You may be wondering how to build a personal brand so that you can stand out in a saturated market. Building a personal brand is the thing that can’t be replicated. People can try, but there is only one you and that cannot be duplicated, no matter how hard someone tries.

Building a personal brand is a surefire way to stand out in your industry.

Why every entrepreneur should build a personal brand

The key to differentiating yourself from your competition is building a personal brand. When you’re the face of your business, building a personal brand makes sense. Your brand is what sets you apart from the competition, helping to form a lasting impression in the hearts and minds of your audience. By letting people get to know the person (or people) behind the brand (and business), you can form a deeper connection.

While someone may not be ready to buy your product or service right away, by having a personal brand, they can start to get to know you, what you offer, who you help, and decide if you’re the person who can help them as well.

People want to follow people. People want to buy from other people.

Think about it. We all love some Target, right? Well, whose message would you be more receptive to? Target as the large corporation? Your favorite celebrity or influencer sharing their favorite product? Or your best friend who is vouching for a particular product that you can only get at Target.

Chances are, your number one pick is your best friend. Then, the influence or celebrity. Lastly, Target as a corporation.

Why? It’s because there’s that personal touch. Someone you know (or admire) is giving a recommendation. Because you trust that person, you’re more likely to take that recommendation.

Benefits of building a personal brand

• Trust and authority: Having a personal brand helps to build trust with your audience, and position yourself as an expert and authority in your industry.
• Attract more ideal clients: Building a personal brand that positions you as the expert in a specific industry helps you to attract more of your ideal clients. When you’re positioned as THE go-to expert, it’s easier for people to refer clients to you. They know that you can help solve the problem.
• Build your network: When you have a personal brand that clearly communicates who you are, what you do, and how you help others, you’re instantly sharing what you bring to the table. It makes it easier for other people to see value in connecting with you. You can use your personal brand to build your network, both online and offline.
• Premium pricing: Having a strong personal brand helps justify charging premium prices for your products and services. When you hire an expert, you expect to pay more because they will get you results. Without a brand, you become a commodity (like toilet paper) that competes on price. And there will always be competitors that can beat your price. Don’t be like toilet paper!
• Create a lasting platform: Over time, your business will evolve. You may pivot and change what you do. However, because your personal brand is tied to YOU (not your business endeavors), your personal brand remains with you as your business evolves.

How to Build a Personal Brand

The first step to creating your personal brand is to create a foundation that you can confidently and authentically build upon. The key principle here is authenticity.

Building a personal brand does not mean creating a “persona”. You want to build a personal brand that is authentic to who you are, whether you are presenting yourself online or in person. There should be no disconnect between the two.

Personal branding is about showcasing your authentic self (quirks included) to your audience and customers with intention, purpose, and strategy. Your brand should be a reflection of your skills, passions, values, and beliefs.

Build a Strong Brand Foundation

To build a strong brand foundation, start by taking a look at your current branding assets:

• Skills & credentials: What skills have you acquired throughout your life? What training, credentials, certifications, or awards have you received?
• Passions & interests: What industries and topics are you most interested in? What are you passionate about?
• Core values & beliefs: What are some of your most important core values? What do you believe in? What do you stand for? What do you stand against?

Key elements of your personal branding foundation:

The next step is to start putting together the key elements of your personal brand. These will help guide your decisions as you build your personal brand:

• Your brand vision: What do you want to be known for? If you became the world’s expert on something, what would it be?
• Your brand mission: Why do you want to build a personal brand? What is your purpose? Who do you want to help? What do you want to accomplish?
• Your brand message: What is the main message you want to communicate to your audience? What message do you want share consistently in your content and in your marketing?
• Your brand personality: What are some of your personal characteristics and traits that you can weave into your brand? Do you want to be perceived as very polished and professional, or perhaps more quirky and adventurous?

Choose a target audience

Yes, deciding on who you want to work with and serve is a part of building a strong personal brand. A big mistake that some entrepreneurs make as they build a personal brand is trying to appeal to everyone. In doing so, they appeal to no one. When you’re creating a target audience, picture just one person. Who is that ideal person that you can help?

It’s going to sound strange, but you want to repel people you don’t want to work with. You want to attract the people who would be a perfect fit for you. Those people give you life, energy, and drive to keep helping that client avatar. You don’t have to reach everyone to be successful. You have to reach your ideal client who need your help and want to work with you.

Create a content strategy for your personal brand

To create a content strategy for your personal brand, start by creating a list of all of the potential topics that would be helpful for your target audience. This is the key. You want the content to be helpful, educational, and useful for your target audience.

Think of things that your target audience may be curious about, things they should know before working with you, helpful hacks or tutorials that make their life easier, etc.

Google’s Keyword Planner, BuzzSumo, and Answer The Public are all great tools for doing keyword research and discovering popular topics.

Once you have a list of topics to create content on, the next step is to decide which type of content to create and where you will publish that content.

Common content types:

• Text / articles
• Videos – YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn
• Podcasts
• Webinars
• Online courses
• PDF guides, checklists, worksheets
• Infographics
• Slideshows
• Case studies

Common content mediums:

• Your own blog/website
• Podcast directories (iTunes, Stitcher, etc.)
• YouTube
• Other blogs and online publications
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Email
• Pinterest

How to create community around your brand and business

• Facebook Groups: Create a private Facebook Group for your audience and/or clients. This will give you the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations with your audience on a daily basis, and just as importantly, give them an environment in which they can interact with and support each other, without being out in public on social media where everyone can see.
• Live Events: Host live events so your audience and/or clients can spend time with you in-person. Casual meetups, workshops, retreats, and mastermind groups are all great ways to solidify long-term relationships with your audience. Live events are a great way to connect with your audience and deliver value to them beyond what you can do online.
• Membership Sites: Create a membership site where in exchange for a nominal monthly fee, your clients can have access to exclusive content, live calls and/or webinars with you on a regular basis, and the ability to interact with each other via a members-only forum or group. This is can be a great avenue for community building and group coaching at an accessible and scalable rate.

Start building your personal brand

It’s a great time to be an entrepreneur. The internet and evolving technology make it easier than ever to start a business. Anyone can build a brand and an audience online, and create services and products to sell to their audience.

When you’re a freelancer or entrepreneur, you are going to have competition. As a personal brand, however, you don’t. At least not in the same way. When you build a personal brand, there is no real competition. Because there is only one you. Yes, there will be other businesses and people and companies who do the same thing that you do. But there won’t be anyone else who does it the way that you do.

This is why building a personal brand is so powerful and impactful. When you build a personal brand, you immediately differentiate yourself from the competition because it’s YOU that makes your business, offers, services, and brand different.

At the end of the day, your brand impression is what other people say, think, and feel about you when you’re not in the room. When people connect with your personal brand, they start to have a little equity in your brand. Their loyalty begins to grow. And when it comes time to make a purchase for the thing that you offer, they will come to you.

How brand photography can help with your personal brand

Building a personal brand is not an overnight endeavor. It takes work, refinement, editing, brainstorming, consistency, and commitment. It takes time to develop your personal brand it will evolve as you grow as an entrepreneur and business owner.

However, one of the impactful ways that you can share your personal brand is with photos. Ideally, both photo and video, but photos at bare minimum. People want to see the person behind the business. People want to know, like, and trust the person they will do business with. And one of the ways that you can do that is have photos of yourself. A professional headshot, lifestyle photos, photos of you working, behind the scenes photos, and more.

These photos will give your audience a taste of what it’s like to work with you. They can see who you are beyond just a business person. This is your opportunity to share some personal aspects (whatever your comfort level may be) and create connection points with your audience. You might share your favorite TV show or coffee drink. You might share your favorite book or podcast.

Personal brand photos allow for a deeper connection

Furthermore, these are things that you can relate to your audience with and create that deeper connection than just an all business surface relationship.

When you have custom personal brand photos for your website, social media, marketing, promotions, public relations, and more, you can stand out from the crowd. There is only one you and nobody else can duplicate who you are. When you use stock photos, there’s a chance that someone else can choose the same photos. When you use company issued product photos, they will look like everyone else’s. However, when you incorporate yourself in your personal brand capacity, that cannot be copied.

6 Types of Personal Branding Stories You Can Tell

4 Reasons Why You Should Book a Personal Brand Shoot

Who Needs Brand Photography? How to Know!

Why Personal Brand Photos are Important for Realtors

HELPFUL RESOURCES TO PREPARE FOR YOUR BRAND PHOTOSHOOT

Personal Branding Photography – What You Should Know

When to Hire a Brand Photographer

Find the Right Brand Photographer for Your Business

How to Use Your Branding Photos

READY TO BOOK YOUR OWN BRANDING SHOOT?

Step 1. Get in Touch – click and contact today

Step 2. Discovery Call – we’ll chat about your business and your vision for brand photos

Step 3. Book your Shoot – if we’re a “match” let’s get you on the schedule and start planning