What comes up when you Google your name? If nothing shows up, then, you probably haven’t spent time building your personal brand. Whether you are employed or an entrepreneur, it’s very important to cultivate a personal brand. An example of people with an incredible personal brand is Oprah Winfrey. She has over the years-built equity in her brand which is estimated to be worth over $2.5 billion.
Personal branding is a process that requires you to identify your uniqueness, build a reputation around what you choose to be known for, and then being the best at it. To engage with a larger audience, being the best and different from the rest of the professionals sets you apart. The ultimate goal for this is to monetize your image for the long haul.
This is an ongoing process where you develop and manage your image through content creation, social media, public speaking, and other areas. It involves continuous engagement with the public to allow them to trust and work with you as a brand. Sprinkling in personal details that are relatable to the target audience, adds a human touch as you emphasize your business. This is likely to bring a connection between you and your audience and as a result they trust you more.
In business, financial gain is most pursued when marketing activity is engaged. Personal branding in this case enables you to build credibility on the brand. Before people trust your brand, they should trust the individual who owns the brand first. Personal branding increases the trust levels and deepens the connection between your business brand and your clients.
Personal branding showcases your uniqueness and enables your brand to establish its image. A brand is a faceless entity unless it’s enhanced by a humanized brand. Branding helps your business create a reputation from the compelling special skill portrayed as part of your brand. It also allows your business to connect with your target market directly or on a personal level. It enables you to engage directly with your businesses’ clients, key stakeholders, influencers, and mentors both externally and internally.
Personal branding also leverages to make the business more humanized. It becomes the voice behind the business when used strategically. It’s used to put emphasis on the business uniqueness and to set it apart from the other brands. Using your personal brand strategically will in the long run enable the business to achieve clear market differentiation and resonate better with its primary clients.
Personal branding is different and can only be attributed to an individual’s goals, aspirations, and morals. In some scenarios, a business may be very personified therefore reducing the need for having a personal brand backing it up whereas in others some businesses view personal branding as a way of overriding an already successful brand. This shows that there are pros and cons of personal branding.
When used strategically, personal branding earns you great trust and engagement from its clients. It creates a perfect relationship between the business and its prospects. The personal presence acts as an assurance to the clients that the business is active in the market.
Having personal touch on your brand, allows you to use different marketing strategies without affecting the business. This earns you a wider reach of your business. This in result allows you to focus on reaching every prospect using different marketing strategies. Personal branding also offers you greater flexibility. It allows you to venture into other businesses with ease. The new ventures tend to sell out because of the personal brand created.
Whether you are looking for work or more company sales, personal branding will be crucial. You don’t really need to be like Oprah or Michelle Obama to have a great personal brand. It is a matter of continually crafting your digital presence while keeping real at it. Your authenticity and transparency will differentiate you from others in the same business. You should ensure to create a good first impression and one that will set you apart while reflecting on who you are.
Everyday you should work on your personal branding. Ensure to involve your clients because they end up putting in the good word for you. You don’t need to be the very best from the first minute, but always ensure to do things differently and most innovatively.
Looking to improve on your personal branding? We’ve been training business titans in Kenya on personal branding for years now, we can do the same to you. Talk to us about your personal branding needs.