Personal Branding

Table of Contents

Contents
What is Personal branding?(Define your TA, examples & Strategies)………………………………………………3
How to develop & communicate your Personal Branding…………………………………………………………………4
Importance of Personal Branding…………………………………………………………………………………………………………5
How to use Social Media for Personal Branding………………………………………………………………………………..6
Good Examples of Using Social Media for Personal Branding…………………………………………………………7
References……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….9
Social media links…………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..10
Social media Profiles…….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..11

What is Personal Branding?

Entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk notes in a 2019 article about Personal branding, “Your Personal brand is your reputation. And your reputation in perpetuity is the foundation of your career.”

Unless people know you personally, what people think, feel and, in turn, say about you is based on what they find online. The growing gig economy makes a strong personal brand even more important.

A brand is expected to attract its potential consumers through its association of personal characteristics. Consumers feel attachment to a brand because of certain attributes a brand develops through its personality (Evans et al. 2009).

Similarly, in online personal branding approach, individuals are expected to carry certain meaning with their brand personality portrayal in order to associate with a group of people.

For instance, an online personal brand in a social network that portrays him as athletic and extremely fond of physical exercise would like to associate himself with someone who possess similar brand personality and expected to feel a certain level of attachment with him.

The initial motives behind objectifying a personality in an online personal brand profile is to find an association with other personal brands which has similar connections so that both can complement the ultimate objective of getting connected to each other.

How to Develop Personal Branding

Personal branding is a strategic practice that involves crafting and expressing your own value proposition.

Several definitions used in the reviewed literature specifically point out that personal branded activities are targeted, i.e., directed at a defined audience (Labrecque et al., 2011; Cederberg, 2017), and programmatic, i.e., designed as a series of coordinated activities (Lair et al., 2005; Manai and Holmlund, 2015).

There are some definitions using the word strategically directly (Marwick and boyd, 2011; Kleppinger and Cain, 2015; Nolan, 2015; Lee and Cavanaugh, 2016). For certain roles, strategic personal branding is a prerequisite. For example, Bendisch et al. (2013) discussed closing the gap between the desired identity, image, and reputation for CEO brands from the stakeholder and organizational perspectives, requiring a planful and deliberate approach.

Gandini (2016), studying digital freelance professionals in London and Milan, likens strategic personal branding to a profitable form of investment of time, labor, and relationships, essential in a reputation economy.

Such concepts as “fame” actively lack these characteristics, and they are not essential for “self-promotion,” “reputation,” or “image.” Bolino et al. (2016) note that while impression management can be strategic and intentional, it also can be “unconscious and habitual” (p. 378), hence we conclude that the programmatic aspect of impression management may be missing.

Here are some tips to help you build a strong personal brand in 2023;

Importance of Personal Branding

When people hear your name, they should immediately think of the qualities that define you, your values and what you stand for. This is especially important for entrepreneurs, professionals and executives who want to stand out in a crowded market and establish themselves as thought leaders in their respective fields.
Here are some of the benefits of personal branding:

1. TRUST AND CREDIBILITY – Personal branding helps you build trust and credibility with your target audience. By sharing your expertise, knowledge and experience, you can position yourself as a reliable and credible source of information, which could lead to more business opportunities and partnerships.

2. PERCEIVED VALUE – Personal branding helps you increase your perceived value in the market. By creating a strong emotional connection with your audience, you can charge more for your services and products, and attract loyal customers and fans. When people hear your name, they should immediately think of the qualities that define you, your values and what you stand for. This is especially important for entrepreneurs, professionals and executives who want to stand out in a crowded market and establish themselves as thought leaders in their respective fields.
Here are some of the benefits of personal branding:

3. DIFFERENTIATION – Personal branding helps you differentiate yourself from your competitors and peers. By highlighting your unique strengths, skills, and passions, you can create a niche for yourself and appeal to a specific group of people who need your solutions.

4. AUTHENTICITY – Personal branding helps you be authentic and true to yourself. By aligning your brand with your values, goals, and purpose, you can express yourself freely and confidently, and enjoy your work more.

I5. MPACT – Personal branding helps you make a positive impact on the world. By sharing your vision, mission, and message, you can inspire, educate, and empower others, and contribute to a cause that matters to you.

How to use Social media for Personal Branding

Social media is one of the best platforms to showcase your personal brand and communicate your value to your target audience. Here are some of the basic steps to use social media for personal branding;
Some other ways to implement social media for personal branding are explained below;
1. INVEST YOUR TIME IN SPECIFIC CHANNELS (ditch the rest) – If you try to be on all the leading platforms, you’ll wear yourself out in a day, so be selective. The most important rule is to follow your audience (another reason why you need to know who they are).
In this space you have to consider several factors before choosing which social platform to invest your time for example;
➢ Facebook is one of the broadest social media channels and a great personal branding staple, but Gen Z tends to think its old school. If you’re aiming at millennials, this is not your channel.
➢ LinkedIn is the place for building authority. The Publisher area is ideal for thought leadership pieces, and you can gather endorsements that boost your brand.
➢ Instagram is your home if you’re in a visual niche (think photography/art/food/design) or love to play around with filters and images. It’s also excellent for real estate agent branding.
➢ Pinterest is the home for anyone into crafts and DIY, but it’s also a good option for marketers, life coaches, and real estate agent branding.
➢ Twitter is another very broad platform, ideal for up-to-the-minute updates (think news channels.)
➢ Reddit is for programmers, fantasy lovers, and proud geeks, but the sub-reddits are more targeted than you might think.

Good Examples of How to use Social Media for Personal Branding

2. BE CONSISTENT WITH YOUR POST TYPES – You should also try to stick to the same kind of posts, like text posts, videos, inspirational quotes, candid photos, long thought leadership pieces, etc. People will learn what to expect from you, and they’ll be disappointed if you don’t deliver.
   a. For example; Marie Forleo’s life coach branding is very visual on social media, even on Twitter, with lots of inspirational quotes and videos.
3. COMMIT TO YOUR POSTING SCHEDULE – Your followers get used to new material on certain days or at certain times, so make yourself a posting schedule — and stick to it. Schedules also make life easier for you, so you don’t find yourself suddenly panicking that it’s been 3 weeks since you last wrote an update.
   • a. For example -➢ Facebook – Twice a day
   • ➢ Twitter – 5 times/day
   • ➢ LinkedIn – 1 time/day
   • ➢ Pinterest – 5 times/day
   • ➢ Instagram – 1-2 times/day
   • NOTE that You also want to post when your audience is online and available.
4. GET ACTIVE IN GROUPS TO ESTABLISH A NAME FOR YOURSELF – Facebook Groups are the best places to share your expertise and establish a name for yourself as a trustworthy voice because that’s where people go to look for help and advice.
   a. Facebook Groups can be used for business marketing as well. If you establish yourself as an authority in these groups, you better position yourself to sell your consultancy, service, or product, once you get a business offer up and running.

5. ACTIVELY MAKE CONNECTIONS TO BUILD YOUR NETWORK – As well as posting content, you should also actively make connections. If you invite someone to connect with you, make it a personal message. If someone follows you on a social media channel, follow them back (it’s polite), but also go follow them on a different channel too, to get their cross channel to follow.

It’s also safe to point out that following 20 influencers just because they’re popular is transparent and makes you look needy. Instead, be like Jenny Blake, who uses her personal branding to elevate other entrepreneurs. It’s authentic, it builds a relationship, and it makes her more relatable.

References

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