Whether you’re a small business owner, blogger, or employee at a large company, your personal brand is the most important thing you have. It’s a combination of your personality, skills, experience, knowledge, and network – and most importantly, how you are perceived by others.
Here are 6 ways to cultivate your brand:
1 – Have an online “home”
Why: Showcase who you are and what you do without the constraints of a structured box (like your LinkedIn profile).
Back in the day, if you wanted an online presence, your option was a website. Now, you have many other options: You can set up a free account with About.me or Flavors.me, or you can set up a free blog through Blogger, WordPress, or Tumblr. Your choice – just choose one and use it!
2 – Make your CV interactive
Why: Engage people by using the power of visual content to your advantage.
If you want to really stand out and get people to sit up and take notice, create a video, infographic or SlideShare presentation to showcase you and your work – and embed it into your website or blog.
3 – Create your own content
Why: Content – visual and text-based – will keep your site fresh and demonstrate your knowledge.
Creating content on a regular basis is the best way to demonstrate your knowledge. If you choose to blog, one short blog post a week is fine – share success stories and your deep subject knowledge. If you choose to go visual, consider video blogs on your own YouTube channel – that you also embed in a blog post. If you are a designer (web, landscape, interior, clothes), upload your work on your blog.
4 – Clearly demonstrate your value
Why: You need to differentiate yourself from everyone else out there.
Your approach to your work is different from everyone else’s, so be absolutely sure to explain what you bring to the table. What are the benefits of working with you, and what kind of results do you deliver?
5 – Be “you” on social media
Why: You and your company are two separate entities.
When I set up my Twitter account a couple of years ago, I purposefully chose to be me, not my company. Same on Instagram and Pinterest. That’s because, from my perspective, these are more personal social networks and a way to let people get to know me better. If my company should suddenly collapse, well, no biggie – I’ll just shut down a Facebook page and continue to maintain my other social networks.
6 – Build a portfolio of success stories
Why: It’s an ideal way to show why you’re so great.
Customer or project success stories demonstrate how awesome you are in a very tangible way. These stories need not be long – just state the problem, how you addressed it, and what the result was. If your customer can tell it in his or her own words, even better.
Are you cultivating your own brand? What other tips can you add?
Image courtesy of success.com
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Tags: Branding, Marketing, Personal Brand
Posted in Marketing | 2 Comments »
