Branding yourself has gone far beyond the simple firm handshake and business cards. People are no longer just meeting you in person, you must have a way to continue your passionate take on yourself and your industry online. Making yourself memorable, trustworthy, and influential on social media has become crucial for many, and it can be challenging to create a brand that represents all of what you want to project into the world.
When you start to develop your personal brand, it is your chance to showcase what makes you, you. Let’s dive deeper than just your name and title. Here are five questions to ask yourself when you build your personal brand.
1. What Do You Represent?
Take a step back and look at your background, ideals, and passions. Your brand is to be a conglomeration of these in an elegant way. If you have opened multiple businesses and helped others succeed in their own business ventures, you might say you represent the entrepreneurial dream. This will help lay the foundation for your brand and its voice. Your passions make up who you are and what your being represents; you want to showcase that.
2. What Gives You Credibility?
You want to brand yourself before someone else can. This is your chance to think about all the skills you’ve acquired throughout your life and career. Any awards, credentials, and certifications can help grow your credibility because, without credibility, your personal brand is only worth so much. The credibility you establish can ensure that you are not only telling people what you are passionate about and believe in but able to take action and “walk the talk.”
3. Who Are You Trying to Reach?
Setting down the foundation of your personal brand can only do so much if you don’t have an audience to reach out to. When you think about your personal brand, you want to figure out who will benefit from your ideals, what they will get out of your teachings, and what they need you for. This can help you better establish an emotional connection between yourself and them while also figuring out how to influence them through your brand positively. You want to reach a target audience before you can speak.
4. How Do You Want to Communicate?
Your personal brand can only grow and prosper if you communicate in ways that energize you. If you would rather communicate through keynote speeches than writing, take advantage of that interest. Your audience will notice if you enjoy yourself while speaking about your passions and teachings. Platforms such as LinkedIn have made it easy for personal brands to communicate through many mediums, like text posts, photos, videos, and even live shows, allowing you to access multiple choices.
5. What’s Your Why?
One of the most important questions to ask yourself when developing your personal brand is to learn your why. Why are you creating your personal brand? Why do you want to strive to be a thought leader in your space? It could be because you want to share your experiences, teach the next generation, enlighten people on the industry, or change the way of thinking regarding the industry. Whatever it might be, your why is what will ignite your personal brand.
Creating a personal brand can be a strenuous process, but it is one that can change your impact on your industry forever. Don’t build your brand alone; get help from the experts– contact the team at Lillian James Creative.