A crazy amount of likes and a massive fan base – that was my idea of a personal brand a few years ago.
It’s kind of true but personal branding is much more than vanity metrics like impressions, likes, comments and followers. Gone are the days, when a personal brand was linked to celebrities and big companies only.
We are in a digital era, where a personal brand is rapidly becoming the most powerful tool to create an impactful digital presence. In a digital world, where connections are made online, a personal brand helps you to stand out from the crowd by building trust, creating a loyal community, and showing your strengths and passion.
People are more likely to be influenced by an individual personality than a faceless brand. Even big brands collaborate with digital influencers to market their services which we all know as influencer marketing. Your unique digital presence can give a boost to your career, and services and if nothing, your voice will still matter.
What is a Personal Brand and What is not a Personal Brand?
If you want to create a personal brand then first you need to clearly understand what is it. It is more than a fancy logo or a catchy tagline. It’s more about your personality and values.
It doesn’t mean to publicly display your personal life as many people get mistaken by the word, “personal”. It actually means, having a personal touch to whatever your niche is. Adding your voice or opinion to whatever you talk about.
It must not be about creating a false image of yourself. If you don’t stand by your values in actual life but you portray it through your personal brand then you are killing the purpose. You will not gain the community’s trust, hence less impact and power you will have over your followers.
There are some key elements that need attention while creating a personal brand.
- Values and Beliefs
- Unique skills
- Personality, voice and opinions
- Target Audience (whom you want to influence)
If you take these points into consideration while creating a personal brand, you would have already set a strong foundation.
Why Personal Branding Matters?
Personal Branding can positively affect your professional and personal life.
It can open the doors to new opportunities in your professional sphere. You can get increased recognition and exposure. Maintaining a constant online presence can help you attract clients, stakeholders and collaborators.
Not to mention the trust and credibility you will be building during the journey. If not big opportunities, you will still be set towards that path through new contacts and referrals.
From my personal experience, I can confirm that it’s all true plus the surge of confidence and a sense of purpose I gained is unmatchable to the monetary gains.
Choosing the Suitable Platform
There are many platforms available to create an online personal brand. You can choose any or all. However, in my opinion, you should put more thought into this.
First thing, if you choose all, it will require an insane amount of effort to build a solid community on all platforms simultaneously.
The smart decision is to choose one platform and give your best to it for at least a year and then slowly start on other platforms. This focused approach will allow you to build an audience and then leverage that audience to grow on other platforms. LinkedIn is a great choice for professional growth, Instagram suits small business owners, TikTok is ideal for those in art and entertainment, and Twitter remains a popular platform for many.
What are you waiting for? Find your niche, select the platform that aligns with your goals and start building your personal brand.
It’s never too late to start.
Hira is a Computer Science grad, a self-taught copywriter and a blogger on STEEM blockchain. Apart from her passion for writing, she is fond of reading fiction and landscape painting.
