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Personal Branding, a.k.a. how to sell yourself... in the good way

Personal branding shouldn't be too hard to breakdown & understand what it is. Branding yourself, rather than branding for a large faceless company. However, while it may be easy to understand the "what", it tends to get quite a bit more difficult when it comes to the "how".

In this post, you'll learn 5 quick tips to get up & running fast in building out your own personal brand, and why you might want to do so.

Quick note before we dive in:
You may be wondering why you should build a personal brand. Well, to be honest, if you're reading this you probably searched for this phrase so perhaps you already know, in which case I'm going to make this short & sweet:

Personal branding allows you to stand above the traditional limitations that come with branding a company. With a personal brand, you are the spotlight. Wherever you want to pivot to, wherever you want to take your talents to, whatever you want to do, your personal brand will happily follow. Not only that, but your personal brand will act as your personal cheerleader & will give you a leg up on any new facet you take on, if you put in the right work beforehand.

Personal brands help you build an audience, land jobs, garner respect, and unlock new opportunities. It's basically a "key-to-the-city" that actually works, and isn't just for show.

With that being said, let's actually jump into the juicy bits: 5 Tips To Building Your Personal Brand 🗣️🤳

Tip #1: Find Out Who You Are & Stick To Being Authentic ✔️

For those of us that love attention, rejoice! Personal branding is all about you.
For those of us that are a little shy, rejoice! You don't have to act phony or be someone you're not.

Simply put, the easiest part when it comes to building out your brand is that you get to stay honest & real about who you are, the things you do & like, and how you present yourself. There's no other way around it. Any other method would feel cheap & instantly be spotted as fake.

Pro-Tip: write down a quick outline (just a few sentences) called a "brand statement", you will refer back to this statement in the future to help keep you on track & remain you of what you set out to achieve with your brand!

Tip #2: People Go With Those They Trust 👍

Making online content around a specific niche? Brand yourself as the expert of that niche.
Got a clothing store catering to funky designs? Brand yourself as the master-of-the-funk.
Selling software to cure a common problem? Brand yourself as the epicenter of dealing with that problem.

There are about a bazillion competitors out there for every field (wait, just checked again, we're now at a bazillion+1). If you want to stand out, you go with good marketing. But standing out doesn't mean people will listen to you. I can stand out by shaving all the hair off my head and covering myself in honey, the only buzz I'll attract, however, are bees.

When you want to not only stand out, but be heard, you need to give your audience a reason to listen. Why should I listen to you when it comes to my niche I'm interested in? Oh, because apparently you are super into it & know everything there is to know about it. Why should I buy your app? Oh, because you work day & night constantly thinking about how best to tackle whatever problem I'm looking to solve.

Pro-Tip: nowadays, with so many options to choose from, people simply want to follow an expert, be that expert!

Tip #3: Focus & Consistency, Keys To The Ultimate Plan 🔑

Always remain focused (remember to look back at your brand statement), and never fail to live up to the expectation you set out for yourself. In a constantly changing world, people like to hold onto the thing that's familiar, and the thing they can rely on.

Let that thing be you.

A few notes for clarification:

• Remaining focused doesn't mean never adapting to the times, it means you adapt in a way that makes sense & stays true to your character
• Consistency doesn't have to relate to a time-schedule of content releases, it can refer to what you say with that content. Don't be afraid to be... less than prolific. Instead, quality > quantity.

Pro-Tip: your brand should remain true to itself, your audience should not ever question your authenticity or wonder where the "old you" went.

Tip #4: You're New Followers Are Now You're New Blood 🩸

If I gave you poison, and told you it was going to strip you of 20% of your blood, would you take it? What if I said it'll turn it black, make it boil under your skin, make it thin & weak?

Unless you have an odd hatred towards your blood, I'm guessing you'd scream at me to leave. That's good, that's the right response.

When it comes to any deal / action you make, you should think of it the same way. However, this time replace your "blood" with your "followers".

After you have built a loyal & listening audience, the worst thing you can do is betray them. The somewhat dangerous part when running a personal brand is that there is no soft & cushy bubble-wrap protecting you from blow-back if you mess up. My advice? Don't mess up.

Although I make that statement slightly in jest (even the best among us will mess up from time to time), I do hope you take it to heart. Whenever a new action is placed in front of you, and you have to make a decision on how to move forward, one of the top priorities should be your audience. Will this action hurt them? Does it look like a betrayal? Are you selling out? If the answer is yes, then your decision should be no.

Pro-Tip: remember the age-old wisdom: it takes years to build a reputation, seconds to destroy it, and a lifetime to repair.

Tip #5: You're Going To Fail 😱

Yeah, I know, what a bummer note to go out on.

Except, it's not all gloom & doom that it appears to be. Everyone fails. The thing that differentiates a successful person & a non-successful person is not the number of fails one's had, but rather the number of times they picked themselves up and kept going.

The world is tough, and if you think that building a brand escapes the laws of the world, I'm sorry to break it to you, but you're going to face challenges.

The good news? It's normal. Literally everyone you look up to has had set-backs, hurdles, bumpy roads, and any other funny little metaphor to simply say: You Will Fail.

When you do, just remember why you set out to build a brand in the first place. Remember why you wanted this. Remember what it feels like when you win. Keep fighting.

Pro-Tip: Failing is normal, but never let anyone of your failures be your last mark on the world. After all, your past-self has worked so hard to get you to where you are, don't let them down.