Building A Personal Brand
Your personal brand is what differentiates you from other professionals in your field. It is the unique combination of skills and experience that you excel at and that you market as your brand. Your personal brand is something you are continually growing. It is the essence of your identity and fundamentally what you love to do. The more you invest in your personal brand the more opportunities you will attract.
IDENTIFY YOUR CORE VALUES
Ask yourself who and what is important to you and why? This will help you build a set of values. Your brand values send personal and emotional signals to potential customers, allowing them to connect with you and develop loyalty.
DEFINE YOUR VISION
Your vision is what you want to personify. It is the driving force for everything your brand does and why it matters including the ideas that inspire you, your employees and your customers.
DEFINE YOUR NICHE
Many people have personal accomplishments and professional accolades that they are proud of, but it is how you combine them with your brand vision and value systems that separates you from your competition and helps to define your niche.
TELL THE STORY OF YOU
The beauty of your story is that you get to pick the details you want to share. Details such as where you came from, the ups and downs, where you are going to, etc. It has a personal touch and adsense of familiarity that helps to build trust with your audience.
CHOOSE YOUR CHANNELS WISELY
You could market your brand via a blog, website, app, social platforms or traditional print media. The channel does not matter as much as how you communicate via the channel. Keep your message clear, concise and consistent. Make sure your brand is supported on the channels you use. Establish standards for the images, typography, video, tone, etc.
BECOME A SOCIAL BUTTERFLY
Connect with others, embrace your network and expand your opportunities both online and offline. Consider attending professional networking groups and guest speaking. See if there are opportunities to contribute to articles, join online groups where you can offer advice and share lessons learned.
CONVERT, CONVERT, CONVERT
Use your content to help convert those leads to hard sales. Your content should be unique to you and your brand. Leverage your content with a Call To Action that will encourage your audience to connect directly with you.
