Have you thought about your personal brand?
There are tonnes of benefits that people can achieve from creating a personal brand. A personal brand allows a person to self-manage their life without having to depend on others, it is an important part of a person’s career.
But “Why?” you ask…
- Creating a personal brand allows you to display a focus, create a specialism, it allows people to remember who you are for a specific reason, it’s your chance to showcase what you’re good at!
- You can build your confidence as you build your brand. You will find that you have qualities to share and value to offer, your self-esteem and confidence can ultimately only go up.
- You can build your credibility; people are interested in seeing that you’ve taken something from start to finish and have done what you say you will do. By maintaining a personal brand and keeping up to date your connections and network can see you that you do in-fact do what you say you will. If your actions and behaviour align with your brand, you will display credibility.
- You can target a specific audience, but keep in mind that strong brands often repel as much as they attract; not everyone belongs in your target audience. Communicating your brand involves speaking to the right people, not necessarily all people and this involves you creating an emotional connection and investment with your network.
- You can differentiate yourself; your target audience need to see what’s different about you and your competition, a personal brand allows you to show what’s different.
So now you know what you can gain from having a personal brand image, but how do achieve this? What do you need to do to create your image?
Well here’s some simple steps that may help you to get started:
- Have a focus – the narrower your brand is, the easier it will be for people to remember you for the right reasons.
- Be genuine – People can see through a disingenuous act, just be authentic.
- Tell a story – make a connection with perspective clients and co-workers, let them know who you are
- Be consistent – it’s easier to be recognised if you consistently create content around your brand
- Be prepared to fail – the tough one, no one wants to fail, things take time, not everything works first time. Just get back up, shake yourself off, and start again!
Remember your personal brand is just what you post on social media, put on your website and send on your emails, it’s what you wear, how you present yourself, how you engage. This is an ongoing process that will always play a part of your career whether you work for yourself, or as part of a larger company. Don’t pretend to be something or someone you can’t sustain.