What Is a Personal Brand Why Do You Need One?

When you think of people like Richard Branson or Oprah Winfrey, who are on top of their industries—it’s easy to believe that persheaonal branding is only ‘a must have’ for industry elites or a select few.

Today, this couldn’t be further from the truth. If you’re trying to move forward in your career, grow your business, or create more opportunities for yourself, it’s essential to have a strong personal brand to stand out and succeed. Having a clearly defined and authentic online presence is a key part of the process, but there is much more to depth to creating a strong personal brand than what see on the surface or on the first page of Google. A recent survey by CareerBuilder shows that 70% of employers use social media as a screening tool during hiring. That means when reach out to potential partners or apply for that new job; there’s a high chance they’re going to look at your brand to decide if they want to work with you.

Your Personal Brand  

Your personal brand is created from your unique skills and experiences that make you who you are. It encompasses your role and how you add value to your audience and clients, your standards, your style of doing things and how you relate to others. Your personal brand is how you present yourself to the world, and is what allows people to understand who you are, what you do, and what you stand for.

Branding used to only apply to businesses, but today everyone is a brand—that means you are too. Your personal brand communicates your unique skills and message. Having these clearly defined for people to see and understand shows them what you do and why you’re valuable.

Your Skills

Your personal brand defines who you are and what you do so other people can understand your skillset.

What do you want to be known for? What industry do you want to become valuable to? What skills do you have to offer that are valuable to that industry? The answer to these questions clarifies for people why they should work with you.

The unique value and experience you have will set you apart from the other people in your industry. List out the changes that you believe your industry needs and which talents you have that position you affect this change. Those talents and skills show how you can be a leader and a changemaker in a particular industry which will position you as the authority in your space and help you to receive premium opportunities.

 

What You Stand For

Another part of your personal brand is your message about what’s important to you and what you believe about your industry, your clients, life in general, success, relationships and work life balance. What can you take a stand for that goes beyond the core elements of your products or services? Communicating these beliefs wth your audience will magnetize people to you because they will resonate with these ideas and stop and think, oh yes- I believe that too.

Reflect on why you’re so passionate about what you do. Brainstorm the things in your life that you believe are essential. Think about the people you want to become valuable to and why you want to help them.

Your brand shows people this message. Along with your skillset, your brand clarifies what you do and why you do it. It also tells people who you want to work with and provide value to.

Why You Need a Personal Brand

With this profile, you outline your value and what makes you unique from other people. There are many ways that your personal brand is your most valuable asset to getting you the opportunities you want to have.

Become Known in Your Industry

You want to become known as an authority in your industry. When someone needs the skillset or value you provide, you want to be the first person that comes to mind.

When people know you for what you do, it creates opportunities beyond what you can do all by yourself. If someone outside your network who needs your area of expertise contacts someone inside your network about it—the person in your network will direct them to you, because of your personal brand.

Being known for what you do makes it clear why people should want to work with you and no one else. Your brand will define your value. Soon, your name will become synonymous with the transformation and unique approach that you offer.

Leverage Your Audience

Your brand is powerful because it helps you build an audience. An audience is people you influence, people who listen to you for advice about your industry, trends and client psychology. An audience is powerful because it builds credibility.

A loyal audience that connects with you and receives value from what you share shows the people you want to work with that you are an expert in your area of practice. An engaged audience also indicates that you proide valuable and get results.

Your brand helps you find and keep an audience that you can serve. In turn, that audience will help you build your business and help you connect to more people who need what only you can do.

Blue Ocean

Creating a personal brand puts you in a blue ocean,  which is an area of the market with uncontested space where you can attract new demand. When you don’t have a personal brand, you enter a red ocean market, a place where there is existing demand, and you have to beat the competition that is already there.

Your brand creates a blue ocean for you because it tells people in your industry why the value you bring is better and different. A powerful personal brand creates clarity for customers and partners because they know what you do and why you do it. Without a brand, you’re just another person in the same space without clearly defined skills, a message, or value.

Create Opportunities

Ultimately, the most compelling reason why you need to create a personal brand is that it is a tool to build opportunities for you. You may want to grow your business, secure new job or career path, or start a new life all together—but you minimize your ability to find people to work with or become valuable to by not creating a brand that people can see and connect with.

If you want to achieve more, become more valuable, and be more fulfilled than you are now, it is not a ‘maybe’ to build a strong personal brand; it is a necessity. There are so many people online today who want the same things you value and have to offer, and you need to show why you’re the right person for the job or the right choice for the service or product people need. Create a brand telling people why it’s you.

Now is your time

If you’re ready to build your powerful personal brand and you need help with developing your strategy, request a time to speak with me. Personal Branding Strategy Sessions are limited, and I only work with people who are invested in creating an authentic personal brand to scale that will open doors to living a life of excitement, meaning and financial freedom. If that’s you, schedule your call now and I can’t wait to get to know you!

 

‍