How to build a strong personal brand

When we hear the phrase, personal brand, we often think this is reserved for those with a corporate public image. In today’s digital age, having a personal brand is important. With this, you can position yourself in the right spaces as an expert and leader. In this article, we will show you why everyone is doing it.?

What is a personal brand?

Simply put, a personal brand is the art of creating a brand around an individual rather than a business. It’s your personality, values, and the combination of experience and skills you have that set you apart from the rest. It’s what you want the world to know about who you are and what you stand for, and it revolves around what people will say about you.?

Your personal brand is the projected image, impression, and perception you want people to have about you. A personal brand is your package of character traits that define you to the world.

So, whether you’re a full-time employee, a budding entrepreneur, a freelancer, or just stepping into the world of work, a strong personal brand is what you will use to establish yourself as a credible voice, connect you with like-minded individuals and align you with the right professional and personal opportunities to reach your goals.

Benefits of having a strong personal brand

It’s interesting to note that even when we aren’t aware of it, we consciously project a personal brand. This comes from how others experience us in our interactions with them. And people will act on what they see and how they size you up. This is what makes intentionally building a personal brand important:

Build connections?

When people know who you are, it becomes easier to build connections and form strong partnerships. Your personal brand highlights your qualities and strengths, and this can make you appealing to new clients and other key connections in your industry.

Tell your story in your own words

Your personal brand is the story you want to tell others about yourself – in your own words. It’s not based on what others have said about you, but instead, when you intentionally craft your brand, you are able to frame yourself in a way you want and inform people about the important qualities you want them to know about you.

Showcase your abilities?

Your personal brand showcases your value and your outlook on issues, trends, industry matters, and more. You demonstrate your impressive skills and abilities and direct the focus on what sets you apart from others.

Expand your reach and grow your audience

Your brand is a personal and compelling way to introduce yourself to the world. You can grow your audience by contributing to blogs, hosting a podcast, or creating an attractive social media profile on platforms like LinkedIn .

But personal branding is not simply updating your status and commenting on posts. It’s a time-consuming but rewarding process where you create a brand based on your targets and objectives. A key step before getting started on building a strong brand is to identify the key elements that will make up your brand.

• What is your brand vision? What do you want people to know you for?
• What is your mission? What is the answer to your “why”? Why do you want to build a personal brand? This answers the critical questions about your purpose, what goals you want to accomplish, and who you want to influence.
• Your brand messages. What are you trying to communicate in and through your brand?
• Your brand personality. What unique and personal characteristics do you want to share in your brand? How do you want to be seen? What impression do you want people to have of you? Are you an explorer, prim and proper, quirky, or professional?

A strong personal brand starts with understanding yourself, what you stand for, what you like, what position you want to assume in the marketplace, and the perception you want others to have. Here are a few ways you can build a strong personal brand.

How to build a strong personal brand

Conduct research

Before starting anything, you need to conduct research and gather insights into the field or niche you want to establish your brand in. During this step, you find out what they respond to, what and how people are conducting themselves, and what comments they are leaving. This research will guide the angle you take in crafting your brand.

Know your strengths

Take inventory of your skillset and define:

• your values and what your stand for
• your skills, experience, and credentials
• your passions and areas of interest

Personality assessments like the one by Alison provide you with an extremely accurate report of who you are and why you do things the way you do. This discovery can help you refine critical areas and project the strengths and qualities you want to project. Additionally, this information can guide you in writing your personal brand statement that tells the world who you are in a succinct way.

Create content that reflects you

In creating your personal brand , you want to decide and settle on a tone, style, and approach that reflects who you are. This way, when people interact with you outside of your brand, what they see matches who you said you are. This consistency establishes trust, a big factor in building strong and lasting relationships with your brand.

Become a leader

One of the ways to strengthen your personal brand is by establishing yourself as a reliable and credible source of information in your field. You can work your way up to thought-leader status by commenting on key topics, starting conversations, sharing news and information, and engaging with matters in your field. If you do this consistently, you will soon be viewed as a trusted authority and enlarge your brand.

Be visible

Everyone has a personal brand. But not everyone’s personal brand is accessible and visible to the masses. You need to step out of your comfort zone and make yourself and your online profiles visible and accessible. You can also attend key workshops, seminars, and conferences and even host virtual sessions where others can see and speak to you.

Choose your audience?

A mistake people often make when building a personal brand is trying to be everything to everyone all the time. The truth is even the best and biggest brands aren’t for everyone. You need to distinguish your audience and speak directly to them. Your brand will resonate with certain audiences, and you need to be okay with this and then frame all you say and do to reach and captivate them.

“The foundation of a strong personal brand is how well you understand your audience and the problems they face. Then you can define why you care and how you solve those problems, which is what you’ll be remembered for”, Kyle Gray.

A personal brand puts you out there. For a big corporation or from a personal perspective, branding is a big component of success. For businesses, people want to know the story behind the success and failures of the founders. For individuals, others are interested in seeing and experiencing the genuine and authentic you. We all have a brand. But by intentionally creating a strong personal brand, you set yourself up for success and differentiate yourself from others. Whoever you choose to be, do it well and like only you can.