Personal Brand: Where Everyone Knows Your Name
It’s time to promote your expertise, voice and services
Online or off, your personal brand defines who you are. It’s your whole picture. Few people know that better than entrepreneurs Chelsea Krost and Lewis Howes.
Krost is a leading millennial influencer and LinkedIn-rated Top 20 millennial marketing and brand strategist. Howes is a New York Times best-selling author who has built a multi-million-dollar online media company. Together, they know personal brands and the work that goes into them.
“Your personal brand is the true extension of you personally and professionally,” Krost said. “Your personal brand showcases your expertise, voice, services and perspective. It brings awareness to your business, but it still centers around you as an individual.”
Howes evoked memories of the TV series “Cheers,” set in the friendly confines of a bar.
“Personal brand is how people think of you when they hear your name,” he said. “Your reputation, contribution, goals, vibe — what you are known for — make sure it’s great.”
Where to start
With so much to do in the social landscape today, there’s a challenge to decide where to start first. A vision and plan make sense because anything left to chance leaves an opening for others to fill in the gap for you.
“First things first,” Krost said. “Once you have defined your niche, discover where your target audience is online. You need to invest time on the channels where your audience and customers are most active.”
Howes said marketers should begin where they feel most comfortable.
“Pick the social platform that you enjoy using the most, and commit to posting consistently,” he said. “Don’t overwhelm yourself with being on all of them. Make sure your posts are adding value.”
Consistency might be one of the greatest challenges to building a personal brand. People notice and wonder whenever you talk off brand.
“The biggest challenge, in the beginning, will be to decide which opportunities are worth doing for free to gain experience, exposure and contacts,” Krost said. “Exposure, credibility and an engaged community are the key ingredients to monetize your personal brand.”
There is also the dreaded paralysis by analysis, which Howes battled.
“The biggest challenge for me with personal branding was putting content out before it was perfect or I knew what I was doing,” he said. “My podcast is a good example.”
One at a time
Don’t overdo personal branding. Stick to one message at time rather than overloading each bit of content. You can become spam and turn people away. Focus instead on what you do and say.
“Do understand and become an expert in your niche, invest in building an engaged community, define your signature traffic builder — blog, podcast, Facebook Live or YouTube series,” Krost said. “Continuously build new relationships, and innovate from within.
“Don’t expect to see results overnight, fear failure, be overly promotional, compare yourself to your competition or expect for everyone to know your worth,” she added. “Prove your value.”
Howes suggested investing in “the highest-quality photos and videos you can afford. We’re a visual society, so it counts.”
Personal brands don’t have to focus on one area of expertise. They can branch out. Showing versatility adds personality to your brand as long as you don’t go too far afield. Make clear this is what you do for fun away from the job.
“It is best to start off with one niche,” Krost said. “Becoming a master at one thing is always better than being a jack of all trades. However, our personal brand should always evolve in the relevant ways native to our expertise and target consumer.”
Howes said any brand evolution should keep its objective in mind.
“Start out with a really focused niche for your brand,” he said. “Once you have a loyal audience around that topic, you can expand to a related one. Stay focused on adding value.”
Anywhere, anytime
Personal branding applies across all social media because segments of your audience might watch you at any given time and place. All business on one site and party animal on another is a jarring combination.
“Join and participate in industry-focused Facebook or LinkedIn groups,” Krost said. “Network on LinkedIn and Twitter with writers, bloggers and producers. Offer them something of value.”
Howes has his personal preference.
“Instagram is king right now for personal branding, but for some brands Pinterest is really great for retail and the like,” he said. “Stick to the platforms that you enjoy the most.”
You can get press for your personal brand by developing relationships with members of the media. Let them get to know you and your services. They’ll be more inclined to help promote you. This also helps you manage your messages.
“Your engaged community could help catapult your visibility and success,” Krost said. “Personal brands that generate the biggest impact have loyal and engaged brand tribes.”
Promote with value
Howes picked up on the relationship factor.
“Getting good press is all about relationships,” he said. “Show up with a giving attitude. Make it easy for people to promote you by adding value to their audiences.”
Transparency and community growth also play large roles when building personal brands. Without either, you have a personal brand but no one will see it.
“People want authentic, transparent relationships with the brands and people they follow,” Howes said. “Be honest and real with your community, and they’ll become true fans.”
Krost nodded to the power of the younger generation.
“Millennials value being true to themselves, and they demand the same transparency in the brands they support,” she said. “The brands that align with those values are the ones that will truly have the strongest staying power.”
For your personal brand to stand out, be aware of what your competition is promoting. If you know what you do better, start to emphasize that without referring to your competition. Let your audience make their own informed decision — with your help.
“Your signature traffic builder will help you stand out,” Krost said. “How are you building your audience? What will people know you for? My answer is #MillennialTalk. My Twitter chat has helped me to be unique and different. It is something many people miss out on.”
Wilde one
Howes deferred to Oscar Wilde who said, “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”
Employees also have a stake in personal branding. They should do what they do best and add to their skills whenever possible to brand themselves as indispensable and reliable.
“As an employee, your personal brand can have a huge impact in the workplace and help you to network new leads, demand higher pay, move up within the company or monetize a side hustle,” Krost said.
Howes emphasized that an employee’s “reputation within your company is your personal brand. Be known for being the biggest giver. Play to your strengths.”
The more visible your personal brand and the greater its reputation, the more sought after you’ll be for business opportunities.
“Look for influencers who need your expertise, and add value to them without asking for anything in return,” Krost said. “It’ll come back around.”
About The Author
Jim Katzaman is a manager at Largo Financial Services and worked in public affairs for the Air Force and federal government. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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