Personal branding has expanded hugely with search volumes for ‘personal brand’ each day quadrupling since this time last year (trends.google.com). You would struggle to scroll through LinkedIn and even Twitter without seeing any mention of building your personal brand in your feed.
With the rise of the ‘Linkfluencer’ (LinkedIn Influencer), building personal brands has become accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Online titans such as Steven Bartlett and the Kardashians are capitalising on the online portrayals of themselves and huge followings to sell their business ventures.
What is a personal brand all about?
Personal branding is an intentional effort to curate the content and information you share about yourself to create and influence public perception of you. It’s what people think and say about you when you’re not in the room.
Why all the fuss about having a personal brand?
Now more than ever, we seek connection in both our personal and professional lives. Especially in the business to business services space, people want to work with people rather than companies hiding behind logos and templates. The unique selling proposition of your business is you and your staff.
On average, employees will have over ten times the social following of their employers. A lead that comes through a personal over corporate account is seven times more likely to convert! Smart companies will leverage this following for lead generation by building the brand of those within the organisation. Knowing the people behind the organisation and their skillsets builds trust. Only 33% of buyers trust messages from a company while almost 90% of customers trust recommendations from someone they know. (Nielson)
The darker side to branding people
For many people, building their online brand and persona is a step towards self-fulfilment. Gaining followers and being noticed within their field, getting business leads and opportunities can be a huge quick-hit of dopamine and a short-term self-esteem booster. Some people can’t go a day or even a meal without sharing it to their Instagram story and struggle to watch something on TV without sharing a witty Twitter commentary. If we use the crutch of external approval as the basis for feelings of belonging and self-esteem then when we have nothing to share, loneliness and anxiety creep in.
I often hear ‘this is my real life back at home, but this is how I appear on social media’. We only share highlights and a distorted view, to paint ourselves in the best possible light. When we go too far, however, this can impact how we view ourselves. Not living up to a false version of ourselves we have created, leaves us feeling inadequate and fatigued. We compare ourselves to a version of us that doesn’t exist. Exactly the opposite to the self-confidence we need to promote ourselves.
If you’re not happy within yourself, do not have clear values or live by them, your brand will never be able to achieve the goals you set out to achieve. Living inauthentically counteracts any trust you have built. If people don’t see through it online, meeting and working with you in person they’ll see through the facade that you don’t talk, look or act anything like the character you’ve created online.
Building a personal brand from the inside-out
It’s so important to understand what makes a personal brand successful to avoid falling into a self-set trap of online obsession and a cycle of disappointment. The art of authentic personal branding is a process, whereby you take the time to clearly understand yourself and identify the real you. Who are you? What are your roles in life? What do you value most deeply? How can you help others and provide value? Where do you want to be in five year’s time? What opportunities do you want your brand to open up?
Your personal brand starts and ends with telling a genuine story about you — your capabilities, your expertise, and your experience. One of the best, and easiest ways you can show authenticity when building your personal brand, is by learning to tell your story in a powerful way. You need to start with working on yourself, a brand can never bring you happiness and fulfilment unless you have achieved that within yourself. By looking clearly at who you are, what you value and what you want to be known for, you can share messages and provide value that’s authentic and trustworthy.
I can help you define who you are and want to be, to start living that way and then the content and milestones of success will follow organically.
