Creating a personal brand regardless of your profession can certainly seem like a daunting task. Admittedly, it is not easy and we’re not going to pretend it is. But we’re here to guide you through some of the basic steps of creating your own personal brand while running a blog or a website.
A personal brand is something that shows the world who you are. Obviously, you want to have a brand that stands out in the ‘crowd’ and is strong and interesting enough for people to seek it out.
Once you are at a point where you personally are satisfied with your brand, and people are beginning to identify you with your field of expertise, you can rest assured that all is coming along nicely. But, the big question is how to get to that point. Read on and find out!
How do you want others to see you?
Before you can start with any actual moves to build your brand, you want to make sure you know what the brand is. What are the characteristics of your personal brand? How do you want to be the perceived by others? This isn’t just some side task, but your very first serious step in creating a personal brand that truly reflects all the ideas and ideals you represent and adhere to.
Make sure you put a lot of thought into figuring out how exactly do you want others to see you. This process should be carefully planned out with strategies put in place to make sure you are actually coming up with the right ideas. You can obviously consult with someone you trust and who is familiar with your work, so you can test your ideas.
We believe this is truly the most important step of them all – once you set up your brand and become recognizable, there is no coming back from those initial associations people have made.
Market, market, market!
Ok, so you made a list of things and characteristics you want as being representative of your personal brand. Your website is up and now you wait. No, no you don’t! This is where you need to promote your brand and make sure your marketing strategies are on point.
You can only count on yourself to market you own brand. Promoting your personal brand means that you are actively coming up with successful ways for people and companies to start recognizing your brand in the sea of other corporate or personal brands.
Showcase your work, set up a way to display your achievements and make use of social media. Promoting is not necessary only done online, regardless if your work is exclusively online; you can print out flyers or business cards, plan a gathering/opening where you invite people that can help you advertise. Think of all the little things that you can do that can launch your blog or a website into a marketing arena and help it stay there.
We asked an expert. Petar Sisko, Director of an award-winning online options trading website, whodiscloses: “Many businesses make the mistake of guarding all of their information and expertise, instead of sharing it with potential customers and clients. If you give them a little bit for free, they’re a lot more willing to pay for premium services.“
Networking is the king!
So let’s try to figure out why you even decided to create your personal brand. We’ll go on a limb here and say your goal is to represent yourself, your ideas and your work the best you possibly can in order for it to have a certain impact. Obviously, you cannot maintain your personal brand without a number of people who will be interested in aligning with it or recognize themselves in the brand.
Therefore, you will need to network! Learn about networking, meet other professionals in your field and other fields as well, attend seminars and events, mingle and interact. Share your expertise and people will share theirs in return. Even if you charge for your services, there are always things you can share for free.
A personal brand is pretty much a requirement in today’s world. Spend as much time developing, maintaining and pushing forward your personal brand as you would the work you do and see it all come together.