Personal branding has been around for decades, but there’s been an influx of people who’ve recently learned about its importance in business. With the wave of social media and influencer marketing, it’s more important than ever for entrepreneurs to establish a personal brand that shakes up their industry, so they can grow their business successfully and exponentially.
Whether you use this information to start a personal brand or as a personal brand checklist, you’ll walk away feeling confident knowing you’re taking the right steps forward in 2023.
What is a personal brand?
I’d be doing a disservice if we first didn’t discuss what a personal brand is.
A personal brand is your unique set of skills and experience and combining those with your personality. It’s the way you represent, promote, and tell your story.
And while it may seem simple, it’s proven a challenge to those who may have never asked themselves the hard-hitting questions about personal branding (see below).
TIP #1: Hone in on what you want to do and how it relates to who you are
I told you… We’re going deep.
Your personal brand is made up of your vision, mission, and values. Oftentimes, we have an idea of what it is we want to accomplish, but we may have never properly defined it.
This is your chance to ask yourself those questions:
- What change or goal am I trying to achieve?
- What motivates me?
- Where do I want to be at the top of my career? What does that look like?
- What are my values? How will this contribute to my personal brand and business goals?
- How do I want my personal brand to be received by others?
- What are my long-term goals?
- By what means will I accomplish these goals?
- How can my skill sets contribute to my goals?
Tough, right?
Building a solid foundation for your personal brand pushes you to ask yourself questions you may need to sit and ponder. So often when we have an idea, we want to execute it right away, but the best things blossom when we take time to reflect and ponder.
TIP #2: Determine your UVP – Unique Value Proposition
I’ve worked with hundreds of industry leaders over the span of my business and there’s a common struggle many entrepreneurs battle with.
“But… I’m not sure what makes me different.”
Since we spend so much time with ourselves, it can be hard to pinpoint exactly what about us is unique…
But the good news? Those around us could tell you exactly what makes you, you.
→ Ask friends, colleagues, previous clients, or even family members about your unique attributes or why they’re drawn to you and you may unveil insights you never even thought about before.
Whether it’s in a specific skill set, something about your personality, or a personal strength of yours, everyone has a unique combination of attributes that makes them unique. Everyone has a UVP.
TIP #3: Find your target market (see also: audience, industry)
One you’ve determined who you are, how you’re different, now you need to determine who will care.
Ask yourself questions like:
- Who will benefit from my mission and vision?
- Who will connect with these values?
Once you have an idea of who your audience will be, it’s time to start your market research process.
During the market research process, you’ll find out even more granular information about your target market including…
- What struggles do they face every day?
- What solutions are they looking for?
- What do they fear and desire?
- What are they trying to avoid and achieve?
This may take you quite a while, but as they say… Rome wasn’t built in a day. Take your time and the results will be worth the wait.
TIP #4: Take your personal brand into the online world
The first three tips are like putting together a border of a puzzle. Once you can see the outline, filling in the rest of the gaps becomes much clearer.
Now you’re ready to start using what you’ve created and shouting it from the rooftops in the online world. Since you’ve completed your market research, you should have a good idea of where your audience is hanging out.
Note: If you don’t, continue your market research phase to find out where you should be online, so you’re not wasting time, energy, and resources trying to build a platform your target audience will never see.
A few examples of platforms you could be on are…
- TikTok
If you want an entire breakdown of using social media for your personal brand, check out our blog about the social beast.
TIP #5: Refine your brand voice + brand story
While you can develop your brand voice and brand story from the start, it may take you a while to figure out the direction you want your personal brand to go… and that’s 100% okay!
Like a new pair of boots, you really need to walk around in them a bit before they get comfy.
When you feel in touch with your direction, you can hone in on your brand voice and your brand story.
Your brand story is composed of many of the elements from Tip #1 + Tip #2. Refining them into a cohesive story you can add to your website, marketing materials, and other social content.
Your brand voice is how you tell your brand story. It’s the tone, cadence, language, and personality elements you fuse into everything you write.
TIP #6: Create a content and email marketing strategy
Time for another layer! Having a brand story and brand voice makes it much easier to create a content and email marketing strategy because you know exactly how you want to communicate to your audience and what you want to say to them.
If you’re starting your email marketing strategy from scratch, you may want to craft a compelling welcome sequence, so your audience can get to know you.
And if you want to take it up a notch, then creating a simple, high-converting funnel will help you generate more sales and connection with your audience.
TIP #7: Expand your presence
Expanding your presence can mean a lot of things depending on what your goals are. A few examples are…
- Starting a podcast
- Being a guest on a podcast
- Starting a blog
- Using another social media platform
And by increasing the number of places people can find you equate to building a larger community, authority, and credibility in your industry which translates into making your mission and vision known in more places.
If you’re looking for support in your endeavor of building a stand-out personal brand, then you’ve scrolled down to the right place. Here at brandiD, we specialize in helping entrepreneurs craft compelling personal brands, so they can reach their audience and goals.
Find all the details here: Create a personal brand platform with us.
About The Author
Rachel Gogos is a multi-passionate entrepreneur with a strong desire to help people by creating strong personal brands and businesses. She’s personally launched dozens of books, e-products, and services; and hundreds of products and services with her clients. She started her career at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, where she helped create the look and feel for the organization’s first website.
Today, in her current role running brandiD, Rachel channels over 15 years of marketing and communications experience into each and every website for brandiD’s clients.
And check out her book, Build Your Brand: The Distinctive Guide to Soul-Based Marketing. It will help you uncover your personal brand.