The Importance of Having a Personal Brand
In the world of business, having an effective personal brand is crucial. A personal brand can help you establish credibility, build trust and develop relationships with clients and colleagues. What's more, it will give your business a competitive edge in the marketplace by differentiating it from other businesses.
With all these benefits to reap from building your own personal brand, why not jump on board? These are some tips for developing your own unique identity online so that you can build buzz around who you are as a person and what matters to you.
Build a foundation for your brand
In order to build a strong personal brand, you must first identify who you are and what you stand for. With that foundation in place, it's much easier to build your brand by leveraging the things that make you unique.
Here's how to define your brand:
Define yourself as an expert (in your specific field) in whatever industry or topic area comes naturally to you.
Know who your target audience is and create content that speaks directly to them. If they don't already know about what makes you different, teach them! They'll appreciate the value of what makes your work special and crave more from there on out.
Know who you want to reach
Maybe you've already thought about this, but it's worth repeating: You need to know who you want to reach.
If you don't know your target audience, how can you expect to create content that is relevant and resonant with them? If you don't know your core competencies, how can you create a brand that communicates the right message about what makes you special?
And if all this seems too complicated, then at least take some time to think about what kind of things matter to you and how you can be of service to those connecting with you, and what do you want out of life? If everyone else knows where they're going, why shouldn't you?
Be genuine
You’re not a robot. You have feelings and a personality, and it’s okay to show them! Be authentic, be genuine and be yourself.
You don’t have to put on an act or pretend to be someone you aren’t - you can still be your goofy self but also be professional at the same time. In fact, people will respect you more for being real than if they thought you were putting on an act for their benefit.
How do you do this?
If there are things that make you uncomfortable or nervous about your appearance, try changing things up a bit so that it feels right for you!
Share your story
Share your story, your journey - how you got to where you are.
Be authentic. There’s a difference between being honest and sharing the full picture of who you are, including both your strengths and weaknesses. Being honest is key to sharing your values so others can see what they mean, but don’t be afraid to share the full story because it may not always be easy or pretty - but that’s what makes you human!
Share your passion. What do you care about? What drives you? Why should someone pay attention to what you have to say? Your mission will help provide guidance on this point; however, if there isn't already a mission statement or slogan written down somewhere (which there probably isn't), take some time now to think about how others might describe your brand (you!) in two sentences or less: "They’re all about X!" "They’re here for Y!" etc...
Share your expertise and knowledge. If people want advice from you because you know something better than everyone else does, then make sure they understand why! The more specific this becomes (e.g., "I'm an expert at X because I've been doing it longer than most anyone else.") the better off everyone will be when making decisions based on these recommendations: friends buying houses together; co-workers deciding whether they should take that next job offer from another company; family members looking for advice from their parents before going back home after college graduation... they'll all benefit from having known where their trusted advisor stands on certain issues before getting themselves into any trouble along those lines down the road."
Create a strategy
A strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve specific goals. It involves identifying what you want and then finding the best way to achieve it; this may well include making important decisions and taking advantage of opportunities as they arise.
It’s important that you create your own personal brand strategy because, in doing so, you will be able to make better use of your resources (time, money and knowledge) than if you don’t have one at all or rely on someone else to come up with something for you.
Consistency is everything
When you're first starting out, consistency is especially important. You want to show your potential audience that you're reliable and trustworthy, so they'll keep coming back for more. Consistently creating content that's good enough for them to share with their friends will help build trust! And once you've earned their trust, it'll be easier for those new people to trust you as well - and then all of a sudden, everyone knows who I am!
The more people know about me, the better my chances are at gaining influence in this industry - and the higher-paying clients will come knocking on my door. The trick here is going from an unknown person into someone who can talk to whatever they’re passionate about and demonstrate their knowledge because people respect that.
Focus on service
Focus on your audience - how can you help them?
Your audience is the most important part of your strategy and should be treated as such. Every interaction with your audience, whether in person or online, should be focused on providing them with knowledge, great service and support. Your audience is unique; they have their own preferences, needs, desires, etc., so the more you understand their needs the more you can provide them with solutions - you and your knowledge!
Conclusion
Now that you know what it takes to build a personal brand and how important it is, make sure that you focus on your own. It’s easy to get caught up in your business or start the next big thing in your industry without taking care of yourself first. The people in your business need you to be the full expression of who you are as well, it will build trust and it will be easier to for them to understand why you make the decisions you make.
