Ryan Rhoten helps business professionals position their brands online, so they build a strong digital presence, in order to grow their businesses and their careers. He is also a speaker, podcaster, StoryBrand certified guide, and a personal brand marketing strategist. Ryan is also the author of the book, CareerKred: 4 Simple Steps to Build Your Digital Brand and Boost Credibility in Your Career. Marc and Ryan start the discussion with Ryan’s personal story, and the inciting incidents led him to become an expert in branding. They move on to a discussion of the DICE Method described in Ryan’s book, how to make it work, and leveraging your brand for your career. Listen in to learn about establishing career credibility in the second half of life. Key Takeaways: [2:41] Ryan has been figuring out his career like the rest of us. He mentions some inciting incidents that led him to explore the impact of career credibility on new roles. [3:56] Ryan believed he was on a well-defined career path. He applied for a specific promotion that had been assured to him. After a leadership change, he didn’t get the position. First, he blamed leadership. Then he started examining himself. He listened to a lot of podcasts. He heard the words, “personal branding,” and they hit home at once. [6:20] He researched personal branding, and found that the career landscape has changed, hiring has changed, how you get found has changed, and other aspects of branding have changed, all recently. He also found a criminal Ryan Rhoten online. [7:50] Ryan continued researching branding for employment. He learned skills. He started The Brand New You Show podcast, to interview intelligent, career-minded folks, and he learned the importance of understanding what your brand is, and using today’s technology to leverage your brand. You can set yourself up to be found by recruiters. [8:48] Ryan has to push himself to ask people to talk to him on his show, because he is naturally shy. But the worst they can tell you is, “no.” Ryan got a lot of noes, and learned a lot about himself. He also learned a lot from his guests. The knowledge he gained was the beginning of his book. He knew he had to share it with everybody else. [10:15] Performing a digital brand assessment is one of the first exercises in the book. Ryan explains what it is, the importance of it, and how to do it. You want to be known for what you want people to know about you. No one has hit 100 on the assessment, yet. [13:05] The book follows the DICE method. D is for Define. Ryan explains why people in the second half of life need to define themselves. Don’t think of yourself as a job title. Know and understand yourself. What are your values, skills, and traits? How do you work? Where do you work best, and in what type of environment? Take assessments. [14:36] Over time, your work values change. A younger person may enjoy travel. An older person may not care about traveling for work. Once you know your values, you can apply them to help yourself make the right career decisions. [15:47] Integrate is the next step. Do you need a personal website? Now that you know who you are, put yourself online, intentionally, and on purpose, telling the world who you are, and how you add value to it. Let the world get to know you. If you are not found online, recruiters will go to somebody else. [16:15] Marc automatically tells people, “No thank you,” if they don’t have a LinkedIn profile. Ryan points out sites like Glassdoor let people check out companies online, so branding works both ways. [19:28] Create is the third step. You don’t have to write a book to publish. You do have to create content that demonstrates your expertise in public, in some way. It could be writing, doing a podcast, or creating video. Start with the easiest thing, writing. Go to LinkedIn, and leave comments on topics of your subject matter or expertise. Interact. [21:20] Blogger Darren Rowse says just get started. You will get better as you go along. [2