Whether you’re a freelancer, author, blogger or entrepreneur, your personal brand is the most influential factor of your success. It is a symbol of who you are; it establishes the first impression that prospective clients will use to determine whether or not they’re interested. Personal branding can be fun, but it’s also a professional marketing strategy that can make or break your career. These 5 tips will have you lay the foundation you need to build your personal image and establish the type of online presence necessary to succeed.
Stay Connected on Social Media
Social media is the number one way to marketing yourself online, and there are a variety of platforms that can all accomplish different goals. If you don’t already, sign up for a Facebook and Twitter. You can use both of these to network, build an audience and promote your latest achievements. They’re also great places to share your blog posts and market them with hashtags relevant to your field.
Keep Consistent
Make sure that your LinkedIn, website and social media accounts all use your name. When you update them, make sure that they are all done around the same time. While your Twitter feed will obviously be more active than your Facebook profile, you shouldn’t be updating one every day while the other lays untouched and barren for months. Knowing that you have to effectively market your brand is also a great motivator to get out and try new things.
Be Informative
Don’t just talk about yourself. Although this is your personal brand, it shouldn’t be a mindless, mechanical report of everything you do and accomplish. Instead, demonstrate all that your achievements have taught you by providing thoughtful and insightful content your audience can apply to their own lives (and remember you by!)
Be Original
It can be tempting to follow after the greats in the biz, but make sure the type of content you post is distinctive and reflects your values and mission. Looking to others for inspiration is great, but you shouldn’t be rehashing blog content or modeling your output after anyone else’s.
Focus on Your Speciality
Even though your personal brand is about you, there needs to be a persona behind it that highlights your strengths and demonstrates your exceptionality in a given field. Whatever your speciality is, find a way to build your image around it. Doing so will allow you to reach the right audience and boost your success.
Bringing It All Together
Personal branding takes time and effort. You’ll have to take a few days (maybe even weeks or months) to find out who you are and who you want to be. Although it may take a while to get off the ground, having a solid image before you embark on your personal branding journey will instill you with the confidence required to be successful. Above all else, don’t be afraid to embrace changes in your life or career mindset. The great thing about a personal brand is that it can grow as you do. Stay true to who you are, keep your goals in mind and your brand will be able to evolve overtime into a portrait of your success.
