Here Are The 6 Steps You Need to Take to Become a Brand Ambassador

Becoming a Brand Ambassador for a well-known company can have many benefits beyond any financial incentives associated with the position. The opportunity to grow your personal brand is significant. Brand Ambassadors stand to gain valuable skills and experience that they may not be getting in their day job which makes them worth more to employers. It looks great on a resume, especially if you can prove how your contributions helped the company grow.

Brand Ambassadors also have an opportunity to network with new people that they may not have been able to meet had they just stayed in their day job. Obviously, these new connections can lead to bigger career opportunities down the road either with the company you’re an ambassador for or another company that takes notice of your skills.

Just a little over a year ago, I was named the first Brand Ambassador for beBee a new and fast growing social media platform designed to help people improve their personal brand.

Since then, beBee hired me to run their Brand Ambassador program. I’ve brought on a global team of 110 ambassadors that have helped grow the platform to 11.7-million users worldwide. Becoming a Brand Ambassador has helped me:

• Become a columnist at Inc. and Huffington Post
• Land speaking gigs
• Acquire new clients for my social media marketing company

If you’re interested in becoming a Brand Ambassador yourself, there are six moves I recommend you make.

1) Start Working For Free

I can tell you this is one of the first things we look for at beBee, and it is exactly what I did to get them to notice me in the first place. Start using your talents to promote the company and they will take notice. The fact that you’re doing it for free shows them that you are serious about joining their team and that you believe in the company’s mission.

2) Be Interesting on Social Media

People often ask me whether they need quantity or quality connections on social media as if they have to choose one or the other. My answer is that you need a lot of quality connections. When becoming a Brand Ambassador, It’s not enough to just have a lot of followers. Companies are going to be looking for signs of influence within your network.

If companies don’t see consistent engagement from your community on your posts they will not be interested in you. It was because of my strong presence on platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter that beBee first noticed me and showed interest in bringing me on as a Brand Ambassador.

Never post for the sake of just posting something. Be strategic about your content. Take the guy hanging off the side of a mountain in the picture above as an example. Let’s say he had a goal of becoming a Brand Ambassador for whatever brand of shoes he’s wearing. That would be a pretty cool picture to post to his social media to get their attention, wouldn’t you agree?

3) Create Compelling Online Profiles

Your social media profiles should have a cohesive feel and be visually appealing. Make sure that they present you as someone of interest and always highlight your top content. Having the right keywords in your profile to be discoverable in searches. Ask yourself, what searches you’d like to appear in and then make sure that your profile has the right keywords so that you show up.

4) Always Be Professional

Remember when you become a Brand Ambassador you will be representing a brand with everything you post or say online. Steer clear of posting anything offensive. Make sure your correspondence online is professional and be careful not to come across as aggressive. A company won’t want them to represent you if they see angry replies the second someone disagrees with you. Instead, make sure that you keep your cool even when people become disrespectful or begin to troll.

As a Brand Ambassador, you will have people tell you that the company you represent sucks. Sometimes they won’t be nice about it all. Companies are looking for signs in your social media history that indicate you will be able to handle these situations calmly and professionally.

5) Network Your Way In

Just like with any position, becoming a Brand Ambassador can often come down to who you know and the type of relationships you have. Start by identifying the thought leaders within the company and get them to notice. A good practice is to engage with their content by sharing it with your followers and commenting on posts.

6) Demonstrate Your Knowledge

Make sure that your posts showcase your professional expertise and your passion. Brand Ambassadors are energized thought leaders and you must position yourself as one for the industry you’re targeting.

Landing a side gig as a Brand Ambassador is highly possible if you strategically follow the six steps I’ve outlined above. Becoming a Brand Ambassador may just be the power play you’ve needed to take your career to new heights.

If you’d like more information regarding joining my team of Brand Ambassadors at beBee click here.

Originally published on my column in Inc. Magazine