For business owners, entrepreneurs and freelancers (and let’s face it, celebrities) building a personal brand is no doubt something they’ve thought about in order to propel themselves forward in their industries.
But you don’t need to be a rockstar to have a personal brand, and there are loads of reasons why you should think about building one (with no guitar in sight). In fact, in a world where over 92% of children under the age of two already have an online presence, you might have already have one.
What is personal branding?
Personal branding, as the name suggests, is the art of building a brand identity for a person or a company.
Basically, it’s how you launch your brand and its values to the world and guarantees that your target audience knows who you are, your values, and why it’s worth choosing you over competitors.
You don’t need to be an expert marketer to build your personal brand, but you do need to get used to marketing yourself as the best you can be.
Why is personal branding important?
A lot of leaders are put off by the idea of building a personal brand, as they think it will equate to a lot of extra work, and just another thing to add to the long to-do list. But if you do want to create a successful business, the best way to build authentic trust and advocacy is to build a successful brand that people can identify with.
1. It makes selling your general services (a little) easier
If you can sell yourself, you can arguably sell what you do a little more easily. Because most people are more interested in following other people than they are in following companies. It also means you don’t have to start from scratch trying to convince someone that they should employ you/use your services, too. You already have a foundation of trust that has been built up over time.
2. You’re likely to make more real connections
A huge win when it comes to building a personal brand is that you attract what you put out, so you’re more likely to draw in clients and other brands you’d genuinely like to work with, and do so well. To do this in an authentic way, it’s really important to stay true to yourself when building a personal brand.
3. It helps you stand out from the crowd
In today’s world where everyone seems to have a degree, employers (and clients!) are looking for candidates that are unique. By creating a dependable personal brand, you can make yourself the one they recognise.
4. It helps build trust
There are many psychology-based reasons why you might want to work on your personal brand and a big part of this is the fact that it helps people trust you. They’ll know who you are and what you stand for, and that you’ve got what it takes to be committed and dedicated to building something special.
So, now we’ve evaluated why building a personal brand is a good idea for your business and reputation, let’s get into tips for how to do so in the most effective way possible.
Tips for building a personal brand
1. Get social media-savvy
A great place to start is your social media accounts, especially ones you’ve seemed to have forever! This will form a huge part of your online (and offline) reputation, so you don’t want any of your posts to negatively impact you and your work.
2. Build your web presence further
With that in mind, another great place to start online is by building a personal website for yourself. You can use this not just to build your brand, but also add value to your audience, making real connections. And of course, selling your products and services!
3. Be consistent
Creating a digital ‘look and feel’ for yourself will be really important for consistency too. Your website’s overall look and feel are important because it instantly conveys a perspective to your clients before they even begin digesting any content. It can also be characterised as the website’s ‘personality.’ Your website’s personality should match the attitude of your business and your business objectives, and of course, your brand.
4. Define your audience
Determine who your audience is and create a content strategy with them in mind.
Post stimulating content that will pull in your audience and keep them coming back for more because your content adds value to their lives. Think about creating specialised, personal content that you can give your audience in exchange for their email address too.