Not many people are 'clued up' as it were as to what personal branding is and how you can use it to your advantage when getting the career promotion you want, the job that you want or building an audience for yourself. So in today's post, I wanted to share with you a short guide as to what personal branding is along with how it can help benefit you both in your career and hobbies.
What is Personal Branding?
The first thing I want to make you aware of is that everyone's personal brand is unique and individual to them. Personal brand is defined as a "vivid indication of what you have to offer e.g. it's the performance, contributions and value your next employer or audience can expect from you."
So now you know what personal brand is defined as, you are probably wondering how you can enhance and develop your personal brand. Well below I have listed 8 tips in which you can develop your personal brand and use it to get the career or audience you so desire.
Tip 1 - Be True to Yourself -
If you're not genuine or authentic then people will see straight through this or cracks will start to show later on down the line. You need to be able to be true to yourself and know what image, voice and presence you want to portray to your employer or your audience. There is only one you and what you portray is completely unique so make it true and amazing!
Tip 2 - Be Aware of Your Online Image -
Did you know that 93% of employers search potential interview candidates of their social media accounts? With the majority of employers taking this stance, it is important that your personal social media shares the same values and authenticity as you are wishing to portray.
Tip 3 - Market Yourself -
People love to see real people. They don't want to engage with a robot or someone who is not true to themselves or relatable. Therefore, be willing to show the real you. The more real you are, the more people can relate and engage with you.
Tip 4 - Have a Focus -
What is it that you are wanting to use your personal brand for? Are you wanting to reach out to a particular audience? Or maybe you are wanting to progress in your career? Whatever your focus is make sure that it aligns with you and your authenticity and then go ahead and create the personal brand you so desire.
Tip 5 - Tell a Story -
This one is more focused on influencers or someone wanting to build a brand. If you are telling a story through your content, this will make it easier and more relatable for your audience to follow. Using more personal platforms such as YouTube and Instagram will help you build a relationship with your audience.
Tip 6 - Be Consistent -
When is comes to your personal brand, you don't want to be showing one thing and then flitting to the next thing. What I mean by this is, be consistent with how you want your personal brand to be portrayed. Don't be genuine and authentic and then the next day do something that is the complete opposite of your natural character as this will leave your employer or audience confused.
Tip 7 - Create A Positive Impact -
What do you want to be remembered for? Think about this and see what comes to mind. For me, I want to be remembered for helping people become the very best versions of themselves, for being kind and for being a support base for my friends, family and people I cross paths with. Understand your why and this will help better lead you to understand what you want to portray in your personal brand.
Tip 8 - Follow a Success Example -
If you're stuck and not sure what personal brand you want to portray then look ahead at those who have stepped before you and who you look up to, who you want to be most like. Learn from them, research them, take advice from them. Of course, their personal brand will be unique to them but you can take the base of their brand and make it your own.
I hope you have found this blog post helpful to 1. give you a clearer understanding as to what a personal brand is and 2. given you tips and advice on how you can develop your personal brand into something that is genuine and authentic to you.
To help kick start your personal brand journey I have included a free, downloadable template for you which will hopefully be a useful guide to get you started. You can download the template here.
This blog post is Day 22 out of the January Series where I will be uploading 31 blog posts to help you kick start your 2021 in the right way and to help you become the best version of you.
Leave a comment below if you have any blog post ideas that you would like me to do in the future
See you tomorrow for another blog post! :)
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