We all have a personal brand, whether you know it or not. A personal brand is about sharing your body of work, your authenticity and your story. It is about building a brand around yourself. It's a great way to help you stand out from the crowd and can help you build up your influence. A strong personal brand can help grow your business, credibility and reputation.
Here are my 4 tips on how to build a personal brand online:
Value: Define who you are, your purpose, what you do, why it matters and why people should care and connect with you. Be sure to understand the market you want to target. Who are your potential clients, customers and audience? Personal branding is not about making sales it is about adding value to others, serving and helping your target audience or niche with their problems. Strive to offer solutions and amazing value. This is important and is the foundation of your brand.
Be Yourself: You are the most important part of your brand. Be original, authentic and keep it real. Do not be a copy of someone else, because it will show. Be professional and personable on all social media platforms. Show both sides of you when posting updates, mix it up and keep it balanced.
Have a Good Bio: Have a good bio on all your social media platforms. This ensures people who go on your social media platforms will know who you are instantly, what you do, and why it matters. Keep consistent with your brand images, logos, fonts and message.
Be Engaging: Be engaging, talk to people who like your content and those who leave comments. This will help build trust and the 'like' factor. It is all about keeping it 'human' and about personal connect. People like to spend money with people they like. It is not about how many likes, followers, subscribers you have. It is also very important you handle any negative comments and feedback in a professional manner. Always be a dedicated professional.
Consistency: Your logos, font, colours etc. are important visuals for your brand. In reference to your personal brand be consistent with what you do online and offline. Does what you do with your personal life connect with the services you offer i.e. If you are a health and fitness coach and have pictures on Instagram consistently showing you eating unhealthy will definitely not help your personal brand.
"It’s important to build a personal brand because it’s the only thing you’re going to have. Your reputation online, and in the new business world is pretty much the game, so you’ve got to be a good person. You can’t hide anything, and more importantly, you’ve got to be out there at some level." - Gary Vaynerchuk
To summarise; everyone can develop a strong personal brand and it can accelerate your business growth in many ways. Building a personal brand will take time, patience and effort. If you are thinking of developing yours then the perfect time to start is now.
Author: Dal Dhaliwal – www.daldhaliwal.com
Photo: DepositPhotos
