Your personal brand doesn’t start when you create a résumé, launch a business or open a LinkedIn account. It starts much earlier.

Every post, comment, search, photo, username and interaction contributes to a digital story about who you are. In this course, students explore the idea that they are already creating a personal brand simply by participating online.

The goal isn’t to make students anxious about their digital footprint. It’s to help them understand that they have more control over it than they may realize.

Students will:

• Learn the difference between a digital footprint, digital identity and personal brand.

• Explore how individual online actions contribute to a larger reputation.

• Consider how different audiences may interpret the same content differently.

• Identify the digital platforms and spaces that currently represent them.

• Begin thinking about what they want to be known for in the future.

• Create a first draft of their personal Digital Footprint Map.

By the end of this course, students should understand one of the core ideas behind Build Your Future Brand: your digital presence is already telling a story—so it’s worth deciding what story you want it to tell.