Tom Peters got there first of all: in the era of individualism, if you want to sell you have to be a brand.
It was 1997 and Peters told his theory about Personal Branding through a post on his company’s blog: the Fast Company.
This is what he wrote:
“Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.
Starting today, you are a brand”.
Already in a pre-digital age, building up and taking care of your own professional reputation was already considered a requisite for good business. Today, in the world of social media and digital marketing, this idea is even more important. Here’s why.
What is Personal Branding and who should do it
There is no real definition of Personal Branding.
It is mostly a process through which one builds one’s professional image as a result of a strategy aimed at creating authority and trust.
It all starts with the analysis of your abilities and skills, passing through the definition of the service to be offered on the market. Finally, the construction of a consistent visual and communicative identity is essential for defining your personal brand.
Who should invest on personal branding?
- Entrepreneurs
- Freelances
- CEOs
- Job seekers
- anyone who wants to give a personal character to their business
To start: define Vision and Mission
Vision and Mission are the fundamental steps to start building your personal brand.
With the term Vision we intend to describe a projection, the future scenario in which the best expectations you have for your online business are achieved.
What dream would you like to fulfill? In what context would you like to work? With whom? For which type of client?
Defining the Vision, whether it is a company or a self-employed, is important because it helps keep the course.
Like establishing a horizon towards which to direct all your daily efforts.
It is a decisive step that must be faced with care, reflecting well on who you are, what you want to offer, to whom, and last but not least what your values and ideals are.
Once the Vision is defined, we move on to the Mission.
How to implement what has been defined as your future goal?
What efforts are you ready to face on a daily basis to realize your Vision?
The Mission is the pragmatic counterpart of the Vision. It is the starting point of the entire strategic plan to make your biggest dream come true.
Positioning and transformer service
Having set values, objectives and resources, we move on to defining the positioning.
The market is like a large space in which you and your competitors position themselves in a specific point. That could be the best strength for attracting customers or your worst weakness.
Knowing how to choose a good positioning is very important to obtain the necessary authority to make you a leader in that specific sector. It will help you identify your main target and make you a point of reference for a niche of consumers.
Positioning is defined starting from the analysis of what makes you unique as a professional.
Why would anyone prefer you to your direct competitor?
What sets you apart from others?
Positioning is a concept that relates to your business as a whole. But surely choosing a certain type of product or service will help you make yourself even more recognizable by your audience.
What makes your product unique and preferable?
What inspires your ideal customer?
Or:
What need or requirement do you satisfy with the service you offer? In which way?
Please note: if you sell a service, remember to always think in terms of transformation (this is why we speak of a transformer service).
For example, if you offer consultancy, consider that your client is not paying for an hour of your time but for your ability to guide him from point A to point B of his path.
And it will be your job to convince him that you are the right person to rely on.
Build your digital ecosystem
Let’s move on to the most operative and creative part.
Now that you understand who you are, what you offer and to whom, all you have to do is plan the best strategy to attract your next customers.
This is a phase that would require a separate article but let’s try to summarize the most important phases of this process anyway.
In digital it is important to create your own space, also called digital ecosystem. In this small cross-section of the web that will belong only to you, you will be able to introduce yourself and strategically structure your contents and services in the most captivating way possible.
A personal digital ecosystem develops around the main place which usually coincides with a website. This is a proprietary channel (which sets it apart from social networks) and will be the place where your potential customers, attracted by various channels, will converge. It is also the place where conversions will finally happen.
Social networks, newsletters, SEO-optimized articles and content marketing are some of the channels or strategies you can invest in to bring interested users to your website.
Invest on your digital identity
As you have understood so far, having a clear and recognizable identity is essential in personal branding.
Once the available digital environment has been prepared, it is appropriate to invest in your professional image which obviously passes through visual, tone of voice and content.
The idea is still to develop your digital presence exactly as a brand would do. So, creating a logo that represents your business and values, adopting a consistent language over time, structuring content through constant formats that involve the audience.
Don’t forget to include clear calls to action that stimulate engagement and interaction!
Now you can start your journey and don’t forget to write to us in case you need any other advice.
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