Building a strong personal brand is everything for a small business. For you to really connect with your community online, you need to put your face in front of the brand and for you to be trusted online, you need authority.
A personal brand is determined by your character traits, knowledge, capabilities, who you are and how you express yourself online. This is the most accurate view of your value and who YOU are as a person. It has taken me 8 years to build a strong personal brand online and I want to try and fast track you, so that can put yourself in front of your brand and feel proud about how you are being perceived online.
Why Does Having a Personal Brand Matter?
Even without sending a tweet or posting on Facebook, you are still unconsciously putting your brand out there, just by being visible. How others see you is your reputation, and without realising this, a potential customer will make a purchasing decision with this in mind. If your reputation is not reflecting your branding, you could be missing out sales.
Here’s how you can build your personal brand
- Use Stereotypes to Your Advantage
I’m sure you’re reading this shaking your head but first, hear me out. When you want to give an accurate impression of your personal brand, you need to make this relatable which is why it is OK to identify with a stereotype as chances are, this is what they are thinking anyway.
After identifying the stereotype, then identify the assumption that goes along with this. Whilst I wear nice clothes and drive a BMW, I am also extremely hardworking and always have been since a very young age. Identifying this will allow you to get ahead of the stereotype and become a REAL person.
- Be a REAL Person
It is easy to label or stereotype someone, but when this happens you need to find a way to make sure you are truly being identified as a REAL human being. I’m Warren Knight rather than an average height male who is engaged to be married. Yes, I am all of those things but I do not let them define me.
- Your Brand and Reputation
Part of building a strong personal brand is understanding where you need to make changes. There may be a slight gap between your brand and your reputation. Ask yourself, what three words would YOU associate to yourself? Once you have these, ask someone you trust the same question. If these don’t match up, think about why this is, and whether this is reflecting a gap between your brand and reputation.
- Make The Change
After you’ve found the difference between how you are perceived, and the reality of your personal brand, you might need to make some adjustments. Work on what is going to be the biggest change for your personal brand and work from there.
- Be Approachable
80% of success is just showing up. Make yourself available and approachable. I run monthly webinars, as well as share with my audience where they can attend a seminar of mine. This alone is me showing up, and being approachable.
- Say What You Mean, and Mean What You Say
Change people’s perception of you by being honest and staying true to your word. Don’t overcomplicate things. I know what works for my community as I have spent years fine tuning my written and visual content so that when someone comes across one of my articles, they know it’s from me.
There are so many great ways you can improve your personal brand and I have only shared a few. Invest in yourself and make sure your reputation reflects your true brand so that your customers know what to expect from you as a business, and you know you have reached your full potential.
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