The Importance of Building Your Own Personal Brand

Let’s talk about why branding is so important.
It’s not only celebrities who have their own personal brand. As the Web gets increasingly more social, it’s essential for everyone to take branding into consideration. Just like products and services, your personal brand tells everybody about your unique characteristics. Here’s why it’s so important to consider.
Branding Builds Trust
When you’ve successfully built a personal brand, your customers and fans will better understand why you do what you do. This engenders trust and credibility, which are both essential. When people know and trust you, they’re more comfortable dealing with you and more likely to buy your products or services.
The Real You
On social media, everybody loves people who are ‘real.’ They’re not into the sales talk or corporate image. Branding tells people not just what you do but what you stand for, which is even more important. Your brand vision is what stays in people’s minds, not the specific goods that you offer.
Perceived Value
People respond emotionally to brands, much more so than to products or benefits. When you’re well-branded, you have a name in your industry. You’re seen as a key player and this raises your value in your customers’ eyes. This also means you can charge more for your services.
Your Edge
Your personal brand helps you beat the competition by showing the unique things that you offer. The competition may win in other areas, but they can’t compete with your unique natural qualities. Branding helps you carve out your own special niche in the marketplace.
Image Control
You’ve got a personal brand whether you realize it or not. Your personal brand is your reputation. Are you in control of it? When you handle your own branding, you can take control. This allows you to better deal with attacks or negative comments about you.
Build a Buzz
If you brand well, you can get a buzz going. Your name gets passed around by your happy customers and fans, and this means that you get more business through referrals. Branding has a kind of snowball effect if you do it right.
Job Security
Job security is almost non-existent today and your personal brand protects you against economic problems. Even if you work for a big corporation, you’re a company of one. And, just like a company of many, your branding keeps you alive. If you’re a freelancer, it’s a key element to survival.
How do you get started building your own brand? A good place to start is to look at other successful personal brands in your industry. Follow them on social media or check out their websites. What sets them apart? What’s their brand message? How do you feel about them? Look at all of the different ways they create their personal brand and take lessons from them. You can apply these techniques to building your own personal brand.
Have you started building your personal brand? Comment below.
To learn more about branding, check out our up-coming virtual course that will get into great detail and help you develop your brand.  Brand Like a Boss.