Everyone has some kind of personal brand, the difference is how much someone invests in their brand, while others are mostly invisible or localized. A personal brand can be interpreted in several ways, but essentially it represents personal marketing, i.e. the values you want to show to the public, and your customers.
But why is it so important? Why do you need to invest time and effort in your personal brand? How can you profit from that?
There are several answers to this question, but we can give you the most common answer – people want to know who they are doing business with.
On the other hand, giving a personal stamp to your business can increase the value of the product or service you offer. People will connect your work with your personality and the attitudes you represent. That is why it is important what your image looks like in public, what feelings your clients have towards you
So, we can say that personal branding is a fancy term for positioning a person at the top of a particular industry. Every professional has something they would like to be recognized within the industry. Because if you are recognized by others, it automatically gives credibility to your work and the results achieved. This is a stepping stone to becoming someone who makes decisions about industry trends, and the last goal is to monetize your status.
How to define your brand personality?
Defining a brand personality is the initial stage of building your brand. To do this successfully, you first need to recognize what makes you unique and why you could be an authority. The challenge for you is to place yourself on the market as a brand with all available means, systematically and with the help of all advertising methods. You have to look at yourself not only as a product for the market but as a product that has all the necessary qualities and unique sales characteristics.
An example of a successful personal brand can be seen in some Hollywood stars such as Lady Gaga. Her presence on social networks is so successful that a special course has been introduced at Harvard that deals with her marketing. One of her famous quotes is: You have to be unique and different, and shine in your way.
So what makes you unique? Around which key points can you build your brand? Is it your job or your personality? Maybe your inspirational words or professional knowledge of an industry? To set yourself up as a leader in a particular field, answer the following questions:
- What sets you apart from the competition?
- What are your values and how do you want to convey them?
- Who is your audience?
- What is your position in the industry?
- What kind of message do you want to send to your audience and through which channels?
Building a personal brand online
It may seem that in the era of the Internet and global communications, it is much easier to launch your brand. With so many online channels of communication and access to a wide audience, your voice cannot go unnoticed. The only danger is to get lost in the huge noise that is currently present in the online realm.
Wikipedia suggests several steps that are key to building a successful online marketing brand:
Step 1: Perform an audit of your online footprint.
Step 2: Remove threats hurting your reputation in search results.
Step 3: Create and post assets highlighting your best qualities.
Step 4: Strengthen your credibility through reputation maintenance.
Step 5: Monitor the results and tweak your strategy based on successes.
The internet provides a lot of opportunities where you can start with a personal brand. You can use the benefits of social networks, blogs, podcasts, etc. Whichever option you choose, you need to follow the key factors to successfully stand out from the competition and send the right message.
Uniqueness and originality
You will achieve this if you first define your goals and values. Introduce yourself to your audience, who you are, what you do, and what you are professional at. Try not to brag too much about your successes, but simply present them as achieved goals. Explain why you want to influence others and how you can help them.
Maintain a consistency
This is a feature of all successful brands. Maintaining consistency means maintaining the characteristics of your brand through all channels of communication. Whether it’s a profile picture, writing style, social media templates, or a logo your colors and images must be present everywhere. This way you will be more recognizable to your followers and you will avoid confusion.
Brand your story
Personal branding is not just about selling your services or products, but about how you came to that moment of success in your life. Your audience wants to participate with you in your journey. Try to add an emotional note so that people understand you and your mission. You need to give them a chance to connect with you, to build the trust that is key to maintaining your leadership position.
Build a Positive Impact
You are your brand, don’t forget that. Keep in mind the impact you leave on others, be kind to others and keep a positive attitude and helping others will only help healthily grow your brand in the long run.
Connections
When developing a personal brand on the Internet, in addition to your authenticity, it is also important how you connect with people. Your network makes you influential, be it followers, other influencers, and brands. The goal is to connect with people who can influence the further development of your brand or business. Build good and quality relationships, and you can create a group of people who have the same goals as you. These groups can be on Facebook or LinkedIn.
At a time like today, it is very important to maintain good relations and further develop your network of contacts.
Tell a story and let others talk about you
One of the best ways to tell that story is through written content or video. So, use your smartphone and create content on the go, post on your social media platforms and follow up with reactions. Be honest and transparent.
Also let other people talk about you and your story. Ask them for reviews and testimonials. The best PR is by word of mouth.
“Personal branding is the story people tell about you when you’re not in the room.”
Jessie Maltin
Conclusion
Building and maintaining a brand today is not easy. It takes a lot of effort, investment, education, and perseverance. The good thing is that today you have very successful people and coaches who can help you start personal branding in the right way. You can learn from their examples and apply the techniques they offer you. In addition to everything you can learn from personal branding influencers, the most important thing is to learn how to be authentic and unique.
As Lady Gaga nicely advised, “shine in your way”.
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