Investing In Your Personal Brand

Personal branding pays: Why you need to start investing in building your brand online

The richest man in the world has one of the most distinct personal brands.

Coincidence? Not really.

He spends exactly $0 on advertising and marketing his companies – yet you’ll struggle to find a single person who hasn’t heard of them.

Love him or hate him, but you can’t ignore him.

Elon Musk is everywhere.

Musk’s businesses are seen as a part of his pursuit of a better, fairer world. Tesla is the electric car to own because Musk cares about the planet enough to design greener cars. SpaceX is not a publicity gimmick, it’s an attempt to make space travel affordable and accessible. Even his acquisition of Twitter was called a victory of free speech, with most of the internet buying into this narrative and celebrating it.

But this wasn’t what happened when Zuckerberg acquired WhatsApp. Though both of these should raise the same questions around private ownership of influential social media, the conversations around them are vastly different. The only difference? Zuckerberg’s reputation or personal brand makes us suspect him, while Musk’s makes us admire him.

Personal branding can be used just as powerfully by anyone, not just eccentric genius billionaires. Investing in consistently and strategically building your image is one of the smartest ways to grab eyeballs, generate buzz and grow your influence in the right circles – online and offline.

These are some of the ways in which investing in building your personal brand pays off:

Build trust

Every business pitch is about building trust in your competence and ability. Imagine the value in your prospects knowing you well enough that they’re already convinced in your ability before they approach you or you reach out to them. That’s exactly what happens when you put yourself out there. Not only do you attract an interested audience, you also build enough trust for at least some of them turn into leads or valuable connections.

People trust people, not businesses. Don’t you? That’s why branding yourself generates ROI in the same way that branding your organisation does.

Make yourself known

Most business leaders or founders keep ‘increasing visibility’ as a benchmark for their marketing teams’ success, without realising that it’s just as important for them to grow their visibility as leaders themselves. Being seen keeps you top of mind and builds interest around what you have to say.

How do you do this? The simplest way is to consistently post content. Take it a step further by making sure that content is aligned to your personal brand goals. If you’re always on their feed, you’re always on their mind, and you’ll be one of the first people they think of when they have a potential opportunity to work with you.

Generate leads beyond sales

Leads aren’t limited to sales leads. They’re also speaking engagements, promotions, award nominations, new and exciting job offers – basically, anything that you are intentionally working towards.

Personal branding is a powerful way to attract rather than chase leads. When you’re widely seen as knowledgeable, experienced and accomplished by your peers, they’ll consider you as a natural fit for any opportunities that arise within their scope of work. And even if they don’t know you, you’re making it easier for them to find you by showing up in all the right places.

Grow your authority

Business leaders often forget that they have two audiences – one outside their organisation, and a keener one within it. Growing your authority among both of these groups is key to being an effective and influential leader.

Publishing insightful and hard-hitting content is the only sustainable and organic way to showcase your expertise online. This is turn is what establishes your authority among those who know you – and those who don’t. When people trust your voice, they also trust your work and your business, opening up all kinds of new opportunities.

Remember – your personal brand will outlive your businesses and jobs. It goes beyond posting ad-hoc posts and announcements on platforms like LinkedIn. It’s an introspective exercise that helps you discover and express yourself authentically, both online and offline. As a business leader, you will agree that a network of valuable connections who know and trust you is an invaluable asset, and that is exactly what you get out of a well-crafted personal brand.