How to Build Your Personal Brand: Who are You?

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”- Oscar Wilde

Building your personal brand can be “deep” because it requires you to look within and remind yourself what makes you, unique. You want your personal brand to reflect who you are and what you bring to the table in an authentic way.

If you had intentions of shooting “perfectly filtered” pictures and showing an imaginary life, sharing nothing but the “fluffy” stuff, let me tell you... please stop.

If you are also thinking, ugh I don’t feel like taking the time to do this work… then you’re not getting it. We need to bring the real you into the light. Being present, consistently (for that matter) on social media is not easy and it’s even harder if you are not doing it authentically… “faking it” can be exhausting and you will burn out quickly.

The other thing I want you to keep in mind as well is, unless you have a massive marketing budget and a team that knows you inside and out, you will need to start understanding that YOU are a thought leader and will need to become a content creator. I see many entrepreneurs hiding from this, who want to outsource themselves as much as possible. Don’t give away your intellectual property. This is your chance to build YOUR personal brand and make real connections with your audience. So let’s skip the step of “I hired a virtual assistant to do my content, but I don’t like it… it’s just not me” and let’s get down to business.

This is not a negative thing, in fact, it is an exciting thing. No one but you can jump on a video and share your expertise or thoughts on a particular topic. Only you can write a personal blog post from your perspective and only you can be interviewed (as you) on a podcast episode. When building your personal brand, YOU must put yourself out there authentically. It’s time to make peace with the content creation process and get yourself out there.

It’s time to uncover what makes you, YOU so you can start connecting with others who will resonate. So it’s time to put pen to paper and do a little exercise to help pull some of this greatness out of you.

Set a timer for 30 minutes and complete the following questions:

1. What do you like most about yourself? (Sense of humor, creativity, problem-solving skills)

2. What drives you? What is your why? (ie: I love to teach and inspire others)

3. In what areas do you excel? (ie: problem-solving, engaging, and inspiring others)

4. What work drains your energy? (ie: implementing tasks, long coaching calls) What work fuels you? (ie: delegating and leading a team, brainstorming, teaching)

5. What industries do you find interesting? (ie: Marketing, Coaching, Music, Fashion, Manufacturing)

6. Where do you want to be at the end of your career? (ie: the owner, not the boss)

7. What impact do you want to have? (ie: I want to be able to engage and inspire others to live their life authentically)

8. Think of the big picture of your life and business. Imagine it is 5 years from now and your business is successful. What does that look like?

9. What are your strengths? What have you been told that you are good at by friends, family, and co-workers (ie: problem-solving, thinking outside of the box, strategy, marketing, and organizing things into a streamlined process)?

10. If you could be known for 1 thing right now, what would it be?

Don’t be surprised if these answers change after a while, it is just important that you complete them authentically and honestly now. Your personal brand will grow and evolve over time and that is just fine.

This step is important because after reflecting on the different things that make you you, you can begin to build your personal brand that aligns with who you are and where you eventually want to go. It also helps to attract others who are similar to you and see value in what you are doing.

One of the most impactful questions I invite you to explore is question number 8. Many coaches and business owners get “stuck” in the weeds of their business and forget where they are going. I want you to think hard about this question because it very might well become a North Star for you (as it has become for me) to help make decisions around your business and brand. For example, if you write: In 5 years I want to have 4 residual income streams within my business and have less than 10 hours client-facing per week, then the future services and content you are creating the need to be in line with working towards that goal.

My new book will be out soon! Click HERE to join the waitlist and be notified when it’s available.