The key to taking quantum leaps in your industry is building a personal brand people trust.
Online businesses are transient. You can launch a brand and website in a day now instead of the same feat taking weeks, months, or even years. However, gaining people’s trust in a brand is becoming harder.
That’s where personal branding comes in.
Here’s how to build a successful personal brand to uplevel your business, gain authority in your industry, and build trusting relationships with your audience.
What is a Personal Brand?
A personal brand is, essentially, your online persona. It’s so much more than a business brand with the right logo. It’s the core essence of how you want to present yourself to the world. Without this transparency, you may be seen as less trustworthy and you won’t have the ability to vary in your offerings.
A strong personal brand is like entrepreneurial insurance.
You have to admit you’re the center of your network. You also have to realize successful businesses come from successful relationships. We have to be as human as possible to build those successful relationships online.
People trust brands that are backed by people they trust. Having a personal brand doesn’t mean you don’t get to have a business brand — a personal brand allows people to trust your business brand in the first place.
At the end of the day, your personal brand is your digital identity as an entrepreneur.
Building a Successful Personal Brand
Now that we know what a personal brand is, what exactly are the elements of a successful personal brand?
While people can easily build an identity with logos and design and build their marketing campaigns, they miss the main element that allows a personal brand to stand the test of time: strategy.
Here are the top elements that make an impactful, successful personal brand.
1. An Aligned Brand Strategy
Strategy in personal branding is the psychology, science, and deep understanding of figuring out what your target audience needs and who they’re most likely to do business with. It’s how you want to make your audience feel when they first see your brand.
Strategy helps you identify that personal brand statement, core message, and purpose of your brand. It gives you the chance to articulate your message in a way people can relate. Without that core message about who you are, why you’re here and what you do, your personal brand is just a pretty face.
There are a few levels to an aligned brand strategy.
Marketing
The first step to brand strategy is looking at the wider lens of your industry’s market: who’s buying the product or service you’re selling?
Analyze your competitors and note what they bring to the table and how you can set yourself apart. Then zero in on your target audience, creating a profile of your ideal customer and how you can solve a problem for them.
Personal Brand Statement and Values
After you have a solid understanding of your market’s position, you have to set the foundation of your personal brand. This foundation rests on your brand’s core values such as your personal branding statement and overall mission.
To get to this source, you have to ask yourself a few questions:
- What do you stand for?
- What are your main values?
- What do you want to be known for?
- Who do you want to influence?
Gather your thoughts and create a one liner statement that ecompasses your brand’s main message. This is the message you’ll take with you throughout your marketing and branding to gain recognition and authority within your industry.
Brand Story
Your personal journey is what sets you apart and makes your personal brand that much more relatable. It’s essentially your origin story and the reason behind your offer suite.
Think about the problems you’ve had to go through and how you’ve overcome them. Your strength, flexibility, or pivot in the face of adversity makes your story relatable to your followers.
Brand Voice and Personality
The personality of your personal brand goes beyond your normal everyday persona. If you’re a quiet person, that may not translate well because you have to be a little loud to shake life into your brand. However, if you’re quiet because you prefer having one-on-one connections and listening to others, this can translate into “empathetic” or “a great listener”. This personality then melts into your brand’s voice and how you communicate with your audience.
2. A Solid Offer Suite
Creating and fleshing out your offers is the next step to tackle once you have a killer strategy and solid foundation. Having an incredible brand to show off is only one part of the process to making money and building a following. Ergo, you must have strongly defined and aligned offers.
Think of what you love to do and where your zone of genius is (i.e. where your talents lie). Now think of a problem your audience is having. How can you solve it? Whether it’s through a product, service, program, course, or masterclass, think about how you can make your target audience’s life easier by creating it. Be as specific as possible in your offers and what exactly your clients will gain by working with you.
3. Strong Brand Identity
Your brand’s identity is the face of your offerings, message, and personality you bring to your audience. Developing a brand identity includes unique:
- Logo designs
- Fonts
- Color palettes
- Graphics and photos
Keep in mind your strategy will ultimately determine your brand identity choices. Allow your strategy and brand personality to determine how you want your audience to feel when they see your brand’s identifying features. The goal is for your target audience to recognize your brand from any advertisement or alongside your competition.
4. An Optimized Website and Website Copy
Your website is your control zone. It’s the place you can build on your offers and have the full say in how your audience views you. It starts with solid website copy which includes your brand voice and the steps your brand takes to solve your clients’ problems. Remember: you’re here to be the solution for your audience. You have to make that solution clear in your copy and throughout your website.
A few things to keep in mind when building a website optimized for paying clients include:
- Professional photographs of yourself as well as your products or services. Stock photos can offer value, however, personalized visuals such as customized graphics and your own photos create a more effective message.
- Written or spoken video testimonials and logos of companies you’ve worked with.
- A layout in line with your brand’s identity including on brand color palette and fonts.
At Brand Like Hers, our mission is to help trail-blazing women build strong personal brands that last. Our exclusive subscription program dives deep into brand strategy and identity all while assisting you in creating solid copy and design through our coaching process. At the end of our program you’ll have transformed your personal brand into a fully functional website complete with the tools you need to connect with your audience and complete sales. Apply here to level up.
