What are some of the common mistakes to avoid when using personal branding tools?

One of my colleagues shared with me something so fundamental to personal branding I did, but few people do. I wanted my name to be associated with and remembered for your expertise and value. I've made my work easily found and quickly accessible for "career" and "job search" and took the guesswork out of the search. Before starting a business, I researched my name on Google using "Mark Dyson." Since there were a few people with my name, but didn't want to be associated with them, I searched and eventually used "Mark Anthony Dyson." I use it on most platforms more than a decade later. Twitter was the exception where I used @MarkADyson because of the character count. I use Mark Anthony Dyson for conferences, speaking, podcasts, or media.

I understand the importance of having a clear goal and understanding your target audience, but I also believe that when it comes to personal brands, the more authentic, the more well received you are. for example, if you’re somebody who just likes to talk about business and share your opinions on LinkedIn socially, you might not be that strategic about it and be fine. Just wanted to point that out, too.

It’s tempting to see clarifying your goal, or narrowing down who you want to reach and serve, as limiting yourself. Know that in reality, you’re already limited. You’re one person, and while your talent is endless, your resources are finite. “Helping everyone” as an idea feels good, maybe even plentiful. But you don’t have enough help for everyone. Worse, you don’t have the cash or manpower to share your message with "everyone" ...unless you’re Coca-Cola, which spends $4M annually to do just that. Focusing in and defining your brand goals isn’t an act of limitation It’s an exercise in recognizing what’s actually possible and harnessing that reality for its highest potential.

Clear objectives in personal branding act as a compass, guiding your actions towards meaningful impact. Without them, even the best tools can lead you astray.

You can't be authentic without being self-aware. Take the time to uncover your secret sauce, motivators, and distinct combination of emotional intelligence. You can use personality assessments or dive into a book like YouMap.

A lot of people nowadays are saying that the word authentic is cliché, but I don’t think that means we should stop aspiring to be authentic. I think it means doing our best to be as authentically us as we can be because inauthentic people are always found out eventually. So long as you are being true to yourself, no one can accuse you of being a fraud.

Consistency is SO important as you'll want to be known by your NICHE, target audience as THE go-to resource/expert in ______. If you cannot get narrow enough to address the bullseye, try again! Make it easy for "your people" to recognize and respond favorably to whatever you put out there. Don't try to please EVERYONE with your image, wording, style etc. My street-smart approach encourages folks to join in, have fun and learn without feeling more overwhelmed. Instead, every program delivers on one key promise...desired, shared outcomes. We KNOW what folks want and work backwards from the end result. So they say "strategy never felt like so much FUN." What do they say about you and your brand?

PEACE=SUCCESS HERE. Patience Empathy Authenticity Consistency +Engagement --------------- S U C C E S S The most important, however, are consistency and patience. Both will be challenged a lot when building your personal brand. So you must focus on those, no matter how big your following gets.

Consistency is key – but don’t fall into the trap of total uniformity. Your audience, community, or network will vary from platform to platform. Injecting the same “brand tattoo” everywhere won’t cut it. Find the intersection of their preferences and the norms or conventions of the platform in question, then set your brand’s guidelines for that space accordingly. The same headshot, tone, or posting schedule won’t work everywhere.

Audiences will always think, so what? who cares? how does this impact ME??? Make sure folks see themselves in your examples Lead them to ways they may apply the learnings to win themselves. Assimilate as you share experiences. And keep the learning clean and simple. There's always room to share MORE in your next conversation. Deliver succinctly NOW...and debrief to recap what you learned, what worked, and how to co-create the next phase of your program together! That's how to attract and grow collaborator vs customers...lifelong co-creators with shared wins. Your success becomes THEIR success and they will forever turn to you as their go-to resource! Ninja tip: host a success showcase inside their company...they'll love it!

There is so much spam on the internet around, “buy my stuff” that people are starting to turn a blind eye to it. Even businesses that have thrived on this pitch in social behavior are seeing the need for change. More importantly the social platforms are also seeing how destructive it is to the true nature and intention of what social media was supposed to be. Leading your personal brand with value helps your audience see what you bring to the table if they decide they may want to work with you. Providing tips and tricks, case studies, and well researched data in posts and comments shows them you know how to solve their problem. Let them see your value, the rest will take care of itself.

Remember this wonderful advice I learned as a facilitator for Strengthfinders team building. "You are NOT supposed to be great at everything...your collective TEAM should be." Go ahead, write that one down. I promise it'll come in handy some day soon!!!

One thing I've found helpful is setting aside dedicated time each month to evaluate new tools, strategies, and industry insights. This consistent self-reflection and upskilling ensures that my personal brand remains fresh and aligned with my goals.

Not narrowing your unique promise of value down enough. Branding isn’t about being all things to all people. It’s about understanding our strengths and using those to offer value to the world. People are afraid of narrowing their focus because they may alienate potential clients. The opposite is true. Once you’ve narrowed what you stand for, you’re perspective is attractive to potential clients.