The Personal Brand: What It Is and Why You Should Build One
More and more we hear people talk about Personal Branding, and the topic seems to continue to grow in popularity as time goes by.
Although a lot of people talk about it, there doesn’t seem to be a good definition for what a Personal Brand is. We are here to change that.
What is a Personal Brand?
In order to define what a Personal Brand is, we first need to define what a Brand is.
Marty Neumeier, author of The Brand Flip, has given us one of the best functional definitions for what a Brand is:
“A brand is a customer’s gut feeling about a product a service or a company.”
- Marty Neumeier
Marty Neumeier - Author, designer, consultant.
A brand is the feeling that a customer experiences when they use a product, a service, or when they work with a company.
This definition of Brand is extremely powerful because it’s true: people decide to buy a product or service based on how they feel about it. People arrive to that feeling through the company’s marketing efforts or through the past experiences they’ve had with that company.
So what is a Personal Brand then?
A personal Brand is a customer’s gut feeling about another person.
The power of a Personal Brand resides in the fact that the face of it is a person, and a person is easier to trust than a company.
It’s important to say that a Personal Brand is usually talked about in the context of social media because this is simply the most efficient and most accessible medium to grow one today.
Why is Personal Branding Essential?
As the industry is constantly evolving and the competition intensifies, establishing a strong and unique personal brand will set you apart and give you an advantage over your competitors. Here’s why personal branding is essential:
1) Professional Credibility and Lead Generation
A well-crafted personal brand signals skills, expertise, and the uniqueness of what you have to offer. It also allows you to create trust with prospects over an extended period of time, increasing the chances that they reach out to get to know about your services and become your customers.
2) Career Opportunities
Not only does personal branding help you stand out, it will also attract new opportunities. According to a CareerBuilder survey, 70% of employers use social media to screen candidates (Career Builder, 2017), highlighting the importance of a well-defined and strong online presence.
3) Networking Power
Your personal brand is like a digital handshake and allows people to get to know you before meeting you in real life. Having a robust personal brand will enhance your networking capabilities, leading to the creation of meaningful connections both online and offline. Networking is crucial to finding more and better business opportunities.
How Can You Build a Successful Personal Brand?
1) Create Helpful Content and Craft a Strong Online Presence
Make content that genuinely helps the type of client you want to attract. If people benefit greatly from your free content, they won’t help but wonder what your paid services are like. Make the digital realm your playground and showcase your expertise.
2) Define and Show Your Brand Essence
Clearly articulate who you are, your values, and what you stand for. Understanding and displaying your values and beliefs strategically will set you apart from the competition. Being like the rest is not an advantage. Being like the rest is a disadvantage. When you are different and highly competent, you become hard to replace.
3) Seek and Showcase Testimonials
Encourage clients to give you a review of your work and display it somewhere on your website and social media. This will give you social proof, add credibility to your personal brand, and help you close more deals or make more sales. One of the best mediums to display client testimonials is through video.
Building a successful personal brand takes work. But it comes with a great return on investment, facilitating most if not all areas of business and of professional development.
