Branding yourself is one of the most important steps to ensure your future success.
Whether you’re an employee, freelancer or entrepreneur, if you want your career to flourish, you need to consider branding an integral part of your strategy.
A strong personal brand will get people’s attention when looking for new talent or industry experts.
Branding also helps you stand out from the crowd and ensures that employers or clients remember you for anything that comes up in their business in the future.
You are in control
You have the power to shape your brand. You can choose what you want people to think about you and, even more importantly, how you want them to feel about you.
You have the power to make it happen. But first, you need to know what your brand is all about.
Your brand is an extension of who you are — how people perceive you. It’s what they think and how they feel when they think about you.
Your brand is who they think you are and what they expect from your interactions with them.
Your brand isn’t just a logo or slogan — it’s everything that makes up who you are and what people think when interacting with you: Your personality traits, values, skills, experiences, and more.
It’s easier
Yes, it takes effort, but it’s not as hard as you think.
The first step is defining who you are and what makes you unique from other people in your field (i.e., the value proposition).
Once that’s done, creating content that resonates with your target audience becomes much easier.
Your content will be more effective because it will be tailored specifically for them.
This is especially important when marketing yourself online because there are so many ways to share content that can help build credibility and authority with your target audience — blogs, articles, social media posts, videos…you name it!
When that happens, people start recognizing the value of what they have come to know as “yours.”And when someone is looking for a solution, they know they can turn to you because they trust your opinion and expertise.
Focus on what you have to give
Your personal brand represents everything that makes up who you are—your personality, values, and passions.
When other people think of your brand, they shouldn’t think only of how they can benefit from working with you or buying from you—they should think about how much they’ll benefit from knowing you and interacting with your business.
That means that when they see something associated with your brand (like an article or video), they’ll be excited to read it or watch it because it will add value to their lives (even if it’s just entertainment).
This is why people follow individuals like Gary Vaynerchuk and Tim Ferriss—they know that they can learn something new from these people and that they’ll enjoy the process of learning.
Get an edge
Personal branding will help you get an edge over the competition.
When someone searches for your product or service online, they will want to find out what makes it different from any other similar products. The best way to do this is through your personal brand.
A strong brand will help position yourself as an authority in your industry, so people will remember who you are and trust you more than others in your field.
It will give you more credibility and authority with potential clients, investors, and partners.
Personal branding can help you achieve your professional goals
Regardless of what field you’re in or your role, thinking about yourself as a brand is a powerful concept that could help you create an image that enables you to stand out from the competition.
At the end of the day, you’re representing yourself as a whole. Presenting a professional and polished appearance is essential to creating trust and respect among your peers and potential clients.
A business card doesn’t say who you are; it only gives away one tiny piece of your identity. It’s time to regain control of your image by thinking with a brand in mind.