Should You Be Yourself? Your Personality and Your Personal Brand
When people discuss personal branding, they always tell you to be yourself. They say that the unique personality shining through your work helps to brands you. But for most of us, it’s scary to reveal too much. It’s just like going to a party where you don’t know anyone and wondering what to say or do. In the back of your mind, you’re saying, ‘But what if they don’t like me?’ Here is a little truth. Not everyone will like you. Big deal! You cannot please every single person out there and that is OK. It is important to find your niche so that you can relate.
Funny that the last few months have been a complete whirlwind myself. I had a whole bunch of ideas and a ton of fluff here on the site. I tried so many colors, themes, names, etc.. but none of it felt right. Finally, I took a step back and actually a complete day OFF to really examine what I had going on. I was trying to appeal to myself. Well, that is not the idea. You see, I am not my ideal client. Aha! I love my cute mafiosa character dearly but she is not going to develop trust with my ideal people. Yes, my last name is catchy and cool but over focusing on that was distracting from my mission. To help others. That is why I decided to strip my website down to my name, my mug, and providing content that solves the NEEDS for those who want a solution. So, now, in its raw beauty, I see that the content took front and center rather than fluff. So, in short, finding your brand may not be an overnight thing or even come easily. It is OK. Shit happens and that is how we learn. I am not a glamorous rockstar. I am a stay at home mom that is learning to make it happen. I’m hardly an expert either,just a chick that loves to gather knowledge and share it to make the world a cooler place for others. That is what fills my heart with warm fuzzies!
Find what works through trial and error. We are humans and yes, some of us are women and that is what we do. We change our minds. Just be sure to Be Real, be your true self. Some will “get” you and some won’t. The goal is to build a community of like minded people that you resonate with and will trust what you have to say. Right?
How to Be Real
The experts are right – you should be yourself. Your personality, along with your promise of value and quality, brands you. You should share your family, your hobbies, and your opinions. This makes you unique and memorable. It builds a relationship with your audience and the details of your personal life may resonate with your fans.
Online, people want only realness and sincerity. They don’t like anything fake, and they can smell it from a mile away. When you’re playing a part and they know it, this won’t build the trust you need. It also turns you into someone who doesn’t take a firm stand on anything, which is terrible for branding. So, keep it real and it will just feel right.
What If They Hate You?
If you’re afraid to let the real you show, that’s only natural. You should show your personality just like dipping your toe into a cold swimming pool to get used to it. Put something out there and see how your audience responds to it. Do you get likes and folks commenting? Or do they all ignore the post?
Branding is about connecting with your audience, so monitor the results of what you do and adjust accordingly. If you show them pictures of your kids and they go crazy with the comments, keep it up. If you tell them about your passion for stamp collecting and get only z’s, don’t bother mentioning it again.
Be on Brand
Before you share anything too personal, take a minute to consider what potential effect it might have. For example, is it a touchy political or religious subject that may alienate half of your audience? Or is it harmless? Imagine the worst that could happen and ask yourself if you could live with it.
Run everything through a filter to see if it sounds fake or could be taken the wrong way. It’s okay to take some risks sometimes, but you should wait until your brand is well-established. Another thing that helps is to really know your audience well.
It’s Not About You
Here’s a big secret about personal branding that will save you a lot of trouble – It’s not all about you. Actually, your branding efforts are all about your audience. Even though you’re showcasing your accomplishments, your talents, your strengths, and your passions, it’s your promise to them that’s going to pay off. For everything you do, put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself, ‘Why should I care?’ That’s what they’ll be doing.
What really establishes your brand isn’t the image that you create or the personal tidbits you share; it’s the work that you do. When you deliver quality and truly help people, you’ll successfully brand yourself.
I see so many entrepreneurs struggling with this and decided to create a course that will cover this, how to create your branding visuals and more. Keep a lookout for launch dates.
So, let’s chat here. Have you made mistakes in your branding before? How did you recover from your blunder? Comment below.
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