“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room”- Jeff Bezos.
Personal branding is nothing but a conscious and constant promotion of one’s identity. Simply put, creating a personal brand is deliberately crafting and presenting a consistent and authentic narrative about who you are, what you stand for, and the value you offer to others.
I remember my time at ICICI Bank, despite being a trade and finance professional, 80% of my colleagues knew me as someone who has a command over the English language and has her way with words. Knowingly or unknowingly I gave away the reflection of my passion of words to people who simply just knew my name. And this stayed even after I left the organisation to become a full-time personal branding strategist.
Personal branding is not limited to celebrities or public figures; it’s relevant for professionals, entrepreneurs, job seekers, and anyone looking to make a lasting impression in their chosen field. And more often than not, people confuse this as a pretentious act- pretending to be someone you’re not. But that’s not true.
While this seems easy to do, it is very difficult to be consistent with the faking part.
Have you ever wondered why you feel more comfortable in places where you are a stranger? That is because the not-knowing gives you a clean slate to begin from. You can be whoever you want to be without any inhibitions. That’s exactly what creating a personal brand online does, but instead of the ‘being whoever’ part, you own your authentic self.
Read this: How to build your personal brand on Linkedin?
You can make the most of this clean slate AKA creating your personal brand online by focusing on these
5Ps of Personal Branding:
1. Purpose:
Find that one reason why you want to be famous and half of your problems are solved. Purpose not only sets the foundation of your personal brand but also acts as a roadmap to your ultimate destination AKA the answer to ‘how to become famous? It defines your mission, values, and the “why” behind what you do.
2. Passion:
The online community is not the place where half-hearted work thrives. Passion is the driving force behind your personal brand. It’s the enthusiasm and love for what you do that’s palpable to others. Passion is infectious and draws people towards you. (You’ll be surprised by the number of writing gigs I get from my banking connections.)
3. Positioning:
If you skim online, you’ll find most of what you want to say has already been said before but wait, it hasn’t been said by YOU. Positioning involves defining your unique value proposition. It’s about identifying what sets you apart from others in your field and how you want to be perceived by your target audience.
4. Presence:
Presence encompasses your visibility and impact. Be very picky about how you show up in the world, both online and offline. A strong online presence is particularly essential in today’s digital age because let’s be frank here, if you do not have a digital footprint, that’s a major red flag. I mean, what do you have to hide?
5. People:
Personal branding isn’t just about you; it’s also about the people you connect with. In simple terms, you might keep saying that you are a brand but the only one to vouch for it is your audience. Simply lurking online won’t work, people need to know you exist. Hence, building and nurturing relationships with your audience, peers, mentors, and supporters is crucial.
These 5 Ps provide a framework for self-discovery, self-expression, and self-improvement. Understanding these allows you to make intentional choices about how you want to present yourself to the world and how you want to shape your life and career.
Bonus: In the next paragraph, you’ll find goldmine tips for branding yourself.
Now that you’ve identified what you want your brand to look like, let’s see how to build, refine, and maintain a personal brand that serves your goals, and connects you with your audience. For that, we need to understand what are the
5Cs of Personal Branding:
1. Clarity:
Clarity involves not just understanding who you are, what you stand for, and what makes you unique but also extends to your goals and the audience you want to reach. The more clarity you have about your personal brand, the easier it is for others to understand and connect with you.
2. Consistency:
It means maintaining a consistent message, image, and behaviour across all interactions and touchpoints. You cannot (and should not) present yourself as a sales guru on Instagram and keep looking for your next job on LinkedIn. Whether online or offline, your brand should be uniform, creating a coherent and recognizable identity.
3. Credibility:
Credibility is built on trust and competence. And more often than not, it comes with time. One way to accelerate your credibility proof is by sharing valuable insights, showcasing your achievements, and delivering on your promises. People need to know you before trusting you and that’s where your content comes in.
4. Content:
Your content is only as good as the value it provides. Most of my clients including me are on LinkedIn trying to solve a problem and that’s how we make sure our content resonates with our audience and is value-driven. Whether it’s written articles, videos, social media posts, or presentations, content allows you to showcase your expertise and personality. (Choose yours wisely.)
5. Connection:
It all comes down to who is listening when you are talking (online). People who want to read your content and are waiting for your content. The key to building meaningful connections is simple: Engagement drives engagement. Listening to your audience’s needs, and responding to their feedback helps are two sureshot ways you can drive traction to your account.
Let’s see the Steps to build a Personal Brand:
Step 1- Self Discovery:
Everything around you almost almost starts within you. If you are well-versed with the Ps then you are already one step ahead of everyone else in the game. If not, begin with introspection. Identify your core values, passions, and strengths. What drives you? What makes you unique?
Remember, your brand should authentically represent you. And everything you say and do should passionately reflect you.
Step 2- Choose how you want to be known:
There are thousands of people on the internet trying to be a brand but are successfully failing. The only reason is that they themselves aren’t clear on what they are offering. The 5 Cs will you gain clarity in crafting a clear and concise statement that defines who you are and what you offer.
Step 3- Define your niche:
During my time as a Banker, I hardly ever used any social media platform to talk about my work (mostly because of confidential reasons but also because I didn’t want to.) To tell you the truth, I loved my job but my creative bucket was almost always half empty. So when I decided to change my career domain, picking writing and branding as a niche was the one decision cut out for me.
Picking one niche not only gives you clarity of what you’re doing but also gives your audience a clear picture of what they’re signing up for. If you check my LinkedIn now, I am a writer only now, not a banker who sometimes writes. And that was the major reason why I have closed 90% of my clients from LinkedIn.
Step 4- Pick the right platform for your niche:
When it comes to establishing your personal brand, visibility is key. To start, you’ll want to optimize your profiles on platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter. Just as important as perfecting your profiles is the task of selecting the right platforms to engage on. It’s crucial to identify the platforms where your target audience is most active. Depending on your niche, this could mean embracing LinkedIn to build professional connections, using Instagram to tell your story through visuals, or leveraging Twitter to deliver concise insights.
My suggestion is rather than jumping into multiple social platforms without consistency, it’s more effective, to begin with just one platform. Stick to it for a while to see if you can stay consistent before expanding.
Step 5- Start creating content as per platform:
Your content is a glimpse into your personality. Now that you’ve decided what to talk about, the HOW needs to be decoded. Drawing your unique touch to every single content that you roll out including but not limited to LinkedIn posts, Instagram visuals, long-form blog posts and bite-sized Twitter content is non-negotiable. Take into account your expertise and your audience’s preferences, which may include blog posts, YouTube videos, Spotify podcasts, or articles on Medium.
Customize your content for each platform to optimize audience engagement. For instance, share concise tips on Twitter, publish lengthier articles on LinkedIn, and present visually captivating content on Instagram.
Step 6- Network like there’s no tomorrow:
I have clients who are entrepreneurs with networks from IIT and IIM. Most of our conversations have led to one conclusion: To run a successful business you need not know everything but you need to know people who can get everything done. Having a strong viable network not just gives you an edge but also opens up opportunity doors like no other.
In an online space, the possibility to build connections expands to a global space. Your online presence serves as your virtual introduction to the world and has the potential to unlock exciting opportunities. Reach out to people whose content you might benefit from and engage with them. Comment on their posts, share valuable insights, and initiate conversations related to your field of interest. Show genuine interest in others.
My 2 Cents:
If there is one thing that I have learnt during my course as a personal branding strategist, it’s that there is no ‘one size fits all TIME’ strategy for anyone. What has worked for you today might not necessarily work for you tomorrow. So how do you know what your next step should be?
Take a moment to reflect: Are you reaching the milestones you set out to achieve? If not, don’t hesitate to adjust and refine your strategy as needed. What most people forget is that personal branding is an ongoing process. You need to be constantly on your toes, and I understand that is a lot of ask from someone whose primary focus is running a sustainable business.
But fikar not (worry not), that where I come in. If you’re looking for guidance or have questions about your personal branding journey, feel free to reach out. I provide not just tips for personal branding but also tailor-made personal branding strategy for your business.
If you’re looking to sell a story, a dream, a vision or simply trying to find your space on the internet, let me be your helping hand. Reach out today!