Your Personal Brand Has the Ability to Either Make or Break Your Company Brand
How important is your personal brand? If you don't have one, why not start now?
You've probably heard the term before, but what does it mean? In simple terms, your personal brand is your reputation. It's the image you project to the world. It's the impression you leave behind.
Your personal brand is just as important as your company brand.
In fact, it’s probably more important because it’s harder to change.
The Showdown: Personal Brand Vs. Company Brand
What is your personal brand?
This is the image you present to the world. It’s the way you represent yourself to your clients, colleagues, friends, family, and even strangers. It’s also the impression you leave behind after you’re gone.
Personal branding refers to building a positive reputation in both your professional life and personal life, through actions. This means being:
- Authentic
- Consistent
- Transparent
- Trustworthy
When you develop a strong personal brand, you'll attract opportunities and build relationships.
Your company brand is the public face of your business. It represents your company in a professional manner.
Company and employer branding help people understand who you are, what you do, and how they can work with or for you.
When you're working on your company brand, you want to be sure that it accurately reflects your values, mission, vision, and purpose. You also need to make sure that it aligns with your target audience.
You want both your personal brand and company brand to be strong, but they are different things. While they both refer to building a positive reputation by communicating effectively. However, there are some key differences between them.
Personal branding is about YOU.
It is all about your actions, your reputation, how you communicate, what you believe in, who you are, what you do, and why you do it. Company branding on the other hand is about the business.
It's about representing your company and its products/services as well as the messaging you send out surrounding these things as well as how the public receives and interprets those messages.
The Importance of a Personal Brand
Perhaps the concept of a personal brand is new to you and the advantages of such a thing aren't yet clear. If that is the case then do not worry, we are here to show you why having a personal brand is of the utmost importance.
You Control the Narrative
You and only you alone are responsible for your personal brand. It is up to you what you say and do.
No one else has any control over this.
This is an incredibly powerful tool. It gives you complete control over your own destiny. By controlling the narrative, you can shape how others perceive you. This makes you stand out from everyone else.
Differentiates Your Product from Others
Having a personal brand can differentiate your products from the competition. This is best illustrated with an example. Take Kylie Cosmetics. On the surface level, this is just another regular cosmetics brand, but because of the personal brand Kylie Jenner has created for herself, the products fly off the shelf at faster rates than any of their competition.
Builds Credibility & Trust
Building relationships with clients and prospects is much easier when you have a personal brand. If you're seen as a credible individual, people will think of your company as being legitimate too. People will see you as someone they can trust and rely upon. They will feel more comfortable giving you their time and money.
People are More Popular than Companies
People are more interested in other people and what they are doing than in companies. If you can demonstrate that you are a person worthy of respect and admiration, you will naturally draw attention to yourself (and your company).
Fosters Consistency
Consistency is something you strive for internally across your company so why wouldn't you strive for it externally too. If your personal brand mirrors your company brand it will help reinforce your message and give your customers confidence that they are dealing with a reliable source.
Opens the Door to More Opportunities
Having a personal brand when you own a company gives the overall appearance of being more established.
The more established you appear, the more opportunities will come your way.
If you have a personal brand, you can use it to help you get hired for jobs. Companies are looking for candidates with strong brands. When you apply for a job, you'll be able to demonstrate your personal brand through your resume and cover letter.
Increases Company Value & Recognition
If people recognize you as someone of value within your industry they will automatically recognize your company as having value too.
When you have a personal brand you gain authority in your field.
This means that if you speak up or offer advice on a topic, people will listen to you. Because you've demonstrated credibility, they will also consider you trustworthy.
8 Quick Tips to Build an Amazing Personal Brand
Now you understand why having a personal brand is important. But how do you ensure that your personal one is a positive one?
Here are a couple of tips to get you there:
Be Yourself
This is important because a personal brand is with you for life. Pretending to be someone else is unsustainable. Not to mention lying about who you are is dishonest. So don't try to change your personality to fit into a mold. Be yourself!
Carefully Create Your Brand Story and Identity
Even with a personal brand, you can still have a brand identity and story that governs your actions and leads your conversations. Having a brand story can help you maintain consistency between your personal brand and your business brand, plus it gives you a slight edge over the competition.
Decide on Your Target Audience
When building your personal brand it is a good idea to have a target audience in mind.
This will help you create relevant content and a personal brand that resonates with them. If you have already defined your target audience for your company, then your target audience for your personal brand should be similar if not exactly the same.
Build Up Your Online Presence
Nowadays everybody is online so you need to be too. Build up your social media profiles so that you can connect with potential clients and fans. Our advice here is to partner with an influencer in your industry who has developed a name for themselves already.
You should also build up your website and blog. These platforms allow you to share information and interact with others.
Reach Out Using Outreach
Use email outreach to help grow your network. Marketing yourself via email is a great way to widen your audience and deepen any existing relationships.
Reach out to people who might be interested in connecting with you or hearing about your product or service. Send them an email asking them for their feedback and opinions. Use email marketing automation to help manage and stay on top of your campaigns.
Make connections that could lead to future opportunities.
A Little Free Press Coverage Never Hurt Anybody
Getting your name in the paper or news is easier said than done however if you can get it right it will pay off. It's not easy but it does happen. Press coverage helps to increase awareness of your brand and products.
Connect With Industry Leaders
Connecting with industry leaders of stature will help you solidify your presence as serious and credible. They may even refer you to other contacts who can help you further. Either way, nothing bad can come from widening your network.
For example, if your company is involved in the creative industry then it may be a good idea to associate yourself with a couple of famous graphic designers.
Monitor Your Brand
It is important to monitor your personal brand over time. You need to make sure that even if there are a few lulls, ultimately your target audience's perception of you as well as your reach are increasing. Monitoring your brand also allows you to react quickly if something goes wrong.
Conclusion
As you can see, having a personal brand has many benefits. In fact, it is just as important as your company brand.
The key is to keep these tips in mind when creating your personal brand and always remember to be authentic.
It is important to set your personal brand in motion as early as possible as it is hard to change plus it will serve you well throughout your career.
