Building Successful Personal Branding for Entrepreneurs and Startups

For entrepreneurs and freelancers, one effective way to be visible in this highly competitive market is to have a great personal brand. The concept rocked into domination, especially in social media platforms, wherein all kinds of businesses, creatives, and influencers use it to obtain the online visibility they want. By simply , one can turn their startup into a marketing powerhouse.

Today, personal branding has become more important than ever. Completely transforming the social landscape can help you get the attention and credibility you need for your brand. Whether you are a small business owner looking to expand or an entrepreneur planning to climb that corporate ladder, personal branding can empower you to reach your goal. Interested in building your own personal branding? Follow the tips below.

1.  Focus on authenticity

For you to establish a strong personal brand, you need authenticity. It’s the first and one of the important ingredients for the branding recipe. Don’t position yourself as someone you’re not. Strategically and purposely present your authentic self to your customers. Ideally, your personal brand should mirror your core values, beliefs, passions, interests, skills, and knowledge.

Focus on your positioning, your brand personality and message, and your marketplace. Ask yourself simple questions, such as: Who you are? Why did you become an entrepreneur? What do you stand for? These are just some things to consider if you want to build an authentic personal brand.

2. Determine your audience

This is obvious, but sadly, there are still many new brands out there who are marketing all over the place. Bear in mind that in reality, not everyone is an ideal customer. If you are currently getting a lukewarm response from your audience, then that clearly means you don’t have the right clients on you.

Create an ideal client avatar to understand the needs and wants of your specific target customers. Start with demographics, gender, age, profession or education, income, and relationship status. Next, your audience’s aspirations and desires, such as their future life goals or dreams. Lastly, identify their challenges and pain points. What’s preventing your targets from reaching their goals? Or, what are they struggling with right now?

3. Utilize social media

The first thing to remember is that your followers’ number doesn’t account for how well you’re doing on social media. You need engagement. You need an active following. If you’re looking to be the face of your brand, be sure that the posts on your business social media pages are tagged to your personal account as well. This is an effective strategy if you own and you’re the head chef of your restaurant, or you’re in the real estate industry looking to attract more interested home buyers.

For the posts, make sure to season them with some personal commentary so the audience can have an idea of your stance. In case you are in the visual or creative field, Instagram is the best place to post pictures and videos. If you’re in a field that produces statistics, LinkedIn is the ideal option.

4. Stay unique and consistent

Your social media pages will be useless if you have no strong content posted there. If you’re in real estate, be sure to produce heavily researched and unique articles regarding deed transfers, profits, easements, or mortgages. If you’re in the restaurant business, make sure you are sharing innovative recipes and not just mediocre ones that many people already know about.

Write content that is useful, informative, and new to your audience, and stay consistent with your posting schedule. Take advantage of social media platforms’ analytics features to determine the days and times your audience is active or engaging. Use the data to set up your schedule.

 5. Be a better communicator

You can’t possibly shine or influence the audience if you don’t have strong communication skills. You need to speak, write, and act mindfully and effectively if you want to appeal to people, especially to customers or potential business partners.

Utilize a language that sends out a powerful message – a message that addresses your audience’s needs in a succinct and caring way. A great communicator doesn’t just speak or write well. He or she also knows how to show genuine concern to the audience through the message.

By following the above-stated tips, you can start building your personal brand and ensure that it will shine brightly in the eyes of your target customers. Create something that distinguishes you from your competitors and establish an identity that your audience can relate to. That will drive your success!