
Why would a multifamily professional want to establish a personal brand online?
Having a personal brand allows people to get to know you better as you share who you are and what you believe.
People get to know your thoughts, your feelings, and how you think about things. Even sharing who your family is. I've been excited to help be a part of the narrative going forward that it's okay to talk about your family. It's okay to talk about your shortcomings. It's okay not to be perfect. In the professional world, we feel we can't talk about these things, but the reality is that all those things are who we are. When we try to pretend that they're not, or we try to hide them under a rock, it conflicts with our hearts and who we are, and ultimately it doesn't allow us to shine.
The biggest thing that keeps people back on LinkedIn is the fear of being vulnerable. The thought process is that this is a professional network and you don’t want to be vulnerable, because that's not professional. I'm happy to play a part in showing people that you can be somewhat vulnerable on LinkedIn. Be careful about TMI, but being authentic and vulnerable, in my opinion, shows strength.
“...it’s okay to talk about your family. It’s okay to talk about your shortcomings. It’s okay to not be perfect. In the professional world, we feel as though we can’t talk about these things, but the reality is, all those things are who we are. ”
Why did you choose Linkedin as your platform?
LinkedIn is a place to share photos, thoughts, and education. It's exploding as a professional network where you can have fun, network, and learn things.
When I joined LinkedIn seven years ago, I was trying to meet people and build my network in a very genuine way.
The company I was with at the time didn't have a recruiting department, so it was up to me to figure out and build this network. Great recruiters know that you fish where the fish are. LinkedIn was and is that place. I went to work and I realized that by providing more information about who I was, more people were drawn to that. And ultimately, that created momentum for me.
It takes some time to build confidence and to be able to put some information out. I recall reading quotes and I thought, “You know what? I have thoughts, I have ideas.” I guess we call them quotes. I started to put them out there on LinkedIn and I quickly realized other people had similar ideas or thoughts. I started to build on that with engagement and other things. It was exciting but it also takes a level of courage to be able to put yourself out there like that.
How do you come up with linkedin content?
There's nothing new under the sun, right? So we see and we're inspired by different things, and then you sort of take it and craft it and make it your own.
You just have to learn, and you have to observe, and then you have to try. And before you become successful, you often have to fall. Fall on your face a bit and put some messages out there, or craft some messages that don’t get the engagement you want. The next one may hit, right?
Sometimes we don't know what the algorithm world is doing. But ultimately, if you're putting out a message that's authentic and true to you, then that's all you can do.
Don't do it for clicks or likes.
And if it gets no engagement, learn from that- understand what your community and network is telling you and adapt.
A lot of people get discouraged by a lack of engagement. It's just an opportunity to take a step back and reevaluate the content.
“For others that don’t push or publish any content (it’s not for everyone)- just participate in the party. Enjoy other people’s content and you’ll feel a part of it.”
It's not about who can post the most creative posts and get the most likes and the most engagement. It's who's participating most selflessly in this community. If you're doing that, you're winning and building your network.
How do you manage your “perceived” brand with your current employees?
“The positive persona that I have in the world holds me accountable to being that every day in every interaction. It is who I am, but it also helps hold me accountable in real life, even on a bad day. ”
Tune in to the full episode to hear Tony deep-dive on the topic.
Tips for creating your online brand
It starts with identifying who “me” is.
Take some quiet time to ask yourself, “What means the most to me? Who am I? What am I good at? What am I not so good at? What do I love? What are some pet peeves?”
Once you know that message, when you genuinely do that with a very thoughtful approach, your message starts coming together.
You have to ask, “Who is this audience that I want to know?” Is it a bunch of professional people, your next hiring manager, or your peers? Get clear on that.
Next, start to join the party… participate, engage, and then start crafting content. Start writing a little bit, taking risks, falling on your face, learning, listening, and direct messaging. Learn from those who have made the mistakes before you and, those who seem to be genuine and willing to give you feedback. And really listen.
In doing that, give yourself some time too. Don't put yourself into a box with a 60 or 90-day plan of building an audience. It just takes time.
You and I, Barbara, are both 20-year overnight successes, right? It does not happen overnight. It really doesn't.
People just may have stumbled across us, but we've been working hard at our day jobs every day for a long time. So, be patient with yourself, and learn more about yourself, who you are, and the message you want to communicate to the world. And then, be you and go out there and accomplish that.
JOIN US AT THE APARTMENTALIZE CONFERENCE 2023
Tony Sousa and Barbara Savona will present on the topic Branding Your Most Valuable Asset: YOU! Will we see you there? Register here.
MORE ABOUT TONY
As Vice President of Operations at RPM Living, Tony has extensive and diverse multifamily experience. Combine that with his unique background as a TV journalist and his passion for people, operations, technology, culture, wearing crocs, and his family, and you get a respected industry thought leader with a unique perspective. Tony is currently on the San Antonio Apartment Association (SAAA) Board of Directors and educator and speaker for the Real Estate Council San Antonio (RECSA).
>>Connect with Tony on LinkedIn.
This is our last episode of 2022. I wanted to make sure we end it on a bang. So this is the best way to do it - with Tony Sousa!
If you'd like to submit a question or suggestion for an upcoming interview, join our membership at trysproutfree.com, free of charge. You will also get access to our monthly marketing magazine. You can also DM me on Instagram @sproutmarketing or message me on LinkedIn at Barbara S.