Don’t Worry, You Can Build a Personal Brand: Just Follow 7 useful coverts.
The importance of good branding of the business is very well known to everyone. A personal brand is linked with you as an individual. Personal branding is very important and is considered an asset when it is done rightly. But the question is that how can you create personal branding? This article answers this question and teaches you step by step that how can you do this valuable work.
What is Personal Branding?
In simple words, Personal Branding is the perception of the person in the eyes of the public. Personal Branding is to create your personal image and personality outside the word and marketing yourself as an individual. When people talk about you in your absences then it is your real personal brand in the eyes of those people.
You might feel shy about thinking of yourself as a brand but the truth is that every person has a personal brand. What is your value in the eyes of the people? What do they say about your work? What did they feel in your presence as well as your absence? What are their comments? Are these comments positive or critical?
All of these questions are related to personal brands. Building a personal professional brand of yourself will tell about you to people beyond the sale of your products. This will help you to become a leader and expert in your field of work.
Examples of Personal Brand:
In the universe, there are some people who have lived life fully and have mastered the art of personal brand. They know what they are and they let the people know about themselves.
Gary Vaynerchuk branded himself as Gary Vee. He is an audacious businessman and he is not afraid of promoting his opinions.
Marie Forleo’s personal brand is her personality and motivational attitude. She is an example of encouragement for female entrepreneurs.
We can say that the examples of Personal brands can be found in abundance and the way people shape their brand is their choice of choosing the image of their personality which they want about themselves. Personal Brands may vary from person to person.
If we look at bloggers YouTubers, etc., and their followings then we’ll be able to know that their personal brand plays an important role in their success.
It is their branding personality that makes them branded and they are connected with the business in such a way that the brand of the business is considered as their brand. It’s their individuality and beautiful personality which creates the point of difference from the others.
The following 7 tips will let you know about the way of creating a personal brand:
1. Find and Understand Your Why:
Everyone wants to be famous but the question is that being a famous personality what would you gain? Why do you want your personal brand? When you have clear ideas about your brand then you’ll able to follow certain steps and you will get there.
What does Personal Branding mean for Freelancers?
Freelancers work mostly on a project basis so their personal branding is very important. Personal Branding means that they are trustworthy and credible. Their credibility let people hire them for their work. Personal branding of freelancers will save their time because they don’t need to find clients but the clients will find freelancers.
For Entrepreneurs and Business Owners:
Being a businessman your brand will contain your personal values and your purpose of business. For businessmen, the personal brand will include certain elements like typography, logo, and colors. But you must bear in mind that behind every brand there is a personal brand so behind your business brand there will be your personal brand.
Richard Branson has 11.3 million followers on Twitter.
He says “he is a tie loathing adventurer, Philanthropist &troublemaker who believes in turning ideas into reality”.
Using his personal brand he tempts the clients for buying.
People are mostly interested in your status and stories. When you set your personal brand then you make clear about your values, benefits, and purposes and this brand will let people know about you. It will develop stronger relationships with clients and the people around you.
Entrepreneurs mostly start more than one business in a year. Their one project may fail but the thing is that their personal brand lives on. So it is necessary that you must develop your personal brand before you start working.
2. Your P. I. E must be controlled:
Working hard and having great ideas is enough. What you do or what is your motive behind your work the thing is that you must control you P. I. E: Performance, Images, and Exposure. All these three basic elements need to be in your favor if you want to create your personal successful brand.
Performance is very necessary for the course of your work and you need to do the quality of work. Images are the perceptions about you in the eyes of the people. Exposure is that people know about you and why you stand out.
You need to focus on each of these elements. If your results are good but the images AR emotional fine then work on images. If your images are fine but exposure is not immense then work on it. Choice and care are yours! Be careful and clever!
3. What is your brand story? –
You should create your brand framework.
It must be sure that what do you want to be known for? You must have in mind the basic ideas of your personality. Before you start anything or creating your personal brand, you must know the answers to these questions.
For creating a personal brand framework there are different key elements :
Purpose of Your Brand:
You must find your ‘why’. Why do you go to work daily? What are you trying to achieve? So these questions must be answered before you set up your personal brand.
Core values:
Your personal brand must be based on values. What do you want to stand for? What is important in your personal and professional life? Creativity and Integrity? Discipline and Dependability? So these values make your brand very successful.
What are your Brand’s benefits and why people must believe?
A personal brand must clear to the clients that what benefits you can give to the clients. What are the hard and soft skills which you have? Hard skills mean applicable things like writing, coaching, mentoring, and speaking. Soft skills include self mentoring, self-motivation, independence, and quick thinking.
After this, you need certain reasons which people can believe and they can trust in your brand. You need to collect your awards, testimonies, and your practical works. These things will let people believe in your brand.
Certain tangible Branding elements:
Tangible elements contain the brand name, logo, colors, and fonts. You need to find the tangible elements of your brand. Online includes the design and colors which you use on your website. Freelancers create their personal logo for their personal branding. Personal branding also includes your physical appearance like your grooming, mental and physical health, your discipline, and routine. So be careful!
Personal Brand Framework:
You should create your own personal brand framework and print it out and then place it in the place where you can see it. Like a business brand, this also includes your basic purposes and values which you bring into your life by practice and doing on daily basis. A personal brand framework guides you on what to do and how to do it.
Unique Selling Point (USP):
When you have made your personal brand then what is special in your brand that people must work with you. You must compare it with others. Do you have such a skill that others don’t have? Have you such a sense of humor that others don’t have? You must be very clear about your skills and personal branding and set your USP in front of the people very cleverly and clearly.
4. Judge the value of your Personal Brand:
Now the story has been created, let’s have a look at the story which is being told.
Google’s Opinions:
If you want to know about someone then you’ll google them. Right? It is a pretty process and it is estimated that 70% of the employers use Google to know about you while 70% find about you on social media for the hiring process.
But what comes first, Google or Social media? If the images which are presented on Facebook are not professional then you need to do work. Are all searches dominated by your name or other? You need to project some professional pictures in which you want to see your contacts.
What stories do you want to tell on Social Media?
Now it’s time to review the stories on social media. Your profile might be full of such photos that are made with the drunk guys at the sports bar. What about cat videos? What about photos with the girls? Now is the time to consider your pictures which can be attractive and people might be attractive to you in the form of investors, employers, or partners, and clients.
Consider creating a separate Facebook page and strict your privacy only to yours or your friends. In this way, only you or your friends will be able to see your rants and selfies. The other big app is LinkedIn. About what content are you commenting on? Is your profile up-to-date? You need to consider these questions. The old and the data profile doesn’t make any good impressions.
What will your prospective client think about you? You need to consider this question and make changes to the profile when you find it necessary.
Do you know about IRL? How?
When you tell stories offline then it is hard to know about comments. You need to know from your friends about your stories. You must ask them what will they say about you if they recommend you to the clients. If they are saying the same keywords which you want to push up then you are in the right way.
Pro Tip:
Don’t try to behave in the shape of someone. Be yourself and don’t try to copy someone’s style. A personal brand gets successful when you behave in an authentic and real manner yourself. Pay attention to your physical appearance. Are clothes appealing to the audience? You might think that look doesn’t matter but most people get impressions from your first meeting with them.
5. Have you shared your brand story all over the world?
Now after acquiring a new look you need to know what you say and how you say. It is very important that you must have knowledge about how to say. Consider to create an appealing look and use your brand voice on every platform. Your branding voice can share your image to the world along with your clothes, personality, and physical appearance.
How to Love LinkedIn?
There are many social networks but LinkedIn is very famous.
Here are some tips:
Need to focus on Professional Photo:
It’s much great if you invest in your profile photo. You can ask your friends if any has the best camera. Good lighting, a neutral background, and a nice smile make the photo wonderful. Pouty duck faces or cropped wedding photos are not allowed. Whenever you upload a photo make sure that it is searchable.
Brand your headline:
You are more than a freelancer and if you are an employee then use such words that claim the responsibilities of your job. Certain languages can ignite the process of moving toward a new direction if you want to start a new business.
A tempting summary:
A summary is the first thing after the title which is seen by the clients when they search your profile. Now you can write about your framework in the summary and let people know about your skills and personal brand: who are you and what do you want to do?
It must be written in the first person. You can mention your achievements which can tempt the readers to contact you. You can add your email address so that people can contact you and hire you.
You can get recommendations:
People’s reviews will help a lot in branding. You can ask them to write what you want. Don’t be shy about what you want to write to them. People don’t write until they are asked explicitly.
Key Skills must be mentioned:
You must mention your key skills in the skills section. Try to shuffle the skills so that you can show the best skills at the top of the list.
Choose your social network:
You can’t select every single network of social media. Who are you? What are your clients? What do you want to do? These questions can answer the choice of your social media network.
Twitter:
Upload a professional picture that shows your bio completely and your post must be consistent with your purpose. Make sure that the key story is at the top of the profile so that people might see this when they visit your profile.
Facebook:
Create a specific Facebook page that might include an ‘author’ page or ‘public figure’. You must make sure that the ‘About’ section is fully complete and you have uploaded the information which is related to you. Link to your website, Profile Picture, and Cover image must be there in a professional manner. Let your personality shine there!
Instagram:
For those who are creative and fond of beauty, food, etc. Instagram is an interesting visual platform for building a personal brand. Bio and the basic information must be in connection with your basic purpose of the brand and your posts must be of the same kind.
Be serious about creating a Personal Website!
Being serious about a personal website is like being serious about your personal brand. It just includes your bio, CV, and contact details with professional links to your profiles. You can also do more than this by adding additional information, articles, and newsletter.
With a custom web design, a basic site can be built up. And be sure that the domain name is custom regardless of your route. (www.janesmith.com) if you are not an English speaker then you need to read the copy from a Native English Speaker.
Be sure that you don’t use a Hotmail address because it’s embarrassing! Gmail is common nowadays. For example, janesmith@gamil.com.
Securing your own domain name like hello@gmail.comcan also be used. To keep your profile updated and check it now and then make your personal brand’s success sure.
6. Be conscious of Personal Brand’s Presence:
Now you have stored all information and given the links to your social profiles. Now you must make sure that you are present most of the time. You must make real connections with the real people and if you don’t make a presence then no one’s going to know that you exist.
Be Relevant:
By commenting on other content that is very related to yours you can start. Don’t be sucked into the long controversial threads. 7 killer tips for a logo design, is an article which will be liked by a graphic designer on LinkedIn. Once you are familiar with this then you can create your own content. No matter which format you choose. The choice is yours! One who is fond of writing can add up a blog to his personal website and one who is chatterbox can also start from Vlogging.
Sharing beautiful pictures on Instagram can be very helpful and by consistent practice, you’ll improve and learn a lot.
Good Old networking is Required:
Be sure that you share content at conferences, talk to strangers, and help others. Some people think it is rubbish but networking is the simple thing-you just need to talk. When you help someone then the others will also do the same for you. Do Good Have Good!
7. Chase your Personal Branding Strategy:
Whichever platform you choose, whatever you upload be sure that you do with an intention. Personal Branding is the largest picture of your brand which you want to know about. When you’ll have a branding strategy then you’ll end up where you want to go.
Be sure that whatever you do should fit into it. It’s time to start now that people must know that thing which you want them to know about your Personal Brand. The image which they see must be the same one which you want them to see.
For more Branding Tips: https://99designs.com/blog/logo-branding/ultimate-guide-to-branding/
You can create A great brand identity for your business:
https://99designs.com/blog/tips/brand-identity/
