How often should businesses or entrepreneurs check in on their personal brand and tweak, adjust or overhaul? What’s a good signal that the time has come?
The following answers are provided by members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.
1. Regularly Check and Adjust
“There shouldn’t be any time frame for tweaking your brand. You should adjust it in real time when milestones, such as press placements and achievements, occur. As far as an overhaul, that should only be done if you’re going in vastly new direction or taking on a unique and ongoing project, such as writing a book.”
Rakia Reynolds, Skai Blue Media
2. Let Your Brand Grow as You Do
“Your personal brand should grow and change as you do. If you’ve had new experiences that have really contributed to your life, it’s good to update your brand to reflect those changes. I often ask myself, “What has shifted?” in order to reflect on where I am and where I’m heading. Your personal brand should feel authentic, and also reflect where you’re going.”
Rachel Beider, Massage Greenpoint, Massage Williamsburg
3. Watch for Significant Changes in Your Industry
“When you notice new trends or developments in your industry, you have to adjust to keep pace. Since change happens so fast now, you really need to reassess your branding on a regular basis. You may need to make changes to your website, emphasize different products or keywords or introduce new services. Watch your industry and your competitors carefully so you don’t miss important signals.”
Shawn Porat, Scorely
4. You’re Ready to Scale
“Whenever we enter an industry, we typically settle in a niche with room to scale. At each stage of our development, we create new product mixes or growth marketing strategies to capture more leads. Each time you pursue strategies to scale, your brand should reflect these changes. On the same note, if leads run stale, then it’s time to rebrand to resurrect your leads.”
Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com
5. Your Search Rankings Change
“It is time to adjust your personal branding strategy when you notice a decline in search ranking results on page one. A lot of personal branding activities that take place offline do not impact your results online. Be sure to tie-in keywords to any branding activities you engage in before you say yes, so that it has a maximum impact both online and offline.”
Kris Ruby, Ruby Media Group
6. Your Engagement Is Declining
“If you notice that your marketing campaigns such as email, advertising and social media aren’t giving you the engagement you want, you should re-evaluate your approach. This is especially true if you’re losing ground to a competitor. As trends move so fast, something that works one day might not be appropriate a month or year later. You need to constantly look for signs that it’s time for a change.”
Kalin Kassabov, ProTexting
7. You Find Follower Growth is Stagnant
“If you notice your followers starting to level off, it is time to tweak your online brand strategy. You should see continuous growth if you are doing things right: The market is large enough to see an upward trend month over month. If you are not experiencing growth, you should focus on doing whatever it takes to pick up that upward trend. Check in on your numbers on a monthly basis.”
Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors
8. Platforms Are an Echo Chamber
“There’s a school of thought that says that a tribe is a group of people that always agree on everything, and that the minute they disagree, they split into another tribe. This is untrue. In civilizations that declined, one of the first things that went wrong was that dissent was discouraged. When your content mirrors the thoughts of your audience and your brand drinks its own Kool-Aid, overhaul it!”
Cody McLain, SupportNinja
9. You’re Losing Backlinks
“When you notice that you’re losing backlinks more often than you’re gaining them, it’s time to do something about it. Sign up to HARO, guest post on others’ blogs and network with people at conferences to stay relevant in your industry. Businesses should check in on their brand a couple of times a week. I use a tool called Ahrefs to measure the strength of my sites.”
10. You’re Getting Fewer Requests for Interviews
“Perhaps you were getting invited for interviews and conferences, but those emails have slowed down. Make sure you’re checking Google Analytics a couple times a week to ensure traffic stays up. Keep up your content marketing with relevant keywords to increase your website’s visibility.”
