A personal brand is the perception of a person by society. It is expressed in a certain level of recognition, popularity, and a formed point of view from their target audience.
In times when competition among corporate brands is fierce, the personal brand of a business owner or company CEO can become a very powerful way to differentiate from competitors. If you recall many famous brands you admire, you will very often find the personal brand of the owner or CEO alongside the corporate one.
The owner’s personal brand can significantly accelerate business development by building greater trust among customers. Moreover, people love to follow public company owners, increasing the reach you create in the market.
Key Components of a Strong Personal Brand
Reputation — this is the perception of you in the professional environment, formed by personal achievements and professional successes.
Uniqueness — what distinguishes you from others (style, approach to work, personal values, or ideas).
Expertise — competence in a specific field that creates a desire in the target audience to be interested in your opinion or position on various professional issues.
Visual Identity — external image, communication style, social media content, personal branding.
Values — clearly defined principles that you support and convey.
Communication — how you share your ideas (through social media, speeches, publications, etc.).
How to Build a Strong Personal Brand?
- Formulate Personal Positioning and Values
Choose your target audience and then write down the answer to the question — who am I? This will be the image you want to create in the eyes of your target audience. For example, a long time ago, I formulated my personal positioning as follows: “Entrepreneur, expert in business systematization and building strong teams.” And since then, any of my public appearances have been in accordance with this positioning.
Lack of attention to personal positioning can blur your personal brand, making it insufficiently specific and unique. In the future, all your communications should convey your personal identity.
- Develop Your Personal Image
As soon as you start developing a personal brand, you will be massively exposed to your target audience. And that is why it is very important to develop your personal image. The more “hooks” your target audience associates with you, the better.
Imagine you attended several dozen public events, and photo reports were published about them, but the faces of people in the photos were hidden. Will your target audience recognize you in such photos? They should. Therefore, work on your image. If you feel it will be difficult to do this on your own, hire a personal stylist.
- Determine Your Tone of Voice
To do this, answer the following questions:
- How do you communicate with your target audience?
- Do you always speak politely, or do you allow yourself sharp expressions?
- Do you use profanity?
- What is the typical energy of your communication?
- Do you provoke or behave tolerantly?
It is important to define a consistent communication style and adhere to it in all places where your personal brand will be manifested.
- Choose Communication Channels and Develop a Strategy
Key communication channels include:
- Personal social media (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok)
- Personal YouTube channel
- Personal blog (separate website)
- Personal Telegram channel
- Publications in online and offline media
- Speeches at public events and conferences
- Participation in interviews with bloggers and podcasters
- Collaborations with influencers and opinion leaders
- Interviews and other appearances on radio and television
Choose which communication channels you will use, their priority, communication frequency, and the types of content you will use.
- Start Systematically Managing Social Media
In content marketing and SMM, regularity is the foundation of success. Even if you don’t immediately manage to create very viral content, continue to adhere to communication discipline and try to engage your target audience with your content as much as possible. Results come over time, as a consequence of persistent “hitting the same point.”
- Start Your Own Blog and YouTube Channel
Today, YouTube is a very powerful content platform and one of the largest in terms of search queries among search engines. If you are serious about building a personal brand, then you should be on YouTube.
Another question is the content format and publication frequency, but these are details. Of course, vlogging on YouTube will require you to understand how this platform works. However, these time costs will pay off many times over.
- Start Speaking at Relevant Public Events
As someone who has experience speaking at over 300 public events with audiences ranging from 100 to 10,000 people, I can confidently say that public speaking works very powerfully! Of course, you will need to develop a quality public speaking skill, but this is an area where quantity turns into quality — you just need to practice. And if you are not yet invited as a speaker to public events, there is nothing wrong with offering yourself for your first speeches.
The main thing is to be an expert in your field and be able to impress the audience. Believe me as the owner of a company that holds dozens of large-scale forums and conferences: finding good speakers is always a problem, and they are hunted.
- Get Into Interviews and Podcasts
Today, many people try to promote themselves by hosting podcasts and interviews, to which they invite interesting personalities. And this is a very good opportunity for the development of your personal brand. Try to track the most popular YouTube bloggers, get to know them, and get interviewed.
- Build Quality Search Results for Your Branded Query on Social Media
Few people think about the fact that the more popularity you gain, the more people will Google your name. And here the question arises: what is displayed in the search results if you Google yourself?
It is very important to ensure that the first ten search results for your name build trust and enhance your reputation. These can be articles, links to interviews, and your own materials. Here, you may need the help of SEO specialists who will promote the necessary resources for your branded query.
- Build Connections and Engage in Personal Influencer Marketing
Make a list of target media personalities and bloggers with whom it would be worthwhile for you to build relationships and enter a common information space. Try to ensure that these relationships are non-commercial and based on friendly relations and mutual sympathy. The more you are noticed in the online and offline communications of influencers, the stronger your personal brand will become.
It is important to remember that even if you do not use all the listed tools for personal brand development, you need to maintain regularity of communications in the channels you have chosen. And it is important to remember that in this work, quantity, persistence, and regularity turn into quality.
