Personal branding is an essential component or growing online today. Personal branding not only helps your viewers identify you, but also dramatically increases your chances of attracting them with the right opportunities. Every brand and brand personality you observe today, and maybe even following regularly, are using the same rules as outlined here.
Branding is all about being known for something by a large group of people; carving your own niche in a crowded marketplace.
Personal branding is often mistaken to be an effort to becoming a celebrity, which is a big myth. Becoming popular or having a large following is an outcome of being effective at conveying your message.
Personal branding is more about creating your own voice, sharing your perspective, your ideas of how something should be and can be done better, standing up for something that you believe is right, sharing your success and how you can help others. It is proven that this process could help a student to connect with mentors, job seekers to connect with the right companies, entrepreneurs get more visibility with their customers, industry leaders bag big projects, Freelancers could get more enquiries, and networkers could exponentially grow their network.
But before you get started, here are a few ground rules to get the most out of your personal branding efforts:
Have Clarity
Having a clear vision of what you want to project and achieve out of your personal branding efforts is the biggest advantage to give yourself a great start. Although this process is time consuming and needs the maximum effort, but once you execute this, the rest is effortless.
A lot of people jump into creating content, graphics, videos, articles and without identifying what they are aiming for.
Now, am all for taking action first and then making adjustments, don’t get me wrong I don’t want you to stay glued to your desk for a month thinking about this. Rather, I would like you to think for 5 mins of what your audience want to know about your work, your mission and most importantly “YOU” as a brand so that it triggers the right response.
Be Genuine
Don’t pretend to be someone who you are not and never want to be. The online world can be brutal, and the effects can never be wiped off. It is ok if you change course but while on the course be honest of who you are.
"Be genuine. It will make it much easier to manage your personal brand on a daily basis," explained William Harris, Facebook ads expert at Elumynt.
Your personal brand should be an extension of who you are, thus making the process of sharing your views and ideas becomes seamless and real.
People respond to stories
We have been programmed since birth to storytelling in the form of books, movies and nowadays binge worthy web-series. Stories stick. You and I respond to a story because we imagine ourselves as the characters. Stories invoke emotions and emotions invoke a response.
Master the art of storytelling and you will see a difference in the way people respond to you online or in person. This is a life-skill you must master sooner than later.
Be Consistent
“Ensure that your personal brand promise stays consistent, both online and offline,” explains Fyiona Yong, director and millennial leadership coach (ICF ACC)
Be consistent in your standards, your personal brands voice and what you serve. People need to know that you are someone who has invested in your, time and experience to be qualified to help them with a solution they are looking for.
So, whether you are being creatively quirky, incredibly out-there and outspoken brand or one that’s a bit more on the conservative, corporate side, consistency is key.
Be Prepared to Fail
If you are starting off afresh, then know that things may not work out exactly as you planned for the first few times. It takes a minimum of 6 failed businesses for the 7th one to work. That’s just the way it is.
While it is tough to accept failures, it would help if you look at the failures as a part of the process and get over it. Your personal branding efforts are going to see ups and downs but so long as you are genuine and true to your own brand, the “Lows” won’t even matter in the long run. In fact, it will only add a new character to your branding message.
Don’t aim for instant perfection, because even Mc Donald’s was an overnight success 30 years in the making.
Re-Create rather than Re-invent
When it comes to personal branding, you can either start from scratch or follow a few successful personalities in your area of interest. Study what they do, how they project, observe how they pick up a topic, study their audience behavior, observe them across different social platforms. This can easily give you a head start in curating your own strategy, content and research.
For example, if you want to talk about investing then who better than Warren Buffet, for Personal development – Tony Robbins, for Mind Power – Jim Kwik, For Business – Mukesh Ambani or my personal favorite Richard Branson. Find a niche, find the best in that niche, follow them, study them and adopt what they do best.
In Summary, make the most of the opportunities the social and digital platforms provide you, do it with a clear intent, honesty and consistency, it is the best investment you will ever make.
About the Author
Dharmesh Suryavanshi is also a digital and automation evangelist who has conceptualized and launched over 8 brands since 2017. With Purview Digital, his vision is to help business owners launch and grow their brands not just through social media but also by simplifying the customer journey while giving them a seamless digital experience.