A new Olympic sport made its debut at the 2010 Vancouver Games called “Ski Cross”. It’s frequently described as “Motocross on skis” with four skiers racing simultaneously, elbow to elbow, at an average speed of 65 mph. Skiers leave the gate at the same moment to race through a downhill obstacle course of sharp turns and big jumps.

Many times, the race is decided within the first three seconds. The skier in front has a clear route to define their course, while those left behind are forced to jockey for the best path from the trail that is left. This requires the athletes to consistently and tenaciously improve every aspect of their performance that can give them a competitive edge out of the gate.

Just as these disciplined athletes continue to sharpen their performance; your ability to achieve your desired success may depend on a commitment to hone one of the most crucial tools in your toolbox: your personal brand.

You’ve worked hard to establish your authentic personal brand: defining your personal mission, identifying what distinguishes you from others and persuasively communicating your brand to the world. Yet effectively maintaining your brand is the key to ensuring your brand is not mistaken for a commodity.

How can you begin? Cultivating your brand can start with the simple step of reviewing your online and offline presence for consistency. Do your resume, Twitter account, website, business card and other material reinforce your desired brand message? Do they link to one another? In this digital age, it’s wise to assume that your online persona, even on ‘secure’ social networking sites, will be accessed by colleagues, reporters or even a future employer – so make sure those New Year’s Eve photos are for public consumption.

If you build it, will they come? Defining your brand doesn’t guarantee an ‘audience’, but identifying the niche (or niches) your brand best serves can connect you to the people most likely to be interested in your message. Are you a marketing manager who enjoys giving back to the community? Your niche may be an association of non-profit professionals who could leverage your insights on writing brochures for their organization. Are you a sales executive who loves to run marathons? The local running club may be the perfect audience for your expertise in securing sponsorship dollars.

Once you have uncovered opportunities relevant to your brand by blogging, tweeting or networking – get involved:

• Comment on blogs: Become a recognized voice in your niche by consistently reading and commenting on relevant blogs. Your blog is more likely to reach a new audience by being linked back from those blogs you frequent.
• Attend events: Attend the conferences, festivals, and events where people who share your interests are participating. You’ll expand you network, learn more about your niche and identify opportunities to reinforce your brand.
• Write: There are countless outlets that will welcome your expert insights, including trade magazines, online publications, blogs, even your alumni newsletter. Contribute your ideas and reach new audiences by writing.
• Present: Whether as a conference keynote, panel participant or informal brown bag ‘lunch & learn’ teacher – become a speaker. Record your presentations for your web site or other personal PR efforts (including uploading it to YouTube.)

As you establish yourself as an expert in your chosen niche, continue to cultivate your brand by regularly asking yourself these questions:

• Can people locate me?
  Consistently updating your website, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, blogs and other profiles with accurate contact information and recent projects will ensure that your audience (or future business opportunities) can find you.
• What are they saying?
  The savvy individual monitors both what is being said about their brand, and what is what is being said about their niche. Social media tools and old fashioned networking will offer a clear picture of whether your personal branding efforts are resonating, and will help you seize emerging opportunities before your competitors do.
• Who am I competing with?
  Knowing the strengths and the limitations of your competitors will help you further refine your brand position and identify opportunities for you to deepen your expertise.

The process of cultivating your personal brand never ends. By applying these effective maintenance “tools” you’ll ensure that, just like the Olympic skier in front, you’ll have a clear path before you.