People do
business with people. Personal branding is becoming increasingly important because modern audiences tend to trust people more than corporations Your
personal brand is the most important thing you own. Your business relies on
your personal brand. You can also call it your reputation or online presence.
What do you stand for? Nowadays, people live on the internet and you
cannot escape the internet and you might as well be dead if you don't have a personal
brand online. “The world pays no attention to those who have nothing to offer”
“Often times consumers, clients, and customers are not
just buying a product or service, they are buying an experience, a feeling, a
perception, a person(YOU) and ultimately the BRAND”
― Bernard Kelvin Clive
“A brand is a
person that has a voice, evokes emotion and spreads a message. Build a brand or
a brand will build you. Create your personal brand. If you don't build your own
brand, you will let someone else brand you with the wrong label.” ― Richie
Norton
A great extreme example of a personal brand would be
Richard Branson, the Founder of Virgin Group. We know about him before we even
know about virgin group. Your personal brand is more important now than it ever
was before — but that’s not to say that this means you have to aim to
become an influencer.
What do you stand for? A personal brand establishes you as a natural leader, makes you someone worth listening to and opens doors for you. Sometimes, I go through people's profiles on social media in an attempt
to get to know them but I see nothing. They write nothing on their own
platform but rather sharing only other people's posts.
They basically have no voice and no opinion of their own....this is
very detrimental and a strategic blunder especially for those in
business.
Let’s take a look at these Tips for building a
memorable personal brand:
1. Know your Purpose. We cannot talk branding without finding your purpose first. What is your
purpose? What do you stand for? Where do you want to be
and why? What
it is that you wanna do? What idea/business is inside you? Until these things
are out there branding is impossible.
2. Get
Your Social Media Profiles In Order. You’ll want to ensure that you get your LinkedIn, Facebook,
Instagram and Twitter pages in order. Plus any other social networks you’re
using to promote yourself or your content. This includes deleting
unprofessional images and videos from your Facebook profile, cleaning up
distasteful comments on Instagram and keeping an updated and active LinkedIn
profile. “Be cautious about posts that showcase partying, [or the like]. It
will only work against you. People have been denied jobs base on their social
media accounts. One guy had a profile pic with him wearing nothing but a socks
on his dick. We are living in a very sensitive climate and online tone can
easily be misinterpreted. Social media handles have replaced
business cards, so your accounts should reflect the personal brand you hope to
project to your people. Are you artsy? Are you funny? What are you passionate
about? What is your purpose? Your posts should reflect all these – your
passion, purpose and personality.
3. Be Authentic: Be the true
you; know yourself and resist the tendency to be too humble. Arrogance never
works but confidence does. Treat social media platforms and new connections
just as you would in real life, be human. However, be sure you are promising
what you can deliver and positioning yourself in a way that works for you.
Connecting on an emotional level will ensure that your message and your personal
brand gets across. Just be you, in your normal setting, talking about what’s
important to you and your development. Sure, you should present that content in
a friendly and approachable way, but you should never deviate from being
authentically you. Otherwise, you risk looking fake.
4. Be
shameless. You have to be shameless in building your
brand. You can’t be uncomfortable or water yourself down because you’re worried
what others will think of you. Great people are shameless, they risked it all
to put themselves out there. Mohamed Ali was shameless, Martin Luther King was
shameless, Steve Jobs was shameless,…etc. People who are afraid to build their brands do
so coz they don’t want to be humiliated or misunderstood….but then the people
who are never humiliated are those whom no one knows nothing about.
5. Build
other people up as you build your brand. Some people think
branding yourself means knocking other people down and tearing them apart. Bashing
others, showing off will not get you a good personal brand. When you say
negative things about others, people cannot help but associate that same
negative thought to you.
6. Know Your Target Audience. You
cannot serve everybody. Know your target audience. Identify the type of people
you want to connect with. Single men/women? Entrepreneurs/hustlers? Students?
Mom? Teachers? Parents? etc. Part of building your personal brand
involves knowing what you do well (purpose) and who you want to engage with.
With these two items in hand, you can begin to understand how what you share
and what you comment on can help the people in your niche. Now combine this
insight with what you do well and there is an opportunity to help inform and
build your online presence in a positive way.
7. Post
Content Consistently. The key to your personal brand is
consistency. Consistency is a must, as it helps ensure you're on people’s mind.
Your personal brand is essentially made up of the content you create and share,
from your LinkedIn updates to, to Facebook, Instagram and to your website’s
blog posts. Share content regularly that aligns with your personality and what
your business does. Over time, people in your niche will start to recognize
your account and your name and what you stand for. Sadly, some people never get
to post anything on their profile, they only share stuff from other people.
8. Embrace
Video Content. Video is emerging as an extremely popular
posting format. Your clothing, food choices, tone of your voice, and physical
setting all sets the tone for your brand. We are seeing more and more people go
life on facebook these days.
9. Network,
Network, Network. You don’t just want followers on Instagam/Twitter/facebook.
You want acquaintances who are engaged and informed about your professional
journey. “Be sure to engage on posts of other accounts with likes and comments.
Ask questions that reflect you are an out-of-the-box thinker who pays
attention to what is happening with their accounts. Add your two cents, put
your thought out there, help solve a problem, provide interesting research or
data, these are all great ways to build engagement.
Curating your own image and developing your personal brand
will enhance your life, no matter what you do for a living. It’d establish your reputation and an
identity and this is NOT about taking someone else's ideas and passing them
off as your own but about creating your own unique voice. Don't rely on anyone to build your brand for you...only you can do that by creating value for yourself and your audience.
By Nicky Verd
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Nicky Verd, a Prolific Writer, KickAss Blogger, Transformational Speaker and Brand Ambassador for Global Startup Awards -Southern Africa.
Her purpose in life is to serve, empower and ignite human potential. She is passionate about inspiring you to Take Ownership of Your Life.
Follow her on Social Media because personal transformation doesn’t just happen. It takes daily wisdom, tips and a support system.
"You owe yourself everything you expect from others"
