As the job market grows more competitive, the notion of personal branding has gained traction in recent years. It’s now more vital than ever.
But what does personal branding actually mean?
Personal Branding Explained
Essentially, personal branding is a means for others to learn more about you, including your professional ethos, goals, and mission.
We’ve all heard of celebrities who have built a personal brand. Consider Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs, and a slew of other celebrities and politicians. They’ve all built a public persona — their brand — that allows people to get a sense of the kind of person they are.
Beyond the hoopla, though, branding oneself is a crucial concern in the professional world. Because of the internet’s pervasiveness and the rise of social networking sites, it’s become critical for every professional with an online presence to mold and manage their personal brand.
Why It’s Vital To Develop Your Own Brand
Your brand is a representation of you that people see when they search for you online. It’s the image you choose to project in face-to-face encounters. For these two reasons alone, developing your personal brand is crucial.
Whether we realize it or not, our online behaviors — whether on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or other social media platforms — establish a searchable online personal profile. Employers and recruiters are now utilizing the internet to do job background checks and get a sense of their potential workers’ character and interests. They are less inclined to interview an applicant they can’t locate online, according to 57 percent of respondents.
So, instead of creating by accident, intentionally develop a personal brand for yourself. One that allows you to have a voice in how you promote yourself. It should offer you control over crafting an authentic picture of your identity.
While social networking sites help us interact with others in a social setting, they are also useful in creating a distinct brand.
How to Create Your Own Personal Brand
Your personal type should be built around simplicity. Make it easy to grasp. Because you’ll be “living and breathing” your personal brand, it’s critical that it’s authentic and true to who you are.
To create a personal brand, follow these steps:
1. Figure out what you’re really interested in.
Your personal brand should represent and coincide with your likes and hobbies. What do you wish to do? What characteristics and qualities reflect your enthusiasm? For example, market yourself as someone with public speaking abilities and ambition in your field of expertise if you want to be a professional speaker.
2. Increase your social media presence.
On social networking sites, create profiles that represent your interests. It’s critical to optimize your LinkedIn profile to represent your interests, talents, and goals. If you use Facebook and Twitter, make sure your profile and the information you provide on those platforms are consistent with your personal brand’s overall tone and message.
3. Create a strategy for yourself.
What are your plans for your own trademark? You should construct a development path for yourself that leverages and buoys your personal brand, just like any commercial or corporate brand has objectives, goals, and ambitions. Begin to make connections, make decisions, and plan career moves that are consistent with your brand.
4. Make up a tale.
The narrative is one of the most effective strategies to develop a captivating personal mark. It’s simple to express who you are and what you do professionally, but a dull description of yourself will not help you stand out from the crowd.
Consider what makes your narrative unique. Did you travel a circuitous route to get to where you are now? Has your career taken any unexpected turns? How have your life experiences influenced your career decisions? Your personal brand will be more engaging if you can bring more color to your tale.
If you’re looking for a raise or moving professions or fields, developing a personal signature is very vital. Building your own brand guarantees it will be unique.
Branding and Blogging
With the rise of AI and more sophisticated algorithms, blog and website content are becoming both more polished and more distant.
A professional piece of posted content may read smoothly and have all the right links in place. But if it doesn’t have a touch of personal branding, it’s going to sound hollow and condescending, no matter what.
That’s why content that includes a unique and exclusive personal brand is so much more effective. When consumers know who they are dealing with they are more apt to respond positively. That’s because they’ll remember something about your brand that is appealing. Trustworthy. Funny. Whatever you decide.
And once you’ve got that connection going, you can take the consumer anywhere you’d like.
