The best way to achieve phenomenal success in the marketplace isn’t trying to be like everyone else. The best way is to delve deep within yourself and dredge up your authenticity.
In other words, formulate a strategy that’ll help you stand out from your competitors. Personal branding is a proven path toward personal or business success. And without a well-designed success blueprint, you’ll keep dreaming of success but will never have it.
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What’s Personal Branding?
Source: markgrowth
According to Special-Metals, having a fancy PHP-built website or gold-plated business cards is all good. But personal branding extends far beyond that.
You’ve probably read a few complicated and smart-sounding definitions of what this concept is. And you’re more clueless about the whole thing than you were before reading the answer.
Put simply, personal branding refers to what others say about you in your absence. It’s the “it” that makes others trust you. It’s that inexplicable factor that sets you apart from everyone else.
Take Jon Morrow, for example. He’s a master blogger and copywriter, and he communicates in a way that’s 100% unique to him. A regular reader of Morrow’s posts can easily know he wrote it even without seeing his name anywhere on it.
Another great example is Neil Patel, a famous digital marketer. Patel writes like Patel, and his writing style sets him apart from everyone else.
Why You Should Build “Brand You”
Source: fabrikbrands
When you become a well-known brand, people have a much easier time trusting you or taking your advice. They’ll even invest in your products or services, regardless of whether or not they’ve not used them before.
For example, most business owners trust Neil Patel and the digital marketing advice he offers. He’s an easily recognizable brand — brand Patel.
Your brand walks before you, announcing your presence and clearing the way for you. In short, your personal brand defines you, stating clearly your values and ethos. Your brand stands out to others by definition, in this case defining you through your character, your experience, your uniqueness, and your personality.
Professionals and business executives who fail to build a recognizable brand have others defining them, which can’t be a good thing since you can’t control how another person chooses to define you.
Branding Your Way In The way of fierce Competition
Source: inc
Competitors are different from customers: they are diverse, scrupulously conscientious about who they accept as a customer, and they consider their actions to be identical to others. As a result, competition becomes a reality, and anything can happen in an otherwise tidy supply chain as confirmed experts from Forbes.For this reason, you will have to differentiate yourself via distinct branding that sets you apart.
The key to separating yourself from the competition is creating a personal brand. Creating an image and showcasing how you present yourself will have a significant impact on whether or not people think you’re a credible business, a great investor, or even a CEO.
You need to cultivate your business image to attract and retain clients and investors. Being presentable and being “business-like” in every way is what distinguishes your image from that of others.Your daily life, your home, your office, and your clients make up the basis of your business identity, so it is critical to create an image that is in tune with these things. The more you do it, the more it will pay dividends.
When you are businesslike, you leave work not only feeling done but also with a great sense of accomplishment. This means you need to become approachable and truly “at ease” in everyday life – whether you’re at your desk, commuting to work, or even hiking in the woods. This is also why companies pay employees as much as they do.
How to Build “Brand You”
Source: business2community
Creating a personal brand is a clear 4-step process. Here’s a simple acronym to help you remember the process and ponder it at different times: DICE. The 4 steps involved are Discover, Integrate, Create, and Engage.
First, Discover what competence or talent or expertise defines you. Identify all your strengths and thoughtfully package them into an image that others will recognize and respect. This image is most likely what people see and hear about you.
In addition to seeking your strengths, seek to make a positive image out of yourself by getting what you want. And most importantly, keep trying to do more of it. You may not always succeed, but try anyway. Do not settle for what you had been given.
There is no rule that says people with higher cognitive abilities will have it.
Integration is about building consistency into your personal brand. It’s about creating congruence between your public claims and daily actions. Let’s say you have a ton of positive online reviews. In this case, you’re actually should be everything that’s been said about you online. Any discrepancy is a recipe for mistrust.
Create means beef up your authority. Create super helpful content that elevates you as a trustworthy source of knowledge in your chosen niche. People want to listen to experts and consultants. No one ever listens to clueless niche neophytes working from their mom’s basement!
Finally, learn how to Engage your target audience consistently. With social media and a little time investment, keeping your follower base engaged shouldn’t be extremely hard. Focus on initiating thought-provoking conversations that your fans find interesting and worth of attention.
You see, building a personal brand isn’t as complicated as it’s made out to be. It’s easy to do and it’s something you can do in just about any industry—as long as you have the will to do it! Once you’ve figured out that work ethic, passion, and confidence you’re after, building a personal brand isn’t hard..
The trick is to determine what makes a brand work for you and what doesn’t. This is the most difficult part of personal branding because you don’t have all the answers and need to find some and keep looking for them.
With this 4-step process, you can start putting together a winning personal brand today.
