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Building a personal brand can help you achieve your goals, whether you are looking for a better job, a promotion, changing careers, or expanding your network. As marketers, we frequently promote services and products, but we often forget that we must also market ourselves! Follow these seven steps to build your personal brand.
1. Establish and Prioritize Your Values and Passions
Values are the things that you hold dear in your daily life and job. They form the foundation of who you are as a person and guide your priorities. Friends, family, honesty, community, ambition, and so on are examples of values. When presented with a difficult decision, you usually rely on your deepest values.
Values are vital in business, especially while looking for work. A applicant is more likely to get hired if their values align with those of the firm. Prioritizing your values will assist you in determining your own brand’s vision.
Interest are the activities that you enjoy doing in your spare time. These are generally distinct from your values, however, they may occasionally overlap. To begin developing your personal brand, you must first define your personal and professional passions. Professional interests may include technology, automation, and design, but personal interests may include family and golfing.
Values and Interests assist you in determining where you want to be in two, five, or even twenty-five years, including your ideal professional path. If the aforementioned hobbies and values were applied to a person, he would most likely perform well in an email marketing role requiring design and automation, albeit he would need to live in a location with plenty of outdoor activities.
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2. Define Your Key Characteristics
What makes you stand out in a crowd? These are your distinguishing characteristics, and they contribute to the formation of your own identity. The following are the Big Five Personality Characteristics:
- Receptivity to new experiences
- Conscientiousness
- Extraversion
- Agreeableness
- Neuroticism
Each of these characteristics is measured on a scale, and where you land on the scale determines your distinct personality. You may find out what yours is by taking a free test. This exam should provide you with information about how amiable, extroverted, open-minded, and so on you are, as well as assist you in developing your personal brand. Of course, these characteristics do not have to be permanent; if you are unhappy with your results, you can take action to move along the scale in one direction or the other. For example, if you are averse to new experiences, you may try them at work and in your personal life. Changes to important features such as extrovert and introvert characteristics, on the other hand, are unlikely to be successful.
Do you want to learn more about determining who you are today? Solicit the candid opinions of your friends and family. Begin by asking them to provide you with three adjectives that characterize you.
Once you’ve identified your important characteristics, you may craft your own brand statement: When creating this, imagine your finest self.
3. Create Your Personal Image
It’s time to start showing your beliefs, hobbies, and personality qualities now that you have identified them! Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Create a signature for your emails that is unique to you. (If you can’t alter your company’s email signature, use your personal email.) Include all of your contact information, as well as your signature, social media icons, company name, and website URL.
- Get professional headshots and use them on Linkedin, in your company profile, and so on.
- Dress the part! Keep a fresh blazer and pressed pants or skirt on hand for networking events and important meetings.
- Content can help you establish a reputation. Use your personal blog, Linkedin profile, or publishing sites like Medium to spread your message on areas about which you are informed.
4. Define Your Target Audience
It is impossible to please everyone, so why would you aim to please everyone when developing your own brand? Defining a target audience is critical for corporations as well as individuals. Consider how, when you were younger, you made certain that your demands were approved by your parents when they were in a good mood. This simple example illustrates an important lesson: it is ideal to invest your time and energy in an audience that is more likely to provide you with the desired outcome.
Your target audience consists of:
a. The Individual Who Will Pay You: This individual is usually a boss, an investor, or a client. This individual is in charge of the next stage of your career. Make a description of this person (actual or fictitious) and include as many details as you can. Then, determine this individual’s personal and professional motivations. Understanding his/her motives will help you better grasp how she can assist you in meeting your own goals, as well as how you can assist her in meeting hers!
Maybe your boss wants to be Chief Marketing Officer so she can spend more time with her family. You can assist her in freeing up time by taking on more assignments or optimizing processes. Then she will be delighted to assist you in return! Set up a meeting to discuss your goals and detailed dates and must-do items for achieving them.
b. The Individual Who Influences the Individual Who Pays You: Make it simple for your boss/client/etc. to put you in touch with her superior or direct influencer. Outline your existing accomplishments as well as your goals in a readable way. Demonstrate how you have gone above and beyond in your current role.
c. Your Supporters: Who are your messages aimed at? Who will benefit the most from devouring them and providing you with what you seek? That is your intended supporter base. If you are looking for a new job or a promotion, your supporters could be your peers who will assist you get there by providing outstanding references.
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5. Build an Online Presence
From Twitter to podcasts, blogs to Facebook, you must get your voice heard in order to develop your unique brand. First and foremost, you must secure URLs, social usernames, and so on that are most suited to your business before someone else does! This covers your personal website as well as any social networks you decide to join.
Knowem and NameChk are two tools that can help you check availability across hundreds of social communities. If your desired name has already been taken, consider experimenting with dashes, underscores, or digits to discover one that best fits your brand.
If you want to improve your employment status or find new clients, LinkedIn is a great place to start. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are the other big networks to investigate. Secure your login here and begin constructing your profiles on the network(s) that will best fit your personal brand and help it grow.
Furthermore, make certain that your personal website highlights your best qualities and/or work. Create a portfolio if you are a writer or designer. Start a podcast or film yourself presenting at a conference if you are a speaker.
6. Begin Blogging!
Many marketers believe that blogging is the best method to promote a business, but it may also be effective in building a personal brand. Once you have created your website, follow The Guide To When Are You Ready To Start Blogging to get started blogging. You are well on your way to developing a long-lasting personal brand once you have gained followers.
Some of the most effective ways for obtaining followers are as follows:
- Writing about influencers and convincing them to promote your content
- Making use of social sharing buttons on your blog
- Participating in the appropriate online communities
- Syndicating and repurposing your content once you have created an audience, make sure to post on a regular basis, adhere to SEO best practices, and continue to cater to your audience for the greatest results.
7. Follow in the Footsteps of a Professional
Who do you look up to, both inside and outside of the marketing industry? Here are some amazing examples of personal branding that you can take directly from professionals. Keep an eye out for how these people express themselves and their work.