You might be asking yourself, why in the world would you make your own personal brand. At this point in time, when we are living in the digital era, building your personal brand has never been more important. Everyone wants to be known for something. That is what you will showcase by having your own branding. Your personal brand is who you are, what you stand for, the values that matter to you and how you express those values. It mainly revolves on how you want to present yourself to the rest of the world.
Is personal branding important?
Yes, having a personal brand is important for the sake of achieving professional success, whether you are an ordinary individual, an entrepreneur or a freelancer. Gone are the days where only big corporations and large-scale businesses can have a brand. Everyone can have their own personal brand. People will connect to their fellow people and trust them entirely, especially now that you can reach out to anyone in any part of the planet through the use of digital technology.
Creating your own personal brand is not as easy as 1, 2, 3, where you just think of a name, a logo or a slogan. It takes a lot of work so you have to be prepared to immerse yourself in this world of personal branding. Are you ready? Here are some of the steps that you can start with.
1. Discover your life-long passion and what you want to do for a living
Dig deep and find out who you really are. What are your skills and credentials? What are your passions and interests? What are your core values and beliefs? Conduct an interview with yourself. What do you want to do for the rest of your life? What would you consider your calling? What could be your own unique selling proposition or USP? What will make you stand out? Start by listing down all the things that you love to do and determine the ultimate one that you want to earn from. You have to stay committed and be consistent with this decision. Aim to be the best in your chosen field.
2. Find your platform
After discovering what you want to do, find a platform that will best cater to your needs. Let your voice be heard and your presence felt. Would you rather produce video content for YouTube or IGTV? Do you want to infiltrate the trending topics on Twitter? Do you want to build a social page on Facebook instead? Or better yet, do you want to keep things more professional on LinkedIn? Use the platform that suits your interest where you are sure to create content for. Of course, you are free to use them all as you go along but you have to secure consistent usernames, URLs, and profile. In this way, you can establish the same look and be recognizable online.
3. Network and collaborate
As you start to build your own personal brand, it is important to grow your professional circle. Connect with like-minded people and industry thought leaders. Get to know those who are already experts in your field. You can probably find a mentor or collaborators that you can work with. Make sure they see the worth in connecting with you. Build meaningful relationships with those who can help you and those you can help. The more connections you make, the more your personal brand will be recognized. In the long run, this is also a chance for you to reach out to potential clients and increase your following.
4. Create your website and mailing list
As soon as you have built your social media following and have introduced yourself to your network as a notable expert in your field, it is time to lead them to a website. There are a lot of beginner-friendly DIY websites where you can start with, or you can choose to invest on your own domain already. The difference with social profiles is that by having a website, you can give it your all. Attract people on social media but lead them to your website where everything is there. To provide added value to their time and effort, personalized content and special offers by making use of a mailing list. This is also a way to generate leads through email.
5. Launch your own products and services
There will come a time when you need to finally launch your own products or services. Aside from the monetary reward, it is your credibility and expertise that you are working on increasing here. You have put yourself out there in the digital world, and now you have to level up by embracing your full potential. You can share your knowledge and help others. This will not only make a mark in the industry, you also become an authority in your chosen field. In turn, this leads to another cycle of constantly increasing your social media following, network, and website traffic.
Key takeaway
There are a lot of other ways you can build your own personal brand. You just have to know where to start and why it matters to you in the first place. At the end of the day, it will be good for you, for your entrepreneurial spirit, and for your long-term career. Begin with these steps and experience the effects not just in terms of branding, but also of how well you know yourself and how you present the real “you” to others.
Have you created your own personal brand? How was your experience? Did you follow the same steps as above or did you have a different guide? If you haven’t built your own personal brand, these simple guidelines will surely make you want to start creating.