Personal branding
WHAT IS PERSONAL BRANDING?
Essentially Personal Branding is the ongoing process of ensuring your image or the impression you are portraying to your audience and what you stand for is consistent. By building a solid personal brand, individuals can become more visible and well known in their industry, improve their reputation, leave a lasting impression during online and face to face networking, and sell more to potential customers.
Why should you consider Personal Branding for your business?
There are many reasons people decide they need personal branding. A few great reasons to assess your personal branding include:
- To make it easy for potential customers to determine if they want to work with you.
- Potential customers will have an easier time differentiating you from competitors.
- You will likely sell more – by showing a distinct personal brand, you make it easier for your clients to choose you over your competitor.
Where Should You start with your Personal Branding?
Today people are Googling you at every stage of your career as well as your personal life. Great personal branding is crucial to a successful career. So marketing yourself and your career as a brand is more than just about a fancy business card, it’s about how you present yourself to potential customers, clients or anyone else important to your success. In today’s digital world that can be anywhere up to 90% of where people will be making a judgement about who you are and what you stand for.
A great place to start is by doing a quick audit of your search results in Google and taking stock of how you are seen online.
Mission
Your Blog
Social Media
Website’s
Images / Video
And additionally on any physical marketing material
Think about how you want to be perceived, for example f you want to be known as young and edgy is this the theme of your website? Is this the type of content you are portraying? The same goes for if you want to be perceived as serious and the leader in your field – is this what your blog says about you? Consider all the elements – from the types of language and tone you use, to the colours, photographs and the layout.
Some great examples of personal branding are:
Mark Manson www.markmanson.net – a self-help author, blogger, and entrepreneur. Mark has built his whole personal brand on being straight-up, to the point and some might say blunt. His material is definitely not for the easily offended. Mark keeps a consistent brand image. His regular readers could probably recognize his writing even if he didn’t use a byline. His posts are long, in-depth, irreverent, and above all inherently honest.
Tony Robbins https://www.tonyrobbins.com – most people know who Tony is. An American author, entrepreneur, philanthropist and life coach – he has such a strong online presence, you really get a good understanding of who he is and what he stands for. His message throughout is consistent and on message.
Oprah Winfrey www.oprah.com – who probably doesn’t need introducing is the queen of personal branding. Oprah sees that there are two essential parts to her personal brand. One is consistency. If people consistently see her act in a certain way, it makes them think, and in turn, alters how they act. And the need to be true to your intentions. She believes intention is crucial in effective branding.
The Main Elements to Consider
When auditing and reviewing your personal brand feel free to use our Personal Branding Canvas to help guide you.
These are the main elements you should be considering when reviewing your Personal Brand:
Positioning
What distinctive element do you emphasize in order to be considered? What talents, skills and know-how can you claim?
Communication
How do you become known by your Audience? How do you create a strong relationship with your Audience? How do you underline your Positioning? What is your message?
Audience
Who are the most important groups of people you target to achieve your goals? Who influences them?
Identity
Who you are – what makes you a special person in the eyes of your Audience?
Arena
In which category, market or context do you compete?
Competitors
What kind of people, services or products are you compared to?
Results
What results do you get through Personal Branding?
Investments
What you need – In what activities, resources and/or partners do you invest in order to successfully Brand yourself?
Do’s and Don’ts in Personal Branding
- Refer to yourself as a brand. Nothing makes people cringe more. Make your positioning statement a catchphrase. Repetition is a good thing, but too much makes you seem inhuman.
- Talk about you you you. Express your value to your audience. Your story should be as much about them as it is about you.
- Criticize competitors. The entire point of a personal brand is to separate yourself from the pack, but you don’t have to do it by putting others down. Focus on what you do, not what others don’t.
- Change your messaging every week. For your personal brand to become memorable, you have to be consistent.
- Use descriptive language.
- Tell a story. Wrap up your purpose and what makes you different into a narrative.
Make it personal. Put your passion on display. - Repeat your mission / vision statement. Research shows people tend to regard the familiar as good.
- Be consistent. Pick one or two ideas you’re trying to convey, and reference them on all your online channels.
- Do your homework. You won’t know what makes you different if you don’t research your industry.
Examples of Personal Branding:
Read about three successful cases of personal branding 4DP have been involved with:
Why should you download the Personal Branding Canvas and what do you get?
Our Personal Branding Canvas allows you to look at your business or
We can also help you personally evolve your brand positioning and create bespoke marketing solutions that change the way people perceive and interact with your brand. We can provide
