Why A Strong Personal Brand Is Essential Your Business
Truth bomb time - You don’t have to have a personal brand. But if you don’t, you are accepting the loss of countless opportunities. A personal brand gives you control of your business perception, builds trust, solidifies you as an industry expert and so much more. The ironic thing is that most people who claim not to have/want a personal brand often unintentionally have one regardless. In the modern world, If you are active online on any platform, chances are you are inadvertently curating a personal brand.
What Is A Personal Brand?
Your personal brand is usually made up of a number of contributing factors. Images, video, audio or writing can all contribute towards yours individually, but essentially your personal brand is about communicating the what, how and why of what you are trying to accomplish. It is a combination of the narrative of your journey; your core story and the medium/s you choose to tell that story.
The Power Of A Personal Brand?
The image below conveys the following of some individuals who have incredible personal brands with the following of their respective business ventures.
The difference is of course stark and truth be told, without that personal brand it is unlikely any of those businesses would have achieved even close to the success they have enjoyed today. Why is this? Simple. People buy from people. When you think of Elon Musk, I am willing to bet your first thought is not of Paypal, or even what he has contributed to the electric car space.
Elon Musk produces thoughts of a revolutionary entrepreneur, the space guy or simply just a stupidly rich billionaire. The latter especially creating huge interest, because he represents and shares a story that to more than 99.99% of us will be unobtainable. He gives you insight into “how the other half live”.
The Benefits Of A Personal Brand
You can leverage your following
A personal brand creates a direct “you-them” relationship between you and your followers. Done correctly, this allows you to become the bridge that connects your customer with your business.
You can tell your story
Modern marketing stretches far beyond the traditional methods gone by. Customer expectation has shifted, particularly for the new generation of consumers, Gen-Z. Potential customers now are making purpose-driven purchases. Be that in the form of a moral mission or a connection to the businesses “why”. Your personal brand allows you to tell that story with ease directly to your target audience. If you were interested in finding out more about marketing to Gen-Z you can read all about it here.
You can build trust and relationships
The success of any business depends on trust and relationships. Both are much easier to create through a personal brand. Trust is built in a number of ways, but providing your customers direct insight into your journey is a sure fire way to build it. Plus, this connection to you builds relationships by default, killing two birds with one stone.
How To Create Your Personal Brand
Define Who You Are
Sounds crazy, but your personal brand guidelines need to be as clear in your mind as your businesses. Things like your core values, messaging, voice, colours ect all need to be taken into account.
Find Out Where your Customers Are
Once you have your personal brand guidelines set, you need to decide which platform(s) you are going to build it on. Where are the eyes of your ideal customers at most times? Consider things like their age, for example, 18-25 year olds are likely to be on Tiktok and the over 50s are more likely to be on Facebook. Once you figure this out, start your personal brand off on those platforms.
Choosing Your Medium
While the above is critical to research, much depends on where you are comfortable as well. Your personal brand is just that, yours. If you are not comfortable with video and love to write then write. If you hate to take photos but love to speak, get a podcast or use social audio.
While it is important to be in front of your audience, the content needs to be good. So if they are on Tiktok and you make a terrible video it is going to be a waste of time. However, you could always use Tiktok to promote your podcast. There's a thousand workarounds to repurpose content and It all comes down to finding the balance.
Be Consistent Both In Brand And Schedule
Building a personal brand takes a lot of work. It is vital that you show up consistently in whichever medium and on whatever platforms you decide suit. But consistency extends beyond time management. Consistency in your messaging is also vital. Of course it will develop other time, but at its core you want to make sure you are conveying the same storyline consistently.
Can Personal Brand Cause Harm?
Short answer? Yes. Cancel culture is a very real way to destroy a business forever. This quote from Forbes sums up nicely.
“What once produced a few uncomfortable questions or maybe a news item or two can now take on a life of its own because of the internet. Minor issues can morph into major issues, and major issues can become huge problems once someone hits “send” as stories, photos and commentary spiral out of control.”
There’s no denying that publishing your thoughts, feelings and actions online comes with a risk. Kylie Jenner, shown in the above comparison, as well as her sister Kendal Jenner with her involvement in a disastrous Pepsi campaign, can both teach us lessons on experiencing, or in the case of Kylie utilising negative press in regards to your personal brand.
What Pepsi and Lip Filler Can Teach Us About Personal Branding
In case you are unaware, in 2017 Pepsi pulled an ad starring Kendall Jenner over backlash claiming that they were appropriating a protest movement following police shootings of people of colour (Black Lives Matter). You can find out more about this thoughtless, frankly embarrassing, ad here.
Jenner is not known for activism and does not use her fame as a platform to address social issues. Plus, the ad literally screamed “created by white people who have never had a need to protest anything ever”.
“I just felt so f****** stupid. The fact that I would hurt other people or offend other people was definitely not the intent”
Kendall Jenner in response to the pulled ad
Pepsi in response to the pulled ad
This was a disaster for both Kendall Jenner and Pepsi. But for us, it provides 2 valuable lessons. First of all, the importance of authenticity, knowledge and being careful with what it is you share under your personal brand. Second, that despite this being branded as “The worst ad ever”, Pepsi’s profits still increased that quarter. Which is fucking depressing, but in some very small comfort reminds us of how quickly people forget our mistakes.
Image - Kylie Lip Kits
Lip-Filler Turned Bank Filler
From one Jenner to another, Kylie can also give us valuable insight into personal branding. As you can see from the above image her brand “Kylie Cosmetics” would likely be nothing without her massive following on social media previous to its inception.
However the journey wasn’t all sunshine and roses for this Jenner either. In 2015, Kylie faced huge criticism after denying she had lip fillers. Kylie gained 100 million followers on Instagram over the course of the cosmetic controversy. Whom 6 months later, she converted into customers for the launch of her business “Kylie Lip Kits”. They sold out. 15000 of them. Completely. In less than 60 seconds.
The lesson here? A strong personal brand gives you the power to control the narrative of your business rather than having that narrative decided for you.
Is A Personal Brand Right For You?
Whether or not you choose to have a personal brand is not going to be the be-all-and-end-all for your business. However, done properly your personal brand will propel you forward very quickly. There is much to consider in your choice. It is time-consuming, can share parts of your personal life and like most business decisions comes with risk. That being said, it offers the opportunity to truly connect with those who serve, to share your journey and ultimately to grow your client base with supporters of not only your mission but of your dreams.
If you would like help getting started with your personal brand, Creative Little Soul are experts in personal brand curation and would be happy to assist. Reach out now here and let us help you to tell your story.