Building a Personal Brand

A personal brand is similar to a brand for your business, but building a personal brand has different benefits, strategies and reasoning. If you are looking to build your personal brand, these tips can help you to remain authentic to the image you are creating for yourself. A personal brand doesn’t even need to be something you are selling, it is simply a way to state who you are and remain faithful to that vision of yourself.

But first, why do you need a personal brand? This is a misleading question, simply because everyone already has a personal brand whether or not they have worked to cultivate it. Don’t believe it? Think of all the interactions you have had in your life and the impressions you have made. Take it a step further and Google yourself and your hometown. If you are on social media, many times your reputation will precede you. So, the important part of having a personal brand is the ability to showcase the most positive aspects of yourself and separates you from the rest of the crowd. This is how you can create a personal brand that will not only define the best version of you, but can also help to further your goals.

Identify Your Authentic Self

Don’t build a brand around the you that you want to be, as this can be too difficult to maintain. Instead, reflect your true self, and stay consistent with that image. Craft the wording in your social media and blog posts the way that you speak in videos and in person. Don’t change your core values to fit a standard you can’t consistently live up to. No one is perfect all the time. Be the real you and people will respect you for it, giving you even more influence.

Social Media

Social media is key to presenting an authentic version of yourself. Post what you like with your real voice powering the posts. Don’t post your meal on Instagram if you don’t feel a calling to do that, all that means is that it isn’t authentic to you. Brand authenticity is also important, so if you are running a blog about interior design you wouldn’t post a phone review. Consistency is key for building a successful brand.  

Networking

Meet others through networking events and get your name out into the world, find others to collaborate with and even make friends. This is a great way to present yourself as the brand you are working to craft in a professional way. Meetup.com is a good resource for finding networking events in your area.

Develop Value For Followers

Find your niche market and the value you specifically bring to it. If you are a makeup artist, you need to set yourself apart from the thousands of other makeup artists, whether that is by doing costume makeup, working with a specific product or specializing in one technique. By doing this, you cement yourself as an expert in this area, meaning that your name becomes synonymous with whatever it is you are doing, meaning more recognition as your brand gets more established.

Do What Feels Right for Your Brand

You can read thousands of blogs about how to craft the most successful personal brand, but that advice will not always be what works for you. If you are seeing return and not following every piece of advice that you see, or only following that which is useful for your situation then you are doing fine. You have full control of what your personal image is, so do the things that work to continue making your brand work.

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