Building a Personal Brand Is A Must-Have

The knowledge based industry is here to stay.  I’m talking about the one consisting of experts from all walks of life starting online businesses to share their expertise through courses, coaching, masterminds, communities, and more…it’s growing exponentially, especially since Covid.

It’s no longer thought of as a Plan B or a side hustle, but as a viable alternative to doing work differently and building something you believe in.  Who wouldn’t want to go to work and put all their energy into building something that creates their own legacy?

One thing I know for sure?  Whether you’re a rising star in the corporate world and content to climb the corporate ladder, or you’re starting, growing or scaling your own business, building your personal brand is no longer a “nice-to-do,” it’s a MUST HAVE.

People Want To Know You

Since I came from the corporate world, working in film marketing at Walt Disney Studios for over 15 years, I could talk about why building a personal brand to get your next best job is a must, but since I’ve now been an entrepreneur for 7 years and my audience - yep, that’s you - are made up of entrepreneurs and business owners, let’s focus there.

Your audience wants to know you.  They want to understand: 

1 - Who you are, your background, experience and expertise

2 - What you stand for

3 - Your goals, aspirations, and who you serve

4 - What juicy goodness you offer and how it can benefit them

5 - That you’re serious about your business & show up to add value consistently

In Brand Speak, 1-5 above directly relate to building your personal brand strategy in that you need to:

1 - Discover how to define and articulate your brand story

2 - Build your core values & brand manifesto and share them

3 - Establish who your ideal clients are, your mission & bigger vision

4 - Determine your products and/or services & what their offer promise is

5 - Create a cohesive brand, consistently implementing it effectively on your website, in brand photos, across all your messaging, and in you content creation.

In other words, establishing your personal brand is inextricably linked to building your business.  It will help you grow your business faster if you focus on personal brand building to make you visible and known for what you do.

People Trust People

People trust people.  Brand building is different than simply starting a business.  Building a brand means you’re infusing it with meaning, value and heart.  Adding YOU into the mix sweetens the pot, giving your audience a person to ground them in understanding the brand, why it exists, what you stand for and why they should hire you or buy from you.  Why do you think bigger brands hire spokespersons and ambassadors to represent their brand?

Examples include: 

• Michael Joran for NIKE 

• Matthew McConaughey for LINCOLN CARS 

• Natalie Portman for MISS DIOR perfume

You get the idea.  They hire faces that people already know, like and trust so humanize their brand.  Good news for entrepreneurs…whether you’ve invented a business name from scratch or your business is named after you, including yourself as the face of your brand IS your way of building a personal brand and it can help you establish that know-like-trust factor more easily and quickly for your business.

How To Start

You know what they say about the best time to plant a tree, right?  The best time was 5 years ago, but the next best time is right now.  That’s how it is with your personal brand.  If you haven’t yet turned your attention to establishing your brand as part of your business, you can start today.

Here are 3 steps to begin defining your Personal Brand:

1 - MINE YOUR EXPERIENCES & BUILD YOUR BRAND STORY

Your audience doesn’t need your life story, but they do need to know the relevant parts of your story that make you who you are and tell them why you’ve established this business to serve them today.

Mine your life and work experiences for those defining moments, transformations, credibility, or all of the above and craft your story that helps your audience know you, like you, trust you and want to dive deeper with you.

The whole point of sharing your story is to become relatable, to add that human element to your business, to inspire, motivate and establish interest.  These days when you’re asked to be a guest speaker on a podcast, more often than not, the first question you’ll be asked is some form of - Tell us about you and how you got here.

Knowing how to answer that in a storytelling way automatically makes you more memorable, but also allows you to choose the story that will be most relevant to set up the why behind your business, your current mission and who you serve best.

Start by building your brand story.

2 - DEFINE WHO YOU’RE MADE TO SERVE

Define who you are talking to.  There should be a specific group of people, connected by demographics and/or psychographics that lights you up to serve and who need you most.  Identify them.  Name them so they get you’re talking to them.  Include them in your brand story so they know your transformation, result or expertise is now aimed at them and that’s exactly what they’ve been craving - you.

After you know the who, articulate the what and the benefits of the what so they know how you can add value to them.  In other words, write your missions statement that reveals: what you do, who it’s specifically for, and the ultimate benefit they receive.

3 - ARTICULATE WHAT YOU STAND FOR AND SHOW UP THAT WAY CONSISTENTLY

There are certain things you believe in and believe are possible for your clients, which is the reason why you started your business in the first place.

Perhaps you’re a Financial Advisor for Feminist Women and help women build their wealth and invest in companies and brands who also believe in women’s rights.  That not only helps the right people connect with you, it dictates how you’ll show up in your business to continue to feed your belief and your goal of helping more women build generational wealth and create financial freedom.

Clarifying and voicing what you stand for helps you become known for what you do and why you do it, and it can create an emotional connection point for your audience to feel inspired and motivated by you.  That’s vital when building a personal brand, because personal brands are all about building relationships with actual people, and inspiring them to get the result they’re seeking.

Get Help Building Your Personal Brand 

It is 10x harder to see yourself clearly and to build your personal brand.  I know from experience, despite being a branding strategist and brand-building expert myself!

If you’re ready to build a personal brand so you’re articulating the meaning, the purpose, the mission, the vision, the values and the benefits of your brand to the target audience you’re speaking to, and you don’t know how to do it in a vacuum alone, that’s where I come in. 

Book a Brand Clarity Call with me today and let’s see if we’re a good fit to work together.  I believe in helping people pursue their passion, become known for their superpowers, and position it to the people they can serve best.  Let’s do this.