The power of personal branding
Started a new business and want to attract loyal customers? Recent trends have shown the power of using a personal brand to sell something. Creating an authentic personal brand helps you reach your customers in new and exciting ways. However, personal branding to many is a loathed concept. Yet, what people don’t understand about personal branding is that when used effectively, you can grow your business exponentially. Creating a personal brand offers you the opportunity to control your online narrative and to tell your own story. However, figuring out how to make powerful and authentic personal brand can be hard, especially when you don’t know where to start. Here’s some tips for building up your personal brand.
1. Get to know yourself – the real you
Let’s say you run a company and are an expert with numbers. You probably know all about the financials, marketing strategy, churn rate and also even your growth rate. Yet, how does your company fit in with your brand? Does your company reflect your personal ambition, your values, your intellectual attributes and also what makes you unique? By answering these questions, you can find your voice in a way that is authentic and connects with your audience. Remember, the purpose of personal branding is that your customers can find you, follow you and buy from you. In the age of media exploitation and sensationalism, trust between businesses and customers are at record lows . Further, putting a human face on your brand re-establishes that a human, personable element that will cut through the noise.
2. Establish yourself as a thought leader
Thought leadership is all about establishing yourself as a subject matter expert. You want to be known as someone that knows their stuff. This means your colleagues, competitors and potential customers will view you as someone they can turn to. You can begin your journey into thought leadership by joining professional groups related to your industry. Old-fashioned face-to-face networking is where you meet like-minded professionals and you can use this to build your authority. Furthermore, accessing professional networks enables you to keep track of the conversations that are happening in your industry. Another great technique to build your profile as a thought leader is to blog via LinkedIn, Medium, or other industry related publications.
3. Social Media is your friend, not your foe
Your personal brand and your business brand go hand in hand. This means you need to make sure that everything your customers find online about you is what you want them to see. Doing your own social media audit is a good way to weed out any past missteps and also curate your content. Go through your Social Media accounts and remove any post you don’t want potential employees, clients or business partners to see.
Additionally, you should consider taking the time to update your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is used by 575 million members globally and you can leverage this to grow your customer base. To make sure you utilise the benefits, make sure to update your profile in a way that matches your personal brand. Remember, you want a compelling and unique headline which describes you as a proactive and driven professional.
Conclusion
Building an authentic personal brand is a great way to use your online digital identity to build and also expand your brand. Taking the time to invest in yourself and your connections will ensure that your company’s messaging will help cut through the noise in the age of digital disruption.
