Personal Branding for Account Executives with Thomas Vanderkin

Thomas Vanderkin is Global Account Manager for Lenovo, responsible for some of the largest Telcos and Solution Integrators. Over the years as a ‘hobby’ he has also developed a wildly popular personal brand -  Vanderkinverse. His videos and reviews appear on YouTube, LinkedIn, and other social media channels with millions of views, and over 30,000 followers on LinkedIn.  Thomas began his career at GE Capital leasing PCs, then moved to Wachovia mortgage division, and then to the IBM Personal Computer Division, which was later to become Lenovo. He has held various roles in Lenovo including software engineering, project management, and sales. He has several technology articles published and two U.S. patents. In this episode we talk about how his personal brand came to be, why the content is so popular, and how his brand supports his career in sales.  Key Points of This Discussion Thomas’s background and personal brand How Thomas’s huge LinkedIn following emerged The business benefit of building a personal brand Developing a rapport with people over social media Tips for salespeople to begin and improve their social presence A deliberate approach to building a quality network Leveraging other channels alongside LinkedIn Tom asks me about my own experience with LinkedIn Tom’s final thoughts and advice for salespeople starting out on LinkedIn Check out Tom’s YouTube Channel here, and find him here on LinkedIn