If you are the CEO of your EdTech company, you are in control of your own personal brand. As a result, you should think about how you’re communicating with the world, how you’re sharing your company news, and how you’re networking. CEOs often don’t see their personal brand as a real tool for networking and business development, leaving the marketing team or business development team to deal with those vital tasks.

Networking for a Bright Future

The biggest reason to think about your personal brand from the beginning is to be ready for an uncertain future. Think of it like an insurance policy. The day may come where Huffington Post or Forbes or a major education publication may be looking for a CEO to do a guest post, or even a guest series, which can be an extremely valuable PR move. Those publications are going to want to see a body of work, and if you have this, through blog posts, speaking engagements, and hosting relevant discussions on various forums, you can be in the running. You want to be able to point them to an extensive body of work that clearly demonstrates that you are a thought leader in the industry.

Show Me the Money 

The same principle applies to investor funding. You may not think that you are going to need investor funding for several years, if ever. Well, things change and if you do, it goes a long way with investors to see that the person leading the company has a respected voice in the industry. The best ways to do that are through networking, joining groups, being part of the conversations, and sharing information.

Don’t Isolate Yourself or Your Company

It’s a good idea to follow like-minded people and other leaders in the education space and track the kinds of information they are sharing. This can act as a catalyst for guiding the you to come up with ideas. If a competitor’s CEO writes an opinion piece about a trend in the industry, write a respectful rebuttal if you disagree, and if you do agree, say so, then add your slant or take on the topic.

LinkedIn is a wonderful networking tool for the CEO because of all the different groups that are available. Having a plan about what you are sharing, how you are connecting with people, and the types of stories that you are putting out about your company or the industry as a whole can pay off down the road.

Remember, as the leader of your company, your personal brand is inexorably intertwined with your company brand. It doesn’t happen overnight, but over time, careful tending to the growth of both is key to succeeding in more way than you might imagine.

This post originally appeared on the MindRocket Media Group Blog.