What is a personal brand? It’s described as the practice of marketing people and their careers as brands. It’s a continuous process of developing and maintaining a reputation and impression of an individual, group, or organization.
The partnership between brands and consumers is dynamic and must be continuously refined. This ongoing process demonstrates the ambivalence of consumerism. A personal brand is appealing to companies to reinforce its visibility and increase its chance of receiving sponsorship.
Personal brands can be modified to reinvent a public persona. This may be to recover from embarrassment or to re-emerge from obscurity. The general audience’s perception of authenticity often determines the success of a rebranding.
Why do you need to build it?
When people want to build a personal brand, the first thing that they focus on is increasing their number of followers and subscribers on social media and their blog. These metrics are not useful for building a meaningful personal brand.
To build your personal brand, you need to provide a lot of value in one (or multiple) niche(s). Giving valuable content in one or numerous areas, lets the public begin to connect your name to the idea of what it means to be popular in that industry.
Building a personal brand requires a lot of work, but if you are ready to try, a company like Mekanic can help you. But here’s a few tips to help you get started:
Tip #1: Decide What You are Good At
To make a living at something, you need to be good at it or enjoy it. You need to acknowledge what you like to do. Once you know what you enjoy doing, you need to commit to being as good as you can to that thing. Commit to becoming a thought leader in something you love to do.
Tip #2: Find your Social Platform
A problem for most people trying to build their brand is that they tend to rush into making a website or spend many hours trying to determine the best way to brand themselves. The most important thing to concentrate on at the beginning is starting your craft, providing value to people in a public format, and from there working your way up. Find a social platform that suits your interests the best, and start creating great content. For example, if you’re a chef, make food videos on Instagram.
Tip #3: Collaborate
When you have your social platform, your next focus is building relationships with other thought leaders in your niche. This helps you grow your social following. Find other people who have great content and collaborate. For example, are you into fitness? Lift or do squats together, record it, and post in on YouTube. Create content together and share audiences. This helps everyone grow and make connections.
Tip #4: Build your Website/Email List
As soon as you’ve grown your social media following, it is time to build your website. Your website should be value-added to your followers and readers. You’ve attracted their attention through your social media, and the site gives them more value. You can offer specialized content on your website in exchange for their email-a free download or trial code to a program.
Benefits of Building a Personal Brand
People are interested in following other people more than they are in developing specific companies. Building an audience for your brand builds:
- Trust and authority – having a personal brand helps build trust with your audience and gives you a position of power in your industry.
- Get featured in media – a personal brand makes it easier for you to be found by media (online publications, magazines, television, radio, podcasts, etc.).
- Build your network – when you have a strong personal brand that describes what you do, it is easier for people to find you and connect with your brand.
- Attract more clients – building a brand that positions you as an expert in an industry or niche helps you attract more clients.
- Creating a lasting platform – it takes time, but your brand will grow, and your brand will stay with you as you expand your ventures.
