And that’s how you create a strong personal brand which gives you an ultimate edge over others.
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Table of Contents
What is a personal brand?
A personal brand is a perception or impression of an individual based on their expertise, credibility, and achievements.
Meaning to say, your personal brand should reflect your beliefs, the things that motivate you, and speak your story in your words.
What is personal branding?
The process of establishing this authority through actions that are intended towards the same is referred to as personal branding.
There is a difference between personal and company branding and both of them need to be worked on separately.
While having a great personal brand is important and beneficial, it does not promise a great company brand.
You have to make conscious efforts toward integrating your personal brand with your company’s brand. It cannot happen automatically.
There is an exception to everything and one such exception is CRED, founded by Kunal Shah. People trust Kunal Shah and the credibility factor is so high that CRED became analogous to Kunal Shah.
More on this in another blog.
Why is Personal Branding Important?
A personal brand is important regardless of the position you hold in the marketplace.
- If you are an employer, then your personal brand will ensure trust in your potential employees and customers.
- If you are an employee, your employer is going through your social media to understand you better. Having authority gives confidence to your employer and it becomes easy for them to select you from a ton of candidates.
- If you are a freelancer, building your personal brand is non-negotiable. While a bunch of people can be good at what you do, having a great personal brand will help you stand out and get seen.
A study by Upwork revealed that the freelance workforce is growing at a rate 3x faster than the overall workforce in the U.S. By 2027, freelancers are expected to make up the majority of the U.S. workforce.
All this suggests more competition which further makes building a personal brand more important.
Examples of amazing personal brands
1. Elon Musk
Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX guy is a new age genius who has massive authority on social media. An authority that can mess with stock prices, make people famous and brands viral.
His businesses are known by his name and not the other way around. He has more Twitter followers than 3 of his companies (Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity) combined.
2. Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary Vaynerchuk aka Gary Vee is the founder of VaynerMedia. It won’t be wrong if we call him the pioneer of content marketing. He believes that every company has to be a media company to reach out to people.
He’s been creating content forever and it is through his online presence and personal brand that his businesses grew to become giants.
Not to our surprise, many people think he is a content creator, while he is an entrepreneur who creates content.
3. Ankur Warikoo
Ankur Warikoo, also referred to as Naval Ravikant of Indian space, is a great example of how a personal brand can favor you.
Ankur Warikoo, cofounder of Nearbuy successfully switched his career to creating content around finance, productivity, and startups and this made him a fortune. He is an entrepreneur in its essence and his amazing personal brand is the representation of the entrepreneur inside him.
4. CA Rachana Phadke Ranade
Rachana Phadke Ranade better known as CA Rachna Ranade is the go-to investment guide for many. She creates content around investment markets and has a commendable online presence and personal brand.
With 3.7 million subscribers on YouTube, CA Rachna Ranade is the ultimate finance guru on the internet.
5. Oprah Winfrey
Who doesn’t know Oprah Winfrey?
While she famously rejects the idea of being a brand, this in itself is a part of her brand. She is of the opinion that she is a person, not a brand, fearing she would lose the rare connection she has with her audience.
Oprah Winfrey is an American television personality, entrepreneur, actress, global media leader, and philanthropist.
Nicknamed “Queen of All Media”, she has become one of the most well-recognized figures in the world with unparalleled influence.
Hosting her own talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, she attracted an impressive average of 12–13 million viewers each weekday during peak years.
How to build a personal brand?
Personal branding is simple but not easy and you are required to devote your time and energy to it.
You want to find the special thing that is YOU and make your brand all about that. You can’t make it up, it has to be real (though it can and probably should be a little exaggerated). - Pia Silva
Let’s take a look at the steps involved in building a personal brand.
1. Don’t pretend
Being authentic is non-negotiable. You can’t pretend to be someone else. People sense a facade and the bubble bursts in no time. Be yourself, say what you believe, and stay true to your words.
2. Stay consistent
Consistency is the key. You can’t show up once a month and build a great personal brand. You have to show up more often and mark your presence in all ways possible, especially when you are starting.
3. Engage: Listen – Help – Give
Engage with your audience. Listen to them and be there to help them when they need it. Make it a part of your personality to give without expecting.
4. Make connections and grab opportunities
Make time for personal calls and chats and get them talking. Once they talk to you personally, they will look at your content differently. Make efforts toward establishing a rapport and you will reap the fruits later on.
5. Identify your expertise and help people learn by creating content
Identify what your expertise is and aim to help people learn. Create knowledgeable content and refrain from creating content that is just gas as gas fades away really quick.
6. Don’t niche down early on
Experiment and see what people like more and then do more of that. Well, that doesn’t mean you give them all they ask, rather you give them what they need in ways they want.
7. Open up
Don’t hesitate to share your human side. Humans relate to humans and not PR accounts. Don’t just share successes but failures also. Talk about other things and not just work.
8. Be ready for feedback and even trolls
Stay open to feedback and aim to improve. Sometimes you might get trolled for various reasons but that should not stop you. Try to see through the trolling and look for what you can do to improve.
Keep evolving to stay relevant.
And that’s how you create a strong personal brand that gives you an ultimate edge over others.
Frequently Asked Questions
You might have got some questions for personal branding (so did I, when I started working on it).
When should I start working on my personal brand?
Well, there’s no fixed time or the amount of experience you need to build your personal brand. I have seen kids just passing out school working on their personal brands, and winning at it all the same. The only thing you need to do is to start and stay consistent.
How to pick my niche for personal branding?
It can be either one particular niche or a combination of sub-topics that you talk about. Connect and engage with people who are into the topics you are interested in, and learn from them.
Is Twitter better for personal branding? Or LinkedIn?
You cannot compare both the platforms. Both have their unique offerings, reach and an environment that drives you every day. The purpose is to build a community, and any platform is good for it if you really get into it.
LinkedIn has a serious tone, whereas Twitter has more of a generic, quirky tone.
Conclusion
It’s important to market yourself, as it is of no use if your skills are not out in the market. People remember what they see again and again. Learning neuromarketing can be of immense help in marketing yourself and building your personal brand.
Well, don’t worry we have got you covered. You can read our blog on neuromarketing and get started.