How to craft a brand identity that will get you high-paying opportunities

Have you recently heard of young people earning jaw-dropping amounts of money from their digital skills? Well, I have. We’re talking about thousands of dollars being raked in per month. It’s enough to make you wonder what makes them stand out as valuable experts and assets to their employers/clients or how they even communicated that value.

People in that category have built that identity intentionally, and this can be observed in their stories. The stories are simply mind-blowing. But what is more mind-blowing is that this reality is within reach for anyone with a digital skill today.

As you must know, we are in the digital skills era, and high-paying opportunities abound because there is a high demand for those skills. By harnessing your skills and crafting a compelling personal brand identity, you can move from being a random hustler to becoming a clear voice of authority in your field.

What exactly does it mean to craft my personal brand identity?

Your personal brand identity is basically the perception the public has of you. This public comprises your target audience, your potential clients/employees, and anybody who can refer you/your services to another person.

Crafting your brand identity is all about building your reputation, creating an image of yourself for the outside world, and marketing yourself as a professional. Seeing as there is a limit to how many places you can physically be, your brand identity speaks for you when you’re not in the room.

As a digital creative, whether you work as a freelancer or in a full-time role, crafting a brand identity is very important. This is what helps you create awareness that you exist in the values market. It is what attests to your credibility, and what brings clients/employers knocking on your (digital) door for your services. Essentially, a strong brand identity means that clients will constantly seek you out, rather than you hustling to find them.

Quick exercise: Can you assess your brand identity as it stands right now?

Take a look at what Google says about you. Type in your name in the search bar and observe what comes up first. Is it your personal Facebook profile, your LinkedIn page, or any other formal platform? Is there any representation of what you do professionally, or any intentional stuff you have written about your skills? Or is it that ‘banger’ meme on your Twitter that earned you the title ‘King of Vibes’?

Click on the Google images tab and check out the photos. Are they pics that you want professional contacts to see, or are they pictures from 15 years ago? Do you even show up at all? Are the search results dominated by several of your namesakes?

If the results shown on Google do not reflect the brand identity you want to reflect, then you have to work on this. This exercise helps you to evaluate if you have a strong brand identity or none at all.

70% of employers/potential clients use Google to check you out, and 70% review your social media profiles as part of their recruitment process. If you want high-paying opportunities, you must pay attention to how you are perceived in the eyes of your stakeholders

Now here are some steps to take to make your brand identity shine like a beacon!

• Clarify your core values and brand purpose

This is essentially your WHY. Asides from the need to make lots of money (which is a strong reason for me), you must also clarify what drives your mode of work. What is it about your work and your skills that make you stay up late at night and up early in the morning?

Are you bent on quality and excellent attention to detail? Do you aim to provide the simplest solutions to your potential clients? Is it all about creativity and innovation? Integrity and respect? Relatability and empathy? Discipline and dependability? What do you want to be known for? What will make you stand out against your competition?

Your brand identity has to clarify the functional and emotional benefits it delivers. You don’t have to stand for every single value. All you need is to establish what resonates with you the most.

Now, you can’t just have your WHY up there in your head. You need to have evidence you have to show what you’re gunning for. Your awards and testimonials, qualifications, media mentions and appearances, and customers’ and clients’ feedback, all point back to what you essentially stand for.

• Understand your target audience, key stakeholders, and competitors

A fine-tuned brand identity is crafted with people in mind. These are the people who would patronize you, employ you, offer you contacts, refer you, benefit from your skills, take action because of what you offer, or be displeased by you. Therefore, you need to understand who these people are. You must understand those you want to appeal to- the high-paying clients/employers who are out seeking value and not mediocre work.

• Take control of your ‘PIE’

Your PIE refers to your Performance, Image, and Exposure. All of these three pieces need to be carefully managed, as they determine how well you would locate top opportunities.

Performance is key, of course. You need to deliver quality results in your work, whether you are an individual (freelancer or full-time employee), a small business/agency, or a digital startup.

Without excellent performance, you lose the trust and respect of the few clients who have given you an opportunity. Image is about what other people think of you. The last piece- Exposure- has to do with where and how you position yourself. It serves to let the right kind of people know about you and what value you offer.

• Fall in love with LinkedIn (and other professional networking platforms)

If there is one place where you’d be checked out professionally, it will be on LinkedIn. So, if you aren’t leveraging this platform to craft your brand identity, then you might be missing out. Pay attention to your profile, and ensure it is up to date. An inactive or problematic profile makes a poor first impression. The same applies to professional networking platforms for freelancers, such as Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, etc.

On your LinkedIn, make sure you invest in a professional photo. Your headline should also capture your skills confidently. Make sure you do away with weak adjectives and descriptions like ‘Aspiring’ Writer, Design ‘Enthusiast’, or just ‘Freelancer’. As an employee, you are more than just your job title. So, ensure you use words that capture your skills, responsibilities, and the value you offer to your industry. As a newbie or a young business owner, describe yourself in ways that indicate your interests and new direction.

You should also pay attention to the messages coming in the recommendations and in updates. Ensure your feed is streamlined to things and opportunities that can benefit you. The content you like and comment on also says a great deal about your identity. In the same way, assess your other social media profiles and make necessary changes. If needed, set up a more professional page. What would a prospective employer or client think of you from what they find online?

• Create relevant content; tell compelling stories

No doubt, content is critical when you are crafting your personal brand identity. Even when you are not a pro writer, you still have to leverage the power of compelling stories. This helps you to pique the interest of whoever comes across your personal brand. It serves to appeal to the humane, emotional side of your target audience. Tell about your journey, and the key takeaways you’ve gotten from your successes and even your failures. This way, you come across as a well-rounded individual, with valid experience.

Finally, we understand that gunning for high-paying opportunities is a marathon and not a sprint. But it can be easier when you harness your digital skills and invest in a well-crafted brand identity. Thus, we recommend developing a clearly-defined strategy that sets you on the right path with guaranteed outcomes.

With our customized solutions, you can take the right steps NOW to strategically build your personal brand identity and attract the juiciest opportunities available in the digital labour market.