Many seek to improve their personal brand. You may already know what that is. We often refer to brands when we dive into influencer marketing.
You probably don’t even think about your brand. Most people don’t think of the concept of “personal branding.”
However, personal branding is becoming more critical in today’s online world, where everything, good and bad, can be found forever on the internet.
Are you familiar with Google? You may be surprised to find other people sharing your name.
Do you want the world to see what you see in items that include your name? Should you “massage” your online record to make it more acceptable and show you like a more positive person? How do people see you offline? Are they able to connect your values and your business with the importance it represents?
What’s your personal brand?
Your online “signature” is the way you present yourself. Your personal brand is your unique combination of experience, skills, and personality. It’s the telling of your story and how it reflects your behavior, spoken and unspoken, and attitudes.
Your trademark is a way to distinguish yourself from others. If done well, your business gains fame like no corporate brand can.
Your personal brand, professionally speaking, is what people think of you.
Either you ignore your respective trademark and allow it to develop naturally, perhaps chaotically, or you can work with your brand to portray you as the person you want to be.
Your personal brand was a business card in the days before the internet. Few people would have heard about you unless you were a prominent figure in the media or someone who was the face of advertising. You are much less anonymous in today’s highly interconnected world.
Why would you want an individual identity?
Professionally, your personal stamp is vital. It’s the way you present yourself to potential and current clients. You make sure people perceive you in the best possible light and not in a negative, arbitrary way.
You have the opportunity to show off your talents and passions. This helps people feel that they know you better. People have a higher level of trust in people they think they know, even people they don’t know personally.
Why is an individual trademark important?
If you want to be influential, you need to build a solid personal brand.
Your personal brand makes you stand out from everyone else. Your personal brand can be used to show your expertise in your chosen areas.
It’s your unique identity. Your brand is what makes you stand out among thousands of others like you.
Millennials have a distrust for advertising. 84% of millennials don’t trust advertising or the brands behind them.
Distrust has spurred a significant rethinking of how businesses market themselves. This is why influencer advertising has become so successful in recent years.
Personalization has become a trend in business. This is simple for small businesses. There is no difference between a sole proprietor and his business.
Larger companies may find it more challenging. Some people do it well. Steve Jobs was a master of personal branding long before the term was known. He identified himself as Apple’s face. Much like Tesla’s corporate brand, Elon Musk’s brand may be more well-known than Tesla’s.
Business owners and managers must build relationships with customers before communicating the company’s message.
Tips for Building Your Personal Brand
It takes a lot of self-reflection to create a personal brand.
Knowing yourself is a great way to start a personal brand. Although it’s difficult for most people to describe themselves, they find it easier to express their desires.
Personal branding should be about improving the performance of your company. It is essential to identify your target customers. Your branding should be tailored to your target clientele.
This practice isn’t new. Business people have done this for many years.
Consider Hugh Hefner’s image for almost all of his adulthood. Although he probably didn’t know much about personal branding, he allowed himself to be the face of Playboy and led the life that his readers admired. However, he could not have led that lifestyle had he run a conservative company that targeted more politically-correct customers.
You want to be known as someone who cares about your clients and potential clients. It’s crucial to listen, engage, and find potential clients. A media monitoring tool such as Brand24 can help you be available, responsive, and present 24/7.
Personal branding should reflect your humanity and share the same problems and issues as your target market. The only difference is that you can demonstrate that you have a solution for some of these problems and are willing to share it with others.
Image is everything.
Even if your business is in automobile sales, you don’t want the image of a stereotypical used-car salesman. Cynical customers see companies as being all about sales. Personal branding serves the purpose of de-emphasizing selling.
Social media is becoming increasingly important. Your branding should include social media accounts on every social network where your audience is active. You will need to be open to friend requests as you don’t want your interests to remain private. Set up separate social media accounts for family and friends.
