Why its essential to know your brand
Generally speaking people don't generally need products, so why do we feel like we have to buy the latest tablet, the latest watch and even the fastest car?
Branding goes way beyond just a logo or graphic element. Your brand is the way the customer perceives you. Brand experience is everything and should flow throughout all platforms. People should be able to recognise your brand, Many small organizations and start-ups neglect spending necessary time thinking about their brand.
Truth is we buy into the emotion, brands such as Apple, BMW, Nike and many more companies do so well is play with our emotions. Its very rarely about the product, its more about the emotion, aspiration behind having product.
So how do we come up with a personal brand statement? This is usually the hardest part for most companies when starting out however once this is achieved most things will fall into place and your target audience will become easier to identify and target.
To the entrepreneur Your personal brand is how you appear to the world. Being interesting is essential. Once people know who you are and can identify you with a specific area of understanding or expertise then you will find people will flock to you.
So how can we do this?
- Be authentic... I cant express how important it is to be yourself be original, your brand should reflect who you are, what you believe, and what you stand for. Your strengths and weaknesses. Be real, nobody wants to follow a fake person. People want to feel like they can trust you.
- Speaking regularly... if your building your brand having regular engagement with your audience is everything. Having good communication skills will really help when it comes to answering questions and keeping your customers engaged in good causes.
- Consistent learning in your industry is essential to always being ahead of the game. Be aware of your competitors and know exactly what you are doing, where you are going and having consistent goals in a constantly changing world will really help progression. Read books, keep up to date with the news, just make sure you know whats going on and consistently develop yourself in your niche.
- Build a good online presence, monitor how others perceive you online. Do you have social media profiles? Do they present you in the best light possible, are you using high quality photography? Do you have a website for you personal brand and does it look professional.
At the end of the day be open about your shortcomings and weaknesses. This will make you all the more human and relatable. Branding is becoming just as important on a personal level. It’s people working with people and that’s what makes business relationships valuable. Building a recognizable personal brand opens professional opportunities.