Your Personal Brand is Your Personal Best
Ninjas believe that your personal brand is much like a corporate brand, but it’s limited to you as an individual. Your personal brand encapsulates who you are, your values, and your mission. For intrapreneurs, entrepreneurs, freelance workers, and professionals in the job market, a personal brand should help you stand out from the crowd. Keep reading to learn how to develop your personal brand.
How to Develop your PB
Many elements go into making your personal brand. Ultimately, you should figure out who you are and create a brand that reflects your professional identity. A personal brand tells potential employers, colleagues, and clients who you are, what you do, and how you do it. Most importantly, they should be able to feel your why, your brand needs to convey passion, trust and credibility.
Define your WHY – your Values & Passions
Your values are at the core of your personal brand. Define your values and priorities, such as family, honesty, or innovation. Your passions can help guide your personal brand and professional path. Deciding what you like to do and how you prefer to spend your time is key to developing your personal brand.
Determine your Key Traits
Your key traits are the elements of your personal brand that make you stand out. Once you have a list of your top three to five key traits, you should determine how those traits help you accomplish your goals. For example, you could determine that your key trait of agreeableness helps you form strong connections.
Be Authentic
Authenticity is a key foundation of your personal brand. Your personal brand should not be a persona that you hide behind or a façade. Instead, make sure that your brand accurately represents who you are. You can show off your best features or traits, but they should still be true and honest.
Focus on your Image
If you have a presence on social media, consciously or not, you’re already conveying an image. Your image is comprised of how you appear, both in-person and online. Consider having a professional headshot taken for your LinkedIn profile, Ninjas think this is a good investment. Always dress professionally at events. You can also create an email signature that is unique to you and use the same tone across your communications.
Decide on your Audience
The audience for your personal brand can consist of different types of people. If you are searching for a new job on LinkedIn, your audience will include people in a position to hire. If you are an entrepreneur, your audience may include potential investors. And if you are a freelance worker, your audience probably includes clients. Your brand should be tailored to your audience and appeal to their interests.
Make an Offer
Your personal brand should offer something to your audience. Your offer can include what you do and how you do it, and it should be unique to you. Use your offer to help your audience solve a problem or add value for your audience. You should also tailor your offer to your audience and their needs.
Create an Online Presence
Your online presence should reflect your personal brand. Make sure your social media pages, like LinkedIn, reflect your brand. You should also update your personal website and online portfolio with a professional logo, your headshot, and an about page that details your values, passion, and audience.
Publish Content
Once you have established your personal brand, you should work to get your name out there on a regular basis. Writing blogs consistently for your website is one way to share content that reflects your personal brand and appeals to your audience. You can also conduct interviews with industry experts in your unique style, upload video content, and publish guest articles on other websites.
Make a Personal Brand Statement
One of the most important elements of a personal brand is your brand statement. Just like brands and businesses have a statement that says something about themselves and their values, you need a strong statement of who you are and what you can do. Your personal brand statement is almost like a catchphrase that says something about your expertise and what makes you unique. It gives people a quick glance into what you can do so they’ll be able to understand how you can be of benefit to them. For example:
“I help individuals reassess their life choices to discover their true paths to success.”
Ninjas Conclude
There’s a lot that goes into building a strong personal brand, it’s important because it’s the best way to share your authentic message and attract YOUR specific objectives. Creating a personal brand can be a daunting, even a cringy task and one of the easiest ways to get lost in the process is to not know where to start. It’s OK to go through several iterations before defining your personal brand, don’t forget, we never stay the same, even the most iconic, legacy brands re-invent themselves. Ninjas are personal branding specialists and can help you create a profile that reflects your personal best.
