3 Quick Tips to Personal Branding in 2016

The digital age means you have two opportunities: 1) You can ruin your reputation (hence the book “So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed”) or you can 2) Re-create yourself and brand yourself as an expert in whatever it is that you’re good at. Obsessed with cats? Try Wayofcats.com. Jacked and into fitness? Checkout any of the thousands of fitness bloggers about there.

I started Tailor Made Style a year ago with absolutely no idea of how I was going to ‘make it’. Even to this day, all I know is that I followed these three steps by faith and great things happened. It sounds a little mystical, but I want to see you succeed and I wouldn’t put my reputation on the line by sharing something that I didn’t apply to my life.

We all have to start from 0 but the possibilities are endless. The most intimidating part about anything, whether its a business or a relationship, is starting. Seeing influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers already can make starting the journey intimidating. Even if you don’t want to post outfit grids and exaggerate your morning cup of coffee for a career, there are tons of benefits to branding yourself in whatever field you work in.

1) Study

No one’s going to listen to you unless you know what you’re talking about — you don’t have to be on the internet to know that. Make sure you do a LOT of studying. Working a few retail jobs doesn’t hurt with your knowledge of clothing, how it works, and the every day guy’s relationship to his clothing.

Knowing what you’re talking about will not only save you time when creating content, it’ll save you time from having to answer questions about why you don’t know what the ……. you’re talking about.

2) Push quality

The amount of content it takes to push out to get anyone to know you is highly underestimated. I’m talking hundreds of Instagram posts and an even higher number of blog posts. You don’t have to make sure its perfect, but make sure its good!

There’s so much noise on the internet that its hard to find quality. Some practical advice: invest in a DSLR and don’t just use your iPhone camera, don’t include pictures of your dog or children on social media when branding yourself — to name a few).

3) Play the long game

Its easy to sell out for the short term buck, like buying Instagram followers (which brands along with every day people can tell are fake) to put on a front. Social media has connected me with the most fulfilling people in my life. At the same time, I’ve seen it create storytellers, liars and ‘fronters’.

Stay true to you and create a brand for the long run. Only work with clothing brands that align with your brands and that you believe in. Don’t say or promote things you don’t believe in for free stuff. Do you buy from Nike the shoe, or Nike the brand?

Dj Hargrave is a menswear influencerand founder of Tailor Made Style. His goal as an influencer and blogger is to empower others to become the strongest version of themselves through their style. You can find him on Instagram and Snapchat @tailormadedj