How to make a personal brand? Personal Brand: A Guide to Creating Why You Need a Personal Brand

A personal brand is one of the most rewarding things you can create.

But to create it you need to work, and work a lot. I've been doing personal branding for the past few years and I've found that at a certain point in a person's career, once people achieve a certain level of success in business, their personal brand stops just growing.

And they have to start working on it.

Building a personal brand is almost like building a business. You also need to understand who your audience is, choose the best marketing techniques, and constantly, diligently work to give your audience what they want.

Yes. This is hard. Yes, it's long. But believe me, the results are worth it!

Once you create a personal brand and make a name for yourself, interacting with potential clients and selling them your product will become much easier.

For a good start you need a good base. Here are a few facts to help you understand the basic principles of creating a personal brand:

5. Determine your target audience

Finding your calling is only half the battle. In addition, you must clearly understand who your activities are aimed at. Building a personal brand will be a waste of time and money if you fail to target the right people.

Once you decide on your target audience, the results of all your efforts will immediately begin to attract people's attention. As a result, opportunities open up for monetizing a personal brand.

It can be compared to playing darts. You earn points as long as you hit the target. But it’s hitting the bull’s eye that brings the most points. Without understanding who your audience is, you are simply throwing darts blindly.

By understanding your target audience (target audience), you can:

• • generate valuable content that suits the interests of these people;

• • create products that will solve their pressing problems;

• • choose the most successful tactics to attract customers;

• identify channels of interaction with your audience.

Finding out your target audience is not so easy - it requires spending time on conducting a series of studies and subsequent analysis of the results. But, sadly, without all these actions you are unlikely to create a personal brand.

6. Train yourself to think “like a student”

“Live and learn” - this idea is ideal for building a business. You need to develop a constant thirst for new knowledge, regardless of your field of activity. Nowadays, only those who think “like a student” can keep track of all the rapid changes in the world and apply new knowledge in their business.

Always stay on top of the latest changes in your field of employment, otherwise your audience will turn to someone who manages to jump on trends even before they officially appear. Everything you learn is a chance to give your customers something valuable and needed.

7. Create a marketing strategy

Before launching a personal brand, it is worth thinking about how exactly you will promote your name. At this stage, in an amicable way, you need to write your

Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson, Michael Jordan have all gone beyond the boundaries of their professions to build strong personal brands. If this happened or is going to happen to you in the near future, then from now on no one will be responsible for your career, for your financial capabilities, and more generally, for your life. You are now responsible for it yourself. Now you are the director of your life. Let's talk about how to successfully build and nurture your personal brand with Ksenia Sazonova...

Dossier - Ksenia Sazonova

Business consultant. Consultant on branding, starting a business, startups, monetizing hobbies.
Education: MGIMO Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Faculty of International Economic Relations.

- Ksenia, what is a personal or personal brand, and why is it needed?

A personal brand is what sets you apart from other people. This is the image through which your potential consumers remember you, choose you and trust you. A good self-brand gives a person great prospects in terms of freedom to shape his own career. And in times of any crises and economic difficulties, it is people-brands who will have the advantage. They are known, they are trusted, they are loved. This means they buy from them.

- What are the goals of personal branding?

The main goal is to create and broadcast an image that will set you apart from your competitors. In addition, a strong personal brand allows you to choose your clients, expect higher levels of payment, earn additional passive income and build almost unlimited audience trust in everything you do/sell.

- How to properly compose your professionalth portrait?

You always need to come from two sides: who you are and who your target audience is. A personal brand does not have the task of pleasing everyone. Ask yourself questions: what goals do you set for communicating online or offline, what image do you want to create? You should always focus on those professional and personal characteristics that are important to your audience. But you can't lie. The more honest the personal brand, the higher the trust and, therefore, success. Trust is the most powerful competitive advantage of our time.

- Where does building a personal brand begin?

There are 7 key steps:

1. choose the area in which you want to become the number one expert;
2. position yourself as an expert in your chosen field;
3. determine your target audience;
4. create access to information about you;
5. periodically create informational occasions for your target audience;
6. improve yourself: make your strengths stronger, make your weaknesses your advantages;
7. engage in personal promotion through various channels.

- How best to promote your brand?

First, make sure you follow the 3Ps: Person - Product - Promotion. That is: Person - a person with his personal qualities, Product - what he represents (service/product/project) and Promotion - promotion, which is intended to speak to everyone everywhere about your expertise. This could be a personal blog, publications in industry media, participation in thematic conferences, forums, presence in television and radio programs, and affiliate programs. Once you determine WHO your target audience is, you will understand WHERE exactly to access them.

- How to improve your visibility to your target audience?

There are three ways: actions, results and external differences. That is, you do not just declare, but act within the framework of the stated concept, speak and show the results of your actions. And you are remembered by some striking detail of your appearance. Hairstyle, brooch, bright suits, socks - anything that always distinguishes you externally.

- How to increase your reputation?

Only through actions. They said it, they did it. If you can't do it, don't report it.

- Do you need to compose your own legend?

Legend, history - yes, they should exist. But they must be based on real events and results. It's a question of presenting information. I repeat: the more honest the brand, the higher the success.

- What mistakes do beginners make when building a self-brand?

I would highlight the three most common mistakes:
creating an image and story that have nothing to do with real life, copying someone else's brand and disrespecting the audience.

- Is it possible to do it yourself or is it better to contact a specialist in this field?

It’s still better to start yourself. Set a goal: why do you need a personal brand? The goal must be clear and measurable. Identify your strengths and weaknesses. Understand what exactly you want to sell to your audience. When you answer these questions (preferably in writing), then it makes sense to contact specialists. Which, taking into account new trends and modern promotion methods, will build your personal brand and create a coherent promotion concept.

- Is personal branding a daily task?

Undoubtedly, this is everyday and far from easy work. Even if you have come up with a story that is close to your life, you must live up to your self-brand every day, in every photo, in every interview or personal blog.

- “Make a name for yourself! Building a personal brand", V. Makovich, L. Petrov, "Turn yourself into a brand!" Tom Peters, "Influence!" Yitzhak Pintosevich.

- Would you like to wish 5sfer readers something important from yourself?

I wish everyone success in their endeavors! I wish you not to stop there, to always develop! And it is imperative that, having achieved some goals, set others, even more complex ones.

Exercise

From the book by Yitzhak Pintosevich “Influence! 7 Commandments of a Leader:

Ask yourself 4 key questions about your personal brand right now.
Who should know about me? _________________________________________________
What do I want from them? ______________________________________________
What should they know about me so that I get what I want? ___________________
How will they find out about me what they need to know? __________________

Test - “Are you a brand?”

Let's do a little test. Once you've completed it, you can use it as a roadmap for your brand. Where the answer is “no”, it must be translated into a “yes” answer. Where the answer is “yes”, it must be increased by 2-3 times. This is such a difficult task.

• Do you have a plan for developing your personal brand? Not really
• Do you have a communication action plan? Not really
• Are you mentioned or quoted in the media more than once a month? Not really
• Do you publish more than 1 article per month? Not really
• Are you referenced in your industry? Not really
• Does your audience know how you differ from your competitors? Not really
• Do you give public speaking more than once every 2 months? Not really
• Do you have a personal website? Not really
• Do you blog? Not really
• Do you have a regular newsletter? Not really
• Are you a member of at least one professional community? Not really
• Do you have a system of indicators for the development of your brand? Not really
• Do you have a clear specialization? Not really

Exercise:

Turn all the “nos” into “yes.”
Convert all “yes” to YES + YES multiplied by 2.

We've released a new book, Social Media Content Marketing: How to Get Inside Your Followers' Heads and Make Them Fall in Love with Your Brand.

In the rapidly changing modern world, business does not stand still. What effectively generated income yesterday does not work today and new methods are needed. One of the trends of the last year or two is a personal brand. What is a personal brand on social networks, who needs it, how to create and popularize it - we will analyze it in detail.

We have prepared another interesting article -. Want to lead the community and receive maximum return? Read!

Personal brand

A brand is a set of feelings people have when they hear the name of a certain brand. It allows you to stand out among a group of similar products from other manufacturers, attracts buyers due to established opinions that the products of this brand are high-quality, natural, affordable, healthy, and so on.

When it comes to a personal brand, then such a brand is the person himself, whom the audience imagines with certain characteristics. A certain image is formed in people on behalf of a person who left a vivid impression of himself. And it doesn’t really matter whether they know him personally or not. Vivid examples of people with a personal brand are Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and others.

What is the benefit

Why waste time and energy on becoming a brand? A personal brand on social networks is a competitive advantage, an opportunity to stand out, and gain a circle of loyal followers. This is trust that encourages people to give you preference and cooperate with you.

Of course, a business can be built on pricing policy and good service. However, there is always a risk of losing customers as soon as competitors learn not to be rude to customers and reduce the price of the product - people don’t care who they buy from. In the case of a personal brand, relationships are built on trust and this will not happen. Even an overpayment in cost is readily accepted by adherents.

Where do we promote

Promotion is carried out both offline and online methods. In the first case, all public events are good where you can appear among industry authorities: seminars, trainings, presentations and other activities. Social networks are best suited for online technologies. Of course, you can use traditional online promotion tools (your website, advertising in search engines, mailing lists). However, especially for a novice player, such costs may be unaffordable. And most importantly, we need real people who will become our clients and supporters in the future. And first of all, you need to look for them on communication platforms. Using social networks to promote a new brand involves a lot of free opportunities and allows you to find thousands of followers. Which is exactly what is needed.

Why do we promote

• Increased profitability.
• Increasing traffic (to personal sites, or companies, if the information is about key employees of the company).
• Advertising and sale of new goods and services.
• Interaction with potential consumers.
• Creating a positive image.

Who needs

There is an opinion that only public people need a brand: politicians, show business stars. However, this is not an entirely correct belief. A recognizable personal brand on social networks is useful to many people - it’s easier to sell with it. What? A lot, if not absolutely everything.

Fame will come in handy:

• Companies that employ experts recognized by the audience.
• Entrepreneurs who promote expensive, unique products.
• People of creative and intellectual professions who sell their knowledge or creativity.
• Anyone who wants to get a break from competitors.

People choose people, especially those who they like based on a number of parameters: similar to me, smart, kind, stylish, talented, or just a good person and I know him. And let the latter be just an illusion that develops thanks to the development of a personal brand on social networks. As a result, they trust the familiar and good more than the unknown or just a company.

Creating a personal brand on social networks

Where to start creating a selling version of yourself? The traditional option is to find a problem that you can solve (with your knowledge, experience, perseverance). And we offer our services. However, competition in almost all areas is high and there will be quite a lot of such “craftsmen”. We also take into account the peculiarities of psychology, when active, intrusive sales can scare away.

Option two is to find a problem, find options for solving it and provide materials about it in free access (for example, partial ones). We offer more in-depth knowledge or the following solutions to situations for a fee. But there is already a trusting environment and it is ready to continue to cooperate.

When starting to form your image, you need to take into account its main components and think through the following questions:

1. Personality is the basis of everything. Consists of components:

• general behavior, worldview;
• emotional intelligence – the ability to understand and perceive the feelings and desires of others;
• energy is what restores strength. The last component is extremely important, because if you like to relax in silence and solitude, and quickly get tired of communicating with a large number of people, then perhaps you should look for other paths to success. Personal image is a long-term thing (at least several years) and socially active. And doing something you don’t like is a direct path to burnout.

1. Professional competence – what I can do well and can give to others.
2. Vision - what I want, where I’m going, where I’ll be in 5 years.

Who to be

Special attention should be paid to finding your niche in the market. There are pitfalls in this seemingly simple question. One of them is to take a very broad positioning. For example, position yourself as a sales expert. However, this is a very general concept and there are a lot of competitors here (including well-known ones, authors of many published works). Therefore, it is much better to take a narrow specialization. For example, sales in the medical tourism industry. But, we do not limit ourselves beyond what is necessary, introducing ourselves as a specialist in medical tourism from Samara to Israel to the Ichilov clinic for the treatment of spinal diseases. This way you can deprive yourself of clients at the very beginning or reduce their number to a minimum. As a result, further efforts will be in vain.

Brand promotion on social networks

We decided on our calling, became convinced of our strength and readiness to take this path, and found the right definition for ourselves. Now we are moving forward through a series of stages, which make up a detailed plan on how to develop a personal brand on social networks.

Step 1 – audience selection

You need to choose your audience, that is, understand who will need your services. Who are these people, what tasks do they have, what problems do they face. There are different types of clients, the principles of working with each of them are different.

Step 2 - Select Channel

When we have an understanding of what to promote and to whom, we move on to using social networks to promote a new brand. More precisely, to find your main platform for starting a campaign. There is an opinion that you can work simultaneously with all the main services. However, practice shows that if a task is not entrusted to a marketing agency or several SMM specialists, but is performed independently, then there is a chance to waste your time and energy. For each promotion channel there are a number of nuances that need to be taken into account when working, so one material will not suit everyone. Therefore, it is better to start with one site (maximum two) and connect the next ones as you succeed. By the way, even if you decide to seek the help of specialists in this matter, it is worth determining which platform will be the flagship, that is, the one where there is a maximum of material and activity.

When choosing the right channel, we take into account what is offered and which network audience predominates. For example, a women's trainer with inexpensive online training programs is a good option for Odnoklassniki, and a style and fashion specialist will fit perfectly into the Instagram format. For more details on who to give preference, see below.

Step 3 – content plan

This is a template (schedule, diagram) for publishing materials on the page. on social networks will require three main types of materials that should be published in approximately equal parts:

Expert content– analysis of current trends and news, expressing your expert opinion on the topic. Stories about your trainings, solved problems, case studies. The task is to show your expertise and skill and recognition. For example, as the famous coach Radislav Gandapas clearly does:

Selling content– we talk about our activities, our product: what, for whom, why, goals and objectives, reviews. The purpose of this content is to develop an understanding of when to contact you and to show who your clients are. An example of similar material:

Personal Content- personal information. The task is to be remembered, because real people attract more attention than just a company. By the way, this format of material is only suitable for a personal brand; online stores and companies do not provide this information. Example:

The content plan has been drawn up, there is an understanding of what day, what material we publish, adaptation to different social networks will be required. Different audiences have different behavioral patterns (VKontakte subscribers will be different from Instagram participants). To effectively reach everyone, the material needs to be edited and tailored to the publication channel. Popular cross-posting methods (where one post is automatically published everywhere) do not work very well.

Step 4 – attract subscribers

It is clear that the main task of promoting a personal brand on social networks is to gain fame and develop a circle of potential buyers. Each channel offers its own tools for this. Below we will look at the most popular networks, the methods they offer and the most successful techniques. An important point: the simple number of subscribers is no longer as relevant as it used to be. People look more at the material, how interesting, understandable, and appreciated by others. Much now comes from recommendations (the free promotion scheme for VK Prometheus works especially well).

Instagram

One of the world leaders in popularity in 2017-2018. The photo network format means that it is best to promote products that can be photographed and published. These are clothes, unique handmade items, jewelry, cafes, restaurants, exclusive real estate. Specialists from various fields of activity will benefit from this channel: stylists, makeup artists, trainers. It’s also convenient that an Instagram business account can be easily connected by linking a page from Facebook.

Instagram promotion methods:

1. Promotional seeding– posting information, announcements or reviews about your products with popular bloggers. Disadvantages: cost, for services to a blogger, but overall it will be cheaper than targeted advertising. Useful recommendations: choose blogs related to the topic (for example, healthy eating, sports...), giving priority to channels with a large number of likes, user responses, and not just subscribers. You can negotiate the price of help with the channel owner.
2. Mutual PR or SFS– you publish the content of other users, they publish yours. Pros: free promotion and target audience with the right interests. Among the disadvantages is the clogging of the channel with other people's advertising. It is important to choose from those who are interesting to your subscribers so as not to lose your followers. By the way, you can find someone to collaborate with based on your interests or the hashtag #SFS#.
3. Massfollowing(often called mass liking) - involves mutual “Like” marks and subscriptions with other users. Pros: free, you can set the necessary criteria for searching for accounts. It will be easy to find users using the hashtags #l4l# - like for like, #followback and others). Cons – Instagram prohibits this method and may even impose sanctions. Advice: if you decide to resort to mass following, do not subscribe to a large number of pages at once, so as not to attract the attention of the administration.
4. Targeted advertising– official Instagram advertising – the official way of promotion. Pros: many options for selecting the target audience, accuracy of hitting the target. Cons: expensive. On average, one subscriber will cost 30-50 rubles. This tool works well not to promote your account, but to increase sales. It is good to use in combination with other techniques.
5. Buying bots- a method prohibited by Instagram, which can lead to blocking the display of posts for certain hashtags.
6. Conducting competitions– a gift for the winner who reposts the material or does some other action. Pros: white, legal method. Cons: a large number of unsubscribes after the end of the competition (from 20 to 40% of newcomers are lost). The cost is first and foremost the prize itself. Must be quite expensive to attract people (at least 8 thousand rubles). The approximate price of one subscriber will be about 5-8 rubles. To achieve success in the right circle, we choose a prize that matches your interests. For example, if your potential buyers are dog owners, we give elite grooming care, a year’s supply of quality food, and so on. It is important that the conditions and criteria for selecting the winner are simple, extremely clear and understandable. For example, a competition for the best comment is fraught with a lengthy analysis of who is the best and how fair the choice of the leader was. And no one needs such squabbles.
7. Giveaway competitions– within which participants must subscribe to all sponsors of the competition. Pros: the largest method of promotion. Disadvantages: participants are motivated for a limited period of time, then they will unsubscribe en masse (up to 50%) after its end. It is necessary to interest people as much as possible during the subscription period. For this purpose, your own promotions and competitions are suitable, as well as useful information that will hold your attention and interest you.
8. Marathons– when users post photos using a specific hashtag. Pros: Lots of people will be able to see your content. Cons: small increase in subscribers (30-70 people). It is better to choose thematic competitions related to the chosen line of business.
9. Instameet– posted photos of meeting participants offline. Pros: free, fun, loyal audience that already knows you. Cons: labor-intensive, time-consuming. Tip - choose large and popular meetings.
10. Hashtags– special marks on publications. Pros: free. Cons: not a very large increase (20-30 people per month), labor-intensive. Advice: choose not the most popular hashtags - for which there are many publications and there will be competition.
11. Online activity– search for popular people and groups, active participation in their discussions and comments. This attracts attention and encourages people to take an interest in your page, and if they are interested, then subscribe.
12. Storytelling– stories that sell are in great demand. Their job is to present you as an expert and convince people that your knowledge and experience can be trusted. A story consists of a beginning, development and climax/denouement. In the main character, readers must recognize themselves and their problems. Who will solve them brilliantly? Of course, you!
13. On Instagram Attention is paid to the quality of photo and video materials. Preference for light, natural (without a lot of processing) photographs, collages. The audience here likes to watch more than read. Therefore, the post is as short and catchy as possible: humor, provocative and motivational quotes will be just right.

Facebook

There is an opinion that the audience here is more affluent and so far, according to statistical data, this is true. For Russia, this is a niche social network. There are the largest number of managers and entrepreneurs, advertisers and company directors. Audience 25-34, predominantly female audience (23% men, 77% women). Goods with good visualization go well: fashion, beauty industry, tourism, banking, automotive businesses, education and training.

Promotion tools:

1. Recommendations section in the news feed– here comes what many people like, what your friends and you like. The materials with the maximum number of positive marks in the minimum time or commercial videos have the best chance of getting into this section.
2. Video content t – texts attract less attention.
3. Inviting friends and others to your page users– we send it to everyone who is close in spirit and matches the portrait of the ideal client.
4. Decor– profile and cover photo – initial impression of meeting you. It is better to order them from a professional, who can be found on freelance exchanges at a very affordable cost.
5. Filling content– varied (the main types of material are described above) and regular. By the way, it is better to upload videos directly to the resource. This saves mobile traffic (and we remember that most users access the service from mobile devices). And not everyone will follow the link, and then the material will not be viewed. A bonus for posting videos directly on the resource is the “Like” button under the video from Facebook, created for such videos.
6. Interaction with other groups and similar pages topics. You can exchange advertising, mutually publish materials, helping to promote each other. A paid option for cooperation is also possible if the author is popular.
7. Reposts to target groups x – join groups on relevant topics. We post posts from our page here – 1-2 times a week. We look at people's responses and respond, even to criticism.
8. Attention to active subscribers– replies to comments, mutual “Like” marks.
9. Live broadcasts– live communication with the audience is an excellent tool to be remembered and increase your follower base.
10. Competitions, consulting campaigns, surveys– tools similar to Instagram that are also effective on Facebook.

In contact with

VK is the most universal and popular network for Russia. Pros: huge and diverse audience (about 462 million accounts). From a statistical point of view, the average user age is 25-34 years old, the most active ones are 18-34 years old. Suitable for B2C business (Business-to-consumer - for consumers) and B2B (Business to business), thanks to its wide coverage and audience targeting, which helps to find the right customers.

Main promotion methods:

1. Algorithm "Prometheus"- out of competition. More details about it in a separate article. Briefly, the network itself selects the best publications and authors and offers them in the Recommendations feed to those who are interested in this topic. Receiving the Prometheus mark (fire) significantly increases the reach and number of visitors to your account.
2. Competitions– several options – quizzes, for publishing content (photos, texts...), reposting.
3. Calls to action- for example, if you are for “what is important, valuable, good”, put “Like”.
4. Video broadcasts– high audience coverage, live communication with viewers. To increase engagement, make calls to action several times during the broadcast, ask questions, and encourage comments.
5. Consulting promotions– encourage the audience to ask you questions and offer cases. This is where your image as an expert grows.
6. Polls– works for engagement.
7. Crowdsourced posts- for example, advise what to watch, read, where to go... The audience is well involved in such communication and loves to give advice.
8. Community provocateur– attracting a user who trolls you and your products without arguments. As a result, many come to the defense of a truly high-quality product. The technique should be used carefully and in doses, if you are confident in the quality of your brand.
9. Discussion posts– Shall we discuss?

Promotions through messengers

Don't underestimate the power of messengers to promote your personal brand. Until the beginning of 2018, the priority was the Telegram service, but its blocking forced active attention to other popular applications. First of all, these are Watsapp and Viber. Main formats of work: mailing lists, group chats, communication in supergroups. Newsletters and chats are great for informing your customers about new products, promotions and interesting offers. The tools are good for increasing sales and upselling.

New features and techniques

In 2018, you should pay attention to new products and changes in familiar formats:

• Yandex.Zen– you can start a blog in this new resource completely free of charge. A dynamically growing, active audience (already over 10 million people), good original content will help you achieve success without financial investment. The service received promising forecasts from SMM experts.
• YouTube– increase attention to this site. The resource is not new, but has ceased to be just a video repository, but has become a full-fledged channel for sales and promotion. The number of viewers is equal to VKontakte, but competition is still small. There are fewer professional SMM authors and paid advertising options, and many business niches are not filled at all. This area is attracting more and more attention, so it is better to hurry to take a seat on board. The main emphasis is on high-quality and regularly released content.
• Retargeting on social networks– Many people are familiar with targeted advertising, but more targeted advertising can be used. That is, we don’t just select an audience based on standard parameters (gender, age, city), but based on behavioral factors. For example, showing a commercial after watching a live broadcast with you.
• Create your own chatbot– in a variety of networks and instant messengers. People get more involved in dialogue, and chatbots are perfect for this. You can create it yourself using special programs or turn to professionals (programmers). The possibilities for using chatbots are enormous - the basic option is consultation on standard issues. It’s worth double-checking the social network’s rules for the operation of chatbots; some may prohibit them.
• Maximum information– with high competition and an abundance of free materials on the Internet, it is almost impossible to achieve success by giving your clients only paid information. Share your knowledge so that people will be convinced that you are worth paying for something more.

“Brand promotion in social networks” – a diploma on this topic is no longer a rarity, but quite common. And this once again demonstrates how relevant and in demand the issue is. Well, now you have enough information to start working on your brand, and most importantly, do it competently and effectively.

The concept of “personal brand” is in many ways similar to the term “reputation”. What does it mean? In simple terms, this is how people perceive you as an individual, an entrepreneur, a representative of a social movement or a certain organization, the bearer of some goals. Are you an expert? Genius? Can you be trusted? What ideas do you promote? Who do you represent? What associations and thoughts do people have when they pronounce your name? If you have a personal brand, then everyone will recognize you. People are aware of what you offer and what you are working on. In this article we will find out how to create a personal brand.

Work on the image. Popularity at any cost

Sometimes overcoming an unpleasant situation can give you a reputation as a strong person. But in most cases it will end with a destroyed image. You should always remember that people should take you seriously, and a “stained” reputation will greatly hinder this. Don't do bad things just to get attention. This will not help make your personal brand successful. If you find yourself in a similar situation, then take all necessary measures to correct it. As practice shows, when the consequences of bad fame were leveled, people only gained a greater reserve of trust.

Core Values

In the process of creating a personal brand, it is important to decide how you want your clients and customers to perceive you. Think through every detail. After all, a person’s personal brand is a collection of emotions, words and thoughts of other people that form your final image in their heads. And here everything will depend on how you present yourself in society. Well, this process is easy to control. Just choose an image and act in accordance with its behavioral patterns. The most basic thing that can be conveyed to people is moral values. Therefore, it is worth starting with them.

Become the best

If you sell expensive paintings, then you need to be someone who is recognized as having the right to explain to clients all the nuances of this area. If you provide design services, then you need to present yourself as a talented specialist. Any good brand implies professionalism and experience. Thus, the Nike company positions itself as an expert in the field of creating fashionable and high-quality sportswear. A good example of a personal brand is Jeremy Clarkson (Top Gear host). He knows a lot about cars. Even if you have no plans to promote and advertise your own services, you still need to create the impression of expertise.

Constantly learn and monitor changes in your chosen field. Especially if you work on the Internet. No area is developing as quickly as this one. Therefore, if you stop developing and take a break for several months, you will lose your competence.

Unique look

At its core, personal branding is selling people your identity. Therefore, it is very important to think carefully about how you present yourself. It is necessary to model a recognizable image that would be easily remembered even by strangers. At the same time, its uniqueness is important. But that doesn't mean you need to gather a team and brainstorm how to stand out from the crowd. Just be yourself, don’t copy others, and everything will work out automatically, and the promotion of your personal brand will go faster.

Communications with people. Communicate constantly and be open

In our age of high technology, it is worth adopting social networks. Let people peek into your life. Even if these are not the main methods of communication. But you will give them the opportunity to be closer to you. Just use the same name everywhere. This will make it easier for people to find you. Well, tell us in detail about your skills and interests.

Personal site

This is a great way to tell people about you and your projects. They will read the biography and evaluate the quality of the work by looking at the portfolio. This way you can develop your personal brand. Therefore, you need to make a presentable website and update it regularly. Make sure every aspect is thoroughly considered. Be sure to add a section about recent projects and work, services provided and results achieved.

Blog

Some people start building a personal brand by opening one. Blogging is one of the most popular ways used in the professional world to make a name for yourself. It's very easy to set up. There are many free hosting sites for opening blogs, and the most popular of them is WordPress.com. There are other platforms on which you can open your page without investing money. For example, "Blogger.com".

But it’s not enough to just run your own page. In order for the promotion of a personal brand to proceed at a rapid pace, you need the active participation of readers and their proposal of various ideas for improving it. This will help in attracting even more visitors. Well, be active yourself. Invite readers to discuss new topics and participate in discussions. Your responses should be professional so that users understand the seriousness and relevance of the blog.

Make friends regularly

Do this every day. Try to meet as many people as possible. It's also worth thinking about what new friends can do for you, and what you can do for them. Just make friends who are really worth something. And when you need the help of a professional, the right person will already be at hand.

It is necessary to find out as much as possible about people: biographical details, full names, etc. Thanks to this, they will see you as a friendly, caring and serious person. Also, the more you remember about specific people, the more you impress them in personal communication. Your good friends with whom you are in close contact will definitely tell their friends about you. This way you can significantly strengthen your personal brand.

Find "allies"

These can be public people, public figures, stars, etc. In general, media persons whose audience is similar to yours. You need to get into their social circle. Follow the pages of media persons on social networks, comment on publications, and if necessary, be sure to offer help. If one of them runs a blog, then write a guest post (but it must be sincere and really good!). You can learn a lot from these people. In addition, they can give a great recommendation to you or your product simply by reposting it. This way thousands of people will know about you.

But moderation is also important in this matter. Do not bother or ask for more service if you have provided a small one. Don’t go too far and be useful, then your “allies” will definitely remember you. But it is worth considering this process as a long-term one. Few people can become friends with famous people in a couple of weeks. As a rule, this process lasts months, or even years. The communication itself should be non-aggressive. On blogs of “allies” you should not write things that require an answer in the comments. There is Twitter and email for this.

Communicate without direct contact

If you are physically unable to respond to all the messages you receive from your audience, then it is worth mentioning this on your home page (along with an apology). After all, the surest way to cause negativity in people is to disappoint them. Well, if you explained everything in advance and apologized, then they will have no reason to be offended. To avoid answering the same type of questions over and over again, you should create a FAQ on your website and give a link to it to everyone who writes.

Take photos and videos

A person needs to feel as if he has known you for a long time. This is especially true for online businesses. This impression is created only when a person can see you. This can be realized using video and photos. Put the most successful photo on the avatar of your social media profiles. It would be a good idea to take the help of a professional photographer. Post videos on YouTube where you share your future plans or talk about the nuances of your professional activities. Thus, you will enter the personal space of your own viewers.

Success in the long term. Content Creation

A strong personal brand cannot be used one hundred percent unless it is supplemented with something interesting: a useful application, an interesting blog, high-quality services, etc. But creating such content will take about the same amount of time as establishing friendships with media figures.

Offer original ideas

You must be active in your chosen field. You need to be innovative, make a contribution, constantly change. If you don’t do this, your personal brand will eventually sink into oblivion. Find out what can be changed for the better in your chosen area. But there is an important point here. This must be an innovation.

Speak

You need to take advantage of every opportunity to speak out publicly. Show initiative in various meetings and discussions. Feel free to express your own opinion. After all, people want to not only see you, but also hear you. Actively participate in the events that happen in your life and in the world. At the same time, it is worth listening to and respecting the opinions of other people. Then they will feel involved in your success.

Keep your brand relevant

It's unlikely that any media person would want people to think of him as repetitive, boring, disposable and outdated. And it doesn’t matter how good his content is at the moment. If you don’t work on the quality of the material, don’t add something modern, don’t take on new challenges, then audience interest will gradually fade away. It is impossible to use the same idea over and over again. Regularly add new layers to your look.

Aim for the Long Range

It is worth considering building a personal brand as a long-term investment. It is quite possible that he will live longer than his owner. While your business projects fade or become profitable, a personal brand always exists and adds additional value to any endeavor. If people feel involved in it, they will always follow your activities. That is, a personal brand provides some guarantee that in the event of a crisis you will not have to start from scratch.

To succeed, you don't have to be the best at everything at once. There are top bloggers and people who have a rather weak personal brand (in terms of the number of their own audience). The most common reasons for this are an arrogant manner of communication and the transparency of their motives (an open desire to make money from viewers). On the other hand, there are many people with a strong brand, which is several times higher in level than their own projects. However, the audience may be quite small. In this case, a personal brand will be an excellent launching pad for growth and development.

Warnings

You should never be a hypocrite. Avoid actions that run counter to your values ​​and your image. Don't advertise your professional failures. Failures in other areas are normal. After all, there you do not claim to be an expert. And here it is worth thinking in advance which failures can be shared and which cannot. An exception may be an error that becomes public knowledge. If this happens, there is no need to avoid responding. This can make you seem like a liar. It’s best to tell everything honestly to your audience. Let people learn about the error from you, not from hostile third parties.

When presenting yourself, avoid exaggeration. Don't be intrusive and vain. Remember: it is not you who should praise yourself, but other people. Promoting your personal brand should be slow and steady. Excessive assertiveness and aggressiveness can make you appear selfish and not beneficial. There is a very fine line between self-promotion and bragging; you shouldn’t cross it.