What is Personal Branding and How to Create it?
Having a personal brand is not a luxury nowadays, but a necessity. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur in this digital world, you should develop your online presence. It will open doors of opportunities for you.
But, what is personal branding and how to do it? What should be the strategy and the importance of self-branding?
In this article, we will discuss these questions in detail with examples.
So, let's dive into it!
What is Personal Branding?
As the name suggests, this term is used to develop a brand identity for you and your business.
It is the way you will project your brand, services and identity to your target audience. It is the way to spread the word about your services to the world.
For example, Youth Spot is a personal brand of freelancer Laiba Akhtar. Through this, she is not only sharing her knowledge with the world but also telling her target audience that she has expertise in her niches. It is an example of personal branding.
Your brand should be strong enough to stand out from your competitors. It should be a solid reason for the clients to hire you and acknowledge your expertise.
For it, you should have a strong strategy. A solid strategy is imperative to create a positive and impressive personal brand.
Personal Branding Strategy:
We will discuss ten points vital for strong personal branding. In them, we will also discuss the 5Cs of Personal branding.
So, let's start with it!
Research and create a Personal Brand Statement:
A personal brand statement is a strong, unique and concise statement which will tell recruiters and your target audience what you do.
It should be a catchy and one to a two-line statement to give a glimpse of your expertise and knowledge. For example, if you are a copywriter, then your brand statement can be:
"I create compelling copy that fuels small business sales and growth."
It can also include your target keywords and a glimpse of your acknowledgements.
Just make it clear and unique so that recruiters and your audience will remember it.
Build a personal branding strategy:
Where to create the content, how to create the content, and what should be the target of your branding; are all questions that come into the personal branding strategy.
We will discuss where to create the content in a while. So, let's discuss how to create the content and what should be the target.
In how to create the content, you can write blog posts about your niche and expertise, can share carousels on LinkedIn or can design different social media posts on Canva and can share your expertise with the world. You can choose all these modes or only one mode to develop your branding.
Your target can be finding new clients, selling your expertise to the newbies or growing the product sales of your business.
Example of Personal Branding:
Copywriter Zohaib has built his brand by sharing his free Ebook and carousels on Instagram. Gradually, he is building his community.
Be an Expert:
You should be an expert in the niche in which you are doing your branding. Your brand should be related to your skill, experience and education. Also, you should keep your learning journey going on to become an expert in it.
Example of Personal Branding:
My Creative Clutter is an Instagram account of Palwasha who is an interior designer in Pakistan. She is an expert in recycling old things into new ones and keeps on sharing different videos of hers on Instagram. Also, she has started a WordPress blog where she shares her articles about recycling and interior designing.
Research your Competitors:
Ignoring your competitors will lead to a downfall in your branding.
Research how they are becoming famous, what type of content they are providing, which content of theirs is becoming famous and how you could provide improved content to your audience.
Research them thoroughly and plan your content according to them.
Decide a logo and colour scheme:
A professional logo and brand colours will make your brand attractive and authoritative. Decide your brand colours, and template and design your content according to it.
It will help your audience to remember you and it will also help you to create a large amount of content in less time. It will also represent you as a professional person in your field.
Example of Personal Branding:
Iqra is using attractive templates and black, yellow, red and green are prominent in her Instagram feed. This makes her Instagram account professional.
5 Cs- Clarity:
There are 5Cs which are imperative for the success of your brand. One of them is Clarity.
You should have clear goals in front of you. You should have a clear idea about your target audience and what you should deliver to them.
When you have a clear idea about the goals and target audience, you will deliver better content to them.
5Cs- Consistency:
You should know that personal branding is a lifetime work. You can't quit it because it will end up your brand, and your chances to grow in the business world. So, be consistent.
Make a planner and follow it. Take out time for your brand from your schedule and keep following it. It is the key to your success.
5Cs- Content:
Your content should add value to your audience's life. It should be attractive, perfect and authentic.
Your brand demands authentic content. In it, your personality, experiences and expertise matter. "Your story matters in your branding."
Example of Personal Branding:
Nakul is a social media marketer who has an Instagram account where he shares content related to his niche.
His whole content contains fun elements and music, reflecting his expertise and personality.
5Cs- Community:
You should develop a community by contacting other experts in your field, and by developing a positive relationship with your audience.
For developing the community, you should give valuable content to your audience. Listen to their remarks and pain points and help them solve their issues.
Also, have friendly relationships with other freelancers. Tag them in your content, comment on their content and never hesitate to ask for help. Be social to develop a strong personal brand.
Whenever someone tags you in their content or comments on your post, do reach him out. Make yourself available to your followers and make a strong community.
Example of Personal Branding:
Sidra Saleem is a freelancer who is building personal branding on LinkedIn and has built a huge community over there. She posted valuable content, commented on others' posts and gave a free consultation to those who are in need. In this way, she is making her brand successful.
5Cs- Creativity:
Last but most important in the Cs series is creativity. You should create a different type of content and should add creativity to it.
Your creativity can be reflected in your content or the elements you add to your branding.
Example of Personal Branding:
Youth Spot is using short tutorial videos, blog posts, carousels and attractive social media posts for its branding. Presenting content in different and attractive ways will attract more audiences.
Measure your Success Regularly:
Set some milestones and goals, and measure your success according to them.
Some goals or achievements in your branding can be:
Your sales rate starts increasing.
Businessmen start contacting you for your services.
Other influencers recommend you to the clients.
You start getting direct clients and projects.
Bloggers and influencers start mentioning you in their content.
You start getting tagged in different social media content.
These are some ways through which you can measure your success. If you start achieving these goals, it means you are on the road to successful branding.
Remain patient:
As I have already discussed, it is a long-term project. In it, you will face downfalls too. Success in it will take a lot of effort and time.
If you will remain consistent and patient and will use an effective strategy, your brand will gradually start giving you results. But if you give up on it, you will miss ample opportunities in your business.
Where to build a Personal Brand?
Most of you must have this question in your mind, so let's explore the answer.
You can build your brand on social media and blogging websites.
LinkedIn is the best social media platform for creating your brand. You can design different carousels, can write articles and can post written content there. You can build a community and can interact with other freelancers too.
Instagram, Facebook and YouTube are also best for your branding. You can create pages over there and can post your video or written content.
Also, WordPress and Blogger are best for personal branding if you are into the writing field. Medium is another website best for your writing portfolio and branding.
I will suggest you use social media platforms for your branding. They will skyrocket your business and help you to grow in less time. So, don't ignore the power of social media in personal branding.
Importance of Personal Branding:
Let's explore what are the benefits of personal branding.
Is it worth it to take out our time for it and create a strong strategy for it?
You must have this question, so let's explore the answer.
A personal brand increases your credibility and people will start trusting you.
You can land bigger opportunities and can earn your desired goals easily.
Recruiters can find you easily so you can get constant projects from it.
Your brand can give you money too. You can monetize your brand's social media account. Instagram, Facebook and YouTube can easily be monetized if you will have a successful brand.
Your online relationships will prosper. You can have friendly connections with other freelancers or businessmen of your niche. You can build a support system or team for your business.
So, these are some main benefits of personal branding which will make you a successful entrepreneur in no time.
Final Word:
To conclude, I only want to say that start your branding from today! Plan your schedule, take important decisions and start planning your brand.
Patience, consistency, strong and clear strategy will flourish your business and brand. It will open doors to new opportunities for you.
Also, keep on learning new skills and strategies to enhance your brand and business. It will make you competent and successful in life.
If you have any queries, do ask me in the comment section!
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