Are you running your own business? If so, do you use skills to build a personal brand? If not, it’s time to go all out to build your own personal brand. Whether it is a business or an individual, you can gain influence by building a personal brand.
Why is Personal Branding Important
Personal branding is important because it helps give a person more credibility. It’s never been more competitive to land a new job or earn a paycheque. With more people building personal brands, you need to put yourself out there to get noticed. Personal branding can let recruiters find experts like you with ease, especially if you’ve been blogging brand yourself. If you’re trying to land a higher position at a new company, you can showcase key data such as the number of followers you have, how much traffic your website gets, or other vital metrics which can give you a competitive advantage over other candidates. Think of it almost like an online portfolio about yourself. Branding yourself allows more people to get to know who you are and how you bring value.
Now I will share with you the six best personal brands to promote business development skills.
1. Choose a channel
The first thing you need in order to build your personal brand is to choose a dedicated channel to make your mark. If you try becoming famous across multiple social platforms right away, you probably will not be successful on any of them.
“All of the big names in the industry have a channel that made them famous. Whether deliberately or by accident, influential people discover a channel for their message that has insanely high engagement,” says Larry. “Take Rand Fishkin (founder of Moz), for example; he became ‘internet famous’ from his YouTube Whiteboard Friday series. For me, it was Medium.”
2. Decide on your message
Once your personal branding channel is locked down, it is time to choose your message. Hopefully, you already have some ideas of what you plan to preach, but you need to ensure you’re promoting a compelling and consistent message to your audience.
The message Larry has continuously preached is to “be a unicorn in a sea of donkeys.” Why? Because unicorns are remarkable, and donkeys are not.
3. Use a fun gimmick to get that message across
A message on its own isn’t enough to establish a legitimate personal brand; you need something fun and compelling to bring this message to life. For Larry, this is his unicorn metaphor. In fact, Larry’s unicorn gimmick is so real to me that every time I see a unicorn image or stuffed animal in a toy store, I instantly think of Larry.
This tip surely requires you to get your creative juices flowing, but if you are able to come up with something as memorable as unicorns, then your audience will be unable to forget you.
4. Share your startup story
Life outside of business has many components, and sharing these personal stories will make others feel more connected to you. Customers will trust you more by knowing your entrepreneurial story.
5. Networking is super important
In this age of advanced Internet, using the Internet to increase your visibility and product exposure is the simplest and most effective way.
So how can you become a better networker? Like, comment, and share the content of big industry names, and they will take notice that you’re doing just that. Then cement these relationships in real life. Before industry events, do your research. Figure out who the top five people you want to meet are, and devise ways to have someone introduce you. Brainstorm talking points ahead of time, and you’ll be new best friends with your favorite industry celebrities in no time.
6. Keep learning, don’t rush
Before implementing all the personal branding techniques discussed above, ask yourself why. What is your goal in developing your personal brand? Is it to grow your company or career development track? Are you striving to become a well-known communicator?
You gain experience and understand your industry before marketing yourself. Learn and accumulate professional knowledge first, and then share it with others. It takes time, money, and work, but the accumulation is very worthwhile.
Building a personal brand can help take your business to new heights. By following personal branding techniques such as authenticity, consistency, and socialization, you can help increase your chances of success in your career.
Are you considering building a personal brand? Tell us in the comments!
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