How To Create A Personal Brand?

Guest Article by Neha Neelam

Read our guide on how to identify and build your own personal brand, from scratch!

Elon Musk is what comes to your mind when you think of Tesla. 

Similarly, GaryVee is the first person you think of for a strong ‘’personal brand’’. 

So what do both of these personalities have in common? It is more than what they have built in the course of their careers. It is how they successfully managed to build large scale companies with their personalities.

How did they do it? The answer lies in the concept of ‘’Personal Branding’’

Can you do it too? Of course, everyone can. In this age of digital media, where technology is offering a level playing field, people from different professions are making their mark by their own distinct brand identity. 

Before we jump on to read the process of building a personal brand, let’s dig deeper to see WHY you should do it: 

  • Become an expert in your field
  • Get a chance to consult top players in your field 
  • Access to a strong network of connections 
  • And most importantly, become a selling point for your own product/service

MIND PICKINGS

Identify the ‘why’ behind you.

Specialist over generalists

Clear content strategy with measurable goals

Adapt your strategy as per your platform

Personal Branding: A Beginner’s Guide 

 

1. Pick your niche:

When you focus on sub-topics instead of a general wide topic, it is easier to establish trust and brand identity. Many marketers and websites already talk about digital marketing strategies. However, as you go down the funnel, there are fewer people in each of the niche. 

A great example of this is Neil Patel, who has successfully positioned himself as the go-to SEO guy. He creates content for other digital marketing strategies too, but keeping SEO as his core strength, he has not only educated marketers worldwide but also founded CrazyEgg and the widely popular free keyword research tool, UberSuggest.  

2. Find your USP:

While there may be several other personalities in the industry doing the same thing as you do, you can easily have an edge over others by identifying what is unique about you. Since personal branding has everything to do with an individual’s brand identity, you have the power to showcase your unique skills through your personality. 

Make a list of all the skills you are good at, and find one that you can master with ease, by adding a pinch of your unique individual brand identity. 

3. Identify a Goal:

A strong personal brand can be used to create brand awareness or for lead generation purpose, or to simply just build a community of like-minded people of your niche.  While creating a personal brand, one should possess the clarity with the goals one has to achieve. 

This goal will further decide your personal brand attributes and the way you would wish to amplify your content.

4. Content Strategy:

The secret behind a strong personal brand is great content that adds value to your audience. The content ideally should include a good mix of promotional as well as value-driven ones. 

A good content strategy ideally includes clearly defined objectives, a good understanding of the likes and preferences of your target audience and a separate strategic plan for all the platforms that you are aiming to establish your personal brand identity on.  

 5. Tell Your Story:

 

Any marketer will tell you that consumers connect with humans more than they would with brands. Leveraging your personal brand by telling your original, compelling story will not just attract your desired audience, but also will keep them connected with you by your authenticity. 

 A good case in point here is, Gary Vee’s propagation of the ‘’hustle culture’’, he inspires people to work hard and strive for every goal that his audience is seeking for, through his own story. To be honest, a lot of us may not know what his business is specifically into, but surely know the emotions that are associated with his struggle story. 

In a nutshell, 

  • Find the content that you can specialize in
  • Determine your target audience
  • Figure out where your target audience is based. This could include Instagram or LinkedIn. 
  • Make a separate strategy for each of the platforms

 A personal brand is a long, on-going process that requires much consistency. While there are no hard and fast rules, one can always experiment with different strategies to find the right pick.

About The Author

Neha Neelam is a social media marketing freelancer and a Content Strategist for Social Shiksha. When she’s not creating content, she’s usually found pitching people to watch films.

About The Author

 

Neha Neelam is a social media marketing freelancer and a Content Strategist for Social Shiksha. When she’s not creating content, she’s usually found pitching people to watch films.

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