I love the internet and I love new internet technologies. New Internet technologies allow you to be whom you want to be more easily. You can be whomever you want online. I am not talking about pretending to be someone you are not. I’m simply stating that social media platforms allow you to connect with others who have similar interests to your own – no matter how obscure or bizarre these interests are.
This is not the point of this article though (although as I progress this blog I will share with you some of my more unusual hobbies – for example African Drumming and Lawn Bowls.) I am not here to stop you from creating your own online identity – hell I’m actively encouraging it – what I want to do is talk about the power of personal branding and why this is vitally important for overall business success.
The internet has connected people on levels not thought imaginable previously. Oftentimes, especially in small and medium business, people want to deal with people. You have access to incredibly powerful platforms not previously available to you. For little, often no, money, you can set up your own media channels to convey your own personal message.
Personal branding is not a new thing but it’s become increasingly popular because you have so many tools available to you to express your brand.
With the internet as a platform people often consider branding themselves instead of branding a business name. I have a business brand but this business brand reflects who I am. I do have business names but through blogs and other social media platforms I recognise the value of increasing my own profile and how this can be useful in leveraging the overall success of my business.
Here’s a quick rundown of how I describe myself as part of my personal branding efforts – laid back, excitable, lawn bowl playing, red wine drinking, hard working international business man who cares about his family, friends and clients – busy but always available and always on. I’m constantly looking at ways to hack my life and be 10% better at everything.
My brand is who I am. I am not pretending but I am packaging. I want to make it clear who I am. This allows me to attract the types of clients that I want and also more easily deal with those I don’t want to deal with. I am creating an asset. I am trying to create something of value as I leave my legacy upon the world – all whilst trying to have a lot of fun at the same time. You only live once after all.
As you are considering your own personal branding efforts to grow your businesshere are some tips that I would suggest.
Who are you pitching your personal brand to? Who are your clients?
Personal branding and being the person you want to be is only good if people see you and want to be around you. You can’t be everything to everyone so find out who your target audience is, tell them what they want to hear but be true to yourself. You can’t be everything to everyone.
Don’t try and sell your product and service to people you have nothing in common with. Let me explain this further. I am passionate about horse racing. I am a member of a business network that has an interest in horse racing. I can spend hours talking with these people about horse racing and in the end we do business together. I’ve seen people come along to some of these networking meetings pretending to have an interest in horses but they soon get found out.
Ask yourself why people should listen to you and and talk to you?
When you are creating your own brand you need to stand for something and people need to get this. By standing for something people will be able to see whether your message resonates with them and they will be drawn to you accordingly.
People are complex creatures but the more you can clearly define yourself the easier it will be for your target audience to understand who you are and why they should be listening to you.
Managing your online identity is not difficult although it can be slightly time consuming given the number of platforms that are out there. These platforms are valuable tools but they can be a potential downfall.
We’ve not hired someone before because of their social media presence – no I’m not talking about photos of them having a good time on the weekend. The weekend time is their time. But they had put up photos of themselves slacking off at work. I didn’t want to hire somebody who was going to waste my time when there were things that needed to be done.
The reason I talk about managing your online identity after you have chosen and defined your personal brand is that you have to protect it after you have created it. Reputation management is vital. Without reputation management you could end up in all sorts of trouble. You need to create the brand you want to create, you need to define how you want people to see you and then you need to work damn hard to ensure that you maintain your reputation against the inevitable attacks that come in business.
Below I have outlined some tips that can help you build and protect your own brand.
Build your own media empire and own the search engine rankings – The best way to protect your personal brand is to ensure that if someone searches for your name in the search engine results that only results you want them to see show up. You can do this by creating your own media empire using the platforms that are available to you – have a personal website and blog, set up profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest, create videos on YouTube and even consider setting up your own podcast. If you create one or many of these media channesl and regularly update the content then you are well on the way to owning your social media results.
Share your knowledge – Positioning yourself as the expert in your field is a great way to ensure you have positive brand recognition. Sharing your passion and knowledge for your industry freely and without prejudice means people will feel warmly towards you and less likely to think ill of you.
Be yourself & rise above the naysayers – There are those out there that will try to bring down those more successful than them. Don’t let these people get to you. You need to rise above it. Just be yourself. Stay positive and stay on brand message and these people will quickly drop away.