We all have our own brand. We might try and avoid it but try as you might, we all end up being branded either by experiences that people have had working with us or just based on the image we give out by how we dress or act in general. So how does one start building a brand? Why should one even build a brand?
Lets start of with why. The reasons people have behind personal branding are wide, one might want to use personal branding as a way of enhancing sales, to be able to negotiate higher salaries or to be able to achieve a leadership role in a specific field. When you have a strong personal brand, negotiations are easier and people are more likely to already recommend your services to their contacts.
So how do I do it? The first thing we need to start with is to find out who you are? Look honestly at those things that make you, well, you. What are your own strengths and weaknesses, what are the things you enjoy talking about and what are those things that you have knowledge of, or what are those things you want to be known for in the future when you have a strong personal brand. Everything starts with setting a goal. The best goals are those that play in with your natural strengths, so choose something to focus on. A good personal brand is something that is easy explained to other people.
When you focus on something that you already have knowledge of, you will with time start achieving a leadership role. That is why its important to remember to also put in with your personal brand a little bit — or a lot — of personality. This will help people remember you. A good example is for example Lady Gaga, who dressed in a very unique way when she released her first few songs, helping people remember her, making her a very distinctive artist.
A second thing that helps people build a strong personal brand is visibility. According to Marketing Donut 80 % of sales require up to 5 follow-up calls after a meeting. It is the same here, achieving a leadership role needs you to be consistently visible. You need to be persistent with your message and that is why building a personal brand needs networking, networking and networking among being active on a regular basis.
Besides being consistent, visible and showing your personality, its important to be the same person publicly and privately. Nothing ruins a good personal brand faster than finding out that the personal brand clashes with the “real deal”. A perfect example of a strong, positive, consistent personal brand that matched with the real deal, is that of Steve Irwin’s who sadly passed away 4th of September 2006. Still, his personal brand was and is that strong. that most of us remember him to this day as a leader in his field.
Is achieving a strong and positive personal brand hard? Absolutely! That being said - it is more than worth it in your future salary negotiations, launching new products, looking for new clients or using that personal brand to find work, and as stated before, we all have one, even if we do not try and build it, why not make it a great one?
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