Kimberly Bordonaro, President at Kimberly Bordonaro Personal Branding
Twitter: @brandspiration / Facebook: Get Brandspired
“You already have a personal brand, whether you are aware of it or not. It’s how people perceive you. This moves the question away from if you really need to develop a personal brand towards whether or not you have defined your personal brand.”
1. Define your personal brand. Outline the foundation of your brand (vision, purpose, values, strengths, personality, etc.) to help you make “on-brand” decisions and articulate your value and competitive positioning.
2. Research your target audience. While your personal brand must be authentic to who you are, it needs to be expressed in terms that are relevant to your target audience. Unearth their needs, fears, and desires and tailor your communications to addressing their problems and how you are able to solve them.
3. Focus on your experience. Create a consistent experience that reflects your personality and adds value for your target audience for the various areas you interact with them (social media, emails, phone messages, networking events, office, etc.).
Shauna Mackenzie, Principal at Mark’d – Personal Branding Studio
Twitter: @msshaunamack / Facebook: Personal Branding Studio
“These days, business is often a likeability contest. We invest in people we know and like. If you can effectively capitalize on your personal brand, you can make more money simply by being more you.”
4. Walk the walk and talk the talk. Personal branding is not a be all end all tactic. A personal brand is effective if and only if your company’s offering is well-crafted and of value. Meaning, you won’t last long in business with a captivating personal brand and a low quality product or service. That’s just disingenuous altogether.
5. Tell your story. Then, repeat it until others are repeating it. The strongest and most memorable personal brands master the art of storytelling. Why are you here? What brought you to this point? What do you believe? If you don’t know why are you in business or doing what you’re doing, you’ll struggle to craft a captivating personal brand.
6. Cultivate brand ambassadors to lend strength to your personal brand. You can only be as influential as the people around you will allow. People give you and your business life. They can become brand ambassadors who resonate with your message, like what you say, and are willing to spread your ideas to lend credibility to your personal brand. Spend time nurturing these relationships.
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