Goldie Chan (contributor), in a very relevant 2018 blog published in Forbes, dissected and showcased anatomy of ‘personal branding’. 10 simple yet golden rules: have a focus, be genuine, tell a story, be consistent, be ready to fail, create a positive impact, follow a successful example, live your Brand, let other people tell your story and leave a legacy. Well, this Ossisto blog is all about right tips for successful Personal branding. So, stay informed.

For Those Who Do Not Know What Personal Branding Is……

If you could just associate the word ‘Brand’ with a company or a product, then you got the definition all wrong. A brand can be anything that has a specific, definite and distinct identity. It can be a product, an organization, service or even people. Personal Branding is more that the actual process of selling. It is the totality of efforts put together to create a persistent impression in others mind. One should devote an ample lot of time and energy into self-branding (*another term for personal branding). As we are living in the modern era, personal branding is quite done online using various tools and skills. Building a recognizable personal brand opens up professional opportunities.

Do you remember a particular restaurant or a brand that has become an identity with a common term you know? For example, every time someone says Fries, I would imagine a golden arch under which my parents used to take us for a Sunday ‘Happy Meal’. So, whether you try to create a strong personal brand for your company or for yourself, remember this; “Your personal brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room” – Chris Ducker

Build a Strong Personal Brand Online

First step towards creating a strong personal brand is to establish the presence online. Until and unless you have a presence online, you are non-existent. Well, before getting your idea, product, service or even yourself an online identity, decide on the reasons why you are getting it done. All your offline and online effort should align to this particular vision you have in mind.

*Spend some money to build yourself a website that would help in faster conversion. Today, everybody has a website and the difference is how to make a unique one for yourself. There are many tools to build a website, but if it is not your cup of tea, it is highly recommended to get assisted by those specialists who can create a well-planned information architecture, easy-to-navigate, mobile-compatible, secure and optimized website. Having a website live is not sufficient. It should be positioned right in search results. Money should also be set aside for have the right digital marketing team to take care of all the online actions, reactions and reputations. The right team will do the timely online audits, create amazing social media posts, write crowd pulling blog posts, driving online traffic and to be honest, their roles and responsibilities in building a brand is crucial.

*Taking control. Though a team is taking care of the entire online actions, you should be the authority over all the activities. For doing so, you should know the art and science of online branding. Nobody understands you or your brand better than yourself. You should have definite answers to some of the questions like:

• What are you trying to give an identity?
• How to define visions for your personal brand.
• How the branding will help you in the professional front?
• How to build trust and credibility?
• What are the tools and platforms to use?
• How to create a lasting name?
• What is the contingency plan in case of a defamation scene?

Only once you thoroughly have the answers to these questions and also, only after you have assessed the correct inventory of the existing brand assets, a move towards building an online presence should be established. 

      *Hack culture. It is truly important to keep a watch on new trends, ultra-new platforms, tools, influencers, competitor’s moves and even on your own efforts in building a personal brand. Just because everybody is posting stories on Instagram, paying for advertisements in Fb or spending thousands of dollars to get an ultimate influencer marketing, you don’t have to do what others does. You can position yourself better in the newer platforms on budget-friendly prices. WhatzApp, Tencent QQ or Flixter; try devising newer strategies unexplored by majority of your competitors and create the necessary changes that people are looking forward to.

*Social media is the right place to chase the right people. In a recent reliable report, in 2019; an average internet user has at least 7 social media accounts. So, now you know where to catch hold of your people. Remind yourself to have the social media profiles updated and to share relevant content on a regular basis. When it comes to branding yourself online, everything affects from the way you speak to the way you dress. Everything should be totally rehearsed even if it looks like a random post or a video. Clarity, Coherence and Commitment should be the base of every social media effort. The passion and skills you have should be magnified and showed it to the onlookers.

4 Mistakes to Avoid While Building a Personal Brand

Not considering the audience: Whatever stunts you do online or offline, it is for publicity, it is for the visibility of others and especially, your target audience. If nobody is watching you, all the efforts go down the drain. It is important to understand the psyche of the audience to create the right brand image in their heads. If you are an entrepreneur, a CEO or any other important person; find answers to the following questions.

• How people want to see you as a person?
• How you can make people see you differently from others?
• How to create strategies that are gripping and hold your prospects as faithful followers?
• How to engage your customers?
• What value additions would you bring into their lives?
• Why people should value you and your ideologies.

Huge fan followers for some people are not an accident. It is achieved through constant practice of adopting the trendy methods with people as the epicentre for all the tests. Haven’t you heard the epic quote, ‘if you don’t give the market the story to talk about, they will define your brand’s story for you. -David Brier’

Following the leader: Another mistake that individuals commit is following the leaders in the same field. For example, we all know the famous rappers Eminem, Drake, Snoop Dogg or Nicki Minaj. If someone new comes into the market imitating what they have done in their singings, it will be considered as an imitation and nothing original. Getting inspired from the leaders is fine but imitating them will lead to a total disaster. You shouldn’t follow the leaders to create your brand; however, you should let others to follow you to establish yourself. It may sound a bit cunning, but it is the ultimate truth.

Waiting until the disaster strikes: the main reason why major personal branding strategies fail is because of the lack of consistency and also choosing to lie to the audience. In many instances, individuals build websites and other social media profiles, get enthusiastic about it and then after a few years the interest is dropped rapidly. No repair, upgradation or positioning is done consciously. Until someday, the disaster hits. The hard realization of competitors having more followers or name being defamed in the public, can all be avoided by showcasing consistency in personal branding efforts. Not lying to the public is as important as being original. You may be able to create a humongous bubble space for yourself lined with lies, but someday truth will reveal, and the castle will come down faster that the time taken to build it.

Avoiding the art of storytelling: Branding is done through carefully chosen words and is published in any form online or offline. There are millions of people trying to get a space in the hearts of people. Well, how much ever technology progresses, people still are emotional being. Try churning out stories for anything that you want to say. Who has the time to sit and read pages and pages of boring web content? If it’s a striking story, then yes, it is gripping. The narrative should be something the audience can connect with and should be supplemented with a lot of visual content.

You Do Not Need a Team

For personal branding you do need a huge team. All you need is an efficient person who is good at communication and ready to put all the efforts. A virtual assistant would be the right choice. For budget-friendly rates one can avail services such as creating personal digital footprints, optimizing social media profiles, analysing and monitoring, personal PR consulting, etc. And the additional perk is one needn’t do any micromanagement. Your VA would have associated with many other brands prior to working for you, making them brand specialists. However, finding the right person to work as a virtual assistant would be a true test. If your choice is from agencies like our, you would get an all in all package at best prices.

If you still consider personal branding unnecessary, have an overall statistic on the number of upspring competitors in your field. You too are a brand; people are constantly and silently evaluating you. They follow you not because there isn’t anybody else, but you have something in you that bring positivity in the society. So, consider, personal branding as a necessity to gain more opportunities than a choice.

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