What comes to people’s minds when they hear your name? What appears when a person searches about you on Google? Do you appear as an influencer in your niche or as a mentor to people? Personal Branding is the answer to all these questions.

Personal Branding certainly plays a very significant role in forming your presence online. Branding can have either a positive or a negative impact in various fields of your life such as the kind of campaigns you get to run on social media, the kind of job offers you get, and much more.

In this article, we will try to understand how to build your brand in a detailed way. Most people think that personal branding is a tough cookie, but it’s not. It doesn’t have to be as difficult as it seems, it just requires some hard work from your end. You can’t create a personal brand that will be effective and provide you with results overnight. But the good thing here is that personal branding will provide you with positive results and you will benefit from it.

But before we get into the process of building up a personal brand, let’s first talk about what is meant by it.

What does personal branding mean?

If one tries to define personal branding in simple words, one might say that personal branding is the one presents himself/herself both online and offline.

Personal branding is a vast concept. It is not just limited to your presence on social media platforms, it is so much more than that. There is a lot of thinking that one has to do to build a personal brand. You have to come up with your logo, you need to think about what your brand is going to be all about, and the topics you would like to cover.

You need to give a lot of thought to what you want to be known for when creating your brand. Do you just want to focus on the social media platforms or do you wish to be an expert in your niche and publish articles? Before you start making efforts towards your brand you need to set up a primary goal. This is because your primary goal will decide your future activities.

How to build your brand?

The process of building up a personal brand is known to be a lengthy one. We bring to you this guide in the hope that it will make you do it simply without any confusion. Let’s begin with it.

1. Figure out what you want to be known for

Since your brand is going to be a reflection of your personality, you need to give proper thought to it. Think about who you are, and the skills you have, things that aspire you. Thinking about these things is quite important. Make sure you are honest with your thoughts and try to be authentic about them. There are certain questions you can ask yourself that will make things easier for you. 

• What are the things that interest you?
• What are the things you are good at?
• What feeds on your energy? What boosts your energy?
• What industries interest you?
• Where do I want to be career-wise?
• What impact do you want to have?

Now, the answer to these questions may change over time. And trust me, it is okay. Your brand can evolve as you do. So, you need to be honest with yourself and accept that your image can very well change over time.

In case you are confused about the answers, you can always consult the people around you. Doing so will help you know about yourself in a better way and find also help you find like-minded people which will help you form a strong network.

2. Determine what makes you different than others

Being unique is very significant from the viewpoint of building a personal brand. If you are just like everyone else out there, you don’t have a personal brand. So, defining your uniqueness is a must. You can do it in the following two ways:

• You need to understand what your strengths are: To do this, you can ask yourself the areas you have excelled in the past. You can consider the compliments you received from others and what they think your talents are.
• Don’t be shy to talk about your strengths: By understanding your strength, you will have something to build your brand around it. You can share the achievements that will help you to build trust and credibility.  

3. Make sure you define your audience

One common mistake that many people make is that they appeal to every part of the population. It is very important you define your audience and then make efforts to appeal to them.

When you plan on launching a business, you need to make sure that the niche you belong to is in alignment with it. And if you want to build a brand to move forward in your career, your niche should be same the niche as your work. 

4. Make sure you optimize your website and social media profiles

Website

You need to optimize your website so that it reaches your target audience. And in case you don’t have a website, it’s high time you come up with one. Websites are a great way to attract your audience and reach the masses. You will come across a lot of free website building tools out there but it is always advised to purchase a domain and a web hosting plan. Also, make sure that you include the following on your website:

• “About Us” page
• Your past experiences and your accomplishments
• Links to your social media profiles
• Your logo
• Testimonials
• Clear CTA

Social Media

There are four main platforms that people usually use when it comes to personal branding. They are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. The platforms must align to present a common message, it is always good to start with creating a profile on just one platform in the beginning, and then you can move to other platforms.

5. You need to come up with a proper content strategy

Usually, people think that giving it all up with the content is a huge mistake. But in reality, it is quite the opposite. If you provide your audience with valuable content free of cost proves that you are an expert in the area in which you are talking about. It simply proves your expertise. And just imagine, if the free advice you gave worked out for people it will do wonders for your branding. But to make this happen, you have to come up with all kinds of content so that you can reach a large part of your audience. The types of content could be:

• Blogs/Articles
• Infographics
• Videos
• Webinars
• Podcasts
• Slides
• Online Courses

6. Create content that will add value in the life of your audience

Providing your audience with stale content is quite easy but that isn’t going to do them any good. You need to work hard and come up with fresh content for your audience that is informative, engaging, and can add value to their lives. To put it simply, your content should be able to make a difference in the lives of your target audience.

7. Build a community

Only providing content that makes a difference is not enough. You need to create a community where people can talk to you and with each other to help each other out. If you are looking to expand your connection, this is a great way of doing it. To build a community you can follow the following strategies:

• Hosting Meetups
• Creating Facebook and LinkedIn groups
• Organizing Webinars

Wrapping It Up!

Building a personal brand is indeed no child’s play, but the outcomes can blow your mind if you do it in the right way. It helps you connect to professionals who will understand your worth and can provide you with great opportunities in the future.

It doesn’t matter if you are trying to find a new job, become someone’s mentor, move ahead in your career, or grow your business, personal branding is something that can get you there.