You’ve probably come across some outstanding personal brands.
Take people like Oprah and Ellen, for example. They have become household names.
Apart from celebrities, you have probably also heard of people like Raj Shamani and Digital Pratik who have managed to build exceptional brands for themselves.
But even if you’re not aiming to become a celebrity, an influencer, or an entrepreneur, having a personal brand is still an essential step to success.
For example, it can set you apart from a pile of resumes. Or if you’re working with a business or organization, your personal brand can help bring more recognition for the company you’re working with.
Whatever the case may be, it’s clear that you need to effectively brand yourself to succeed. Let’s take a look at three useful tips that can help you with that:
1. Be yourself
When it comes to self-branding, being authentic is essential. But what the heck does that mean? It means be yourself.
Everyone’s got their own quirk. Maybe you randomly burst into song in the middle of a conversation. Or maybe you have a really different way of dressing yourself.
There’s something about you that makes you an original.
And if you’re serious about branding yourself, now’s the time to come to terms with your quirkiness. Truth is, that special trait is what will make you stand out on a planet of 7 billion. Celebrate your differences and let your true self show.
Also, being your own self does not mean seeking something that you are not. As a brand or business brand if you are showcasing something that you are not, it is not going to help you in the long run.
Nobody likes a fake. If you're fake then you'll get found out, similar to the bad guy at the end of every Scooby Doo episode.
Creating a brand identity based on something you're not or on someone wildly different from yourself will be tough to maintain and almost impossible to do on a consistent basis.
Because of these reasons, I personally love Kangana Ranaut. She is very vocal about all issues and speaks her mind freely.
She has a clear perspective on things and stands by her words.
In my opinion, authenticity is credibility.
People believe and trust others they relate to; raw, scrappy, unedited, and vulnerable comes off as real, relatable, and true.
The “always-polished” image, and over-rehearsed presentation style comes off as phony, fabricated and trying too hard.
Putting up a super-polished, perfectionist persona actually puts a barrier between you and your audience. Everyone knows that even the most successful people in the world aren’t perfect.
So, when you try to showcase a perfectionist image, people’s B.S. meter goes through the roof. And if they don’t trust you, they definitely won’t buy from you.
Being transparent about your path to success, and vulnerable about the struggle and hardship you encountered along the way, make you human and relatable.
When used strategically and consistently throughout your content, brand messaging, and day-to-day interactions with people, authenticity is like a super-magnet pulling people to your brand.
2. Add value
You're a brand, I'm a brand, we're all brands, so make yours a good one. Be honest and authentic about the 'you' that you present, and people will notice.
Value addition is extremely important, and it must be there. When my reader reads my content, they should feel they learnt something new.
My posts come from my experiences, successes, and failures. I try my best now to share generic articles from google.
And a lot of times I’ve heard people say, doctors, artists, shopkeepers, and any other person out there cannot have a successful personal brand while also reaping its benefits!????
Let me break this down for you.
A personal brand is something that highlights YOUR positives and your services to the world - targeting your niche audience of course.
So, if you are an artist and build a strong personal brand, what will that do for you? People will start to know you and align their values with the values of your brand. They will start recommending you and buying from you.
If you’re a doctor with a strong personal brand (and mind you there are MANY - dental digest on YouTube that are my absolute favourites) people will come to you for appointments, you will be seen as an expert in your profession.
Or if you’re a shopkeeper, maybe you sell clothes and you have a great personal brand. What will people do? They will buy from you. They will recommend you to their friends. Your sales will grow.
And isn’t all this what any person would want? THIS is what personal brand does for all.
So why are you sitting on this gold mine? Go ahead and make the most of it.
Starting beings amongst your audience and try and Document everything
A great example of this is Udit Goenka: CEO of Pitchground.
He’s very active on twitter and other social media and interacts with other people's content in a way that people like him and his brand. He’s building trust by being genuine and real with his audience.
3. Be consistent
I’m a big advocate of consistency.
I believe that eating seven apples on Saturday night instead of one a day just isn’t going to get the job done. Eating consistently matters.
A lot of times people ask me to help them with Personal Branding for just 6 months.
Well, let me clear out that personal branding is not on a subscription basis. It is an ongoing process that requires equal levels of effort lifelong.
It has been from years; I have been building my personal brand and trust me this investment will yield you and me lifelong dividends. You cannot start and stop the timer for your personal brand.
I am consistently focussed on it and all my steps are towards it. Multiple opportunities have come my way thanks to my commitment.
So even if things don’t work out instantly, you can keep persisting instead of giving up. Start implementing these ideas now to build a prominent personal brand.
Consistency starts with optimising your profile. My first step towards consistency was making sure all my social media platforms are optimised.
Just like your website or blog, your social media profiles are a great place for you to establish and grow your personal brand.
There’s a good chance that anyone who’s considering working with you or for you is going to conduct a search for you online. And they’re likely going to check out your social media profile and activity.
So, it’s crucial that you optimize your social profiles and that they are consistent with your personal brand.
It’ll also help you gain visibility among people who are conducting searches for people with your expertise or interests on each platform. This can be a great way to network and expand your reach.
These are three of the best tips you should follow for effective personal branding. It is a lengthy and continuous process, so make sure you set out with a lot of determination and patience.
So even if things don’t work out instantly, you can keep persisting instead of giving up. Start implementing these ideas now to build a prominent personal brand.
About the Author
Branded Kavita is a Personal Branding Strategist, LinkedIn & Twitter Marketer, Content Creator. She builds personal brands of individuals through effective content creation, management & marketing. She provides end-to-end management of social media accounts. kvtgupta2011@gmail.com