You, digitally.

Whether you know it or not, you have a personal brand

Whether you know it or not, you have a personal brand.

A personal brand is what people think of when they hear your name, see an email from you, or when your post shows up on their feed on social media. Your personal brand is an extension of you, so you should care what it looks, feels, and sounds like.

When building your personal brand, you have the ability to build and portray your personal brand however you want.

There are no rules or guidelines when it comes to building your personal brand, but there are a few steps that you can follow to get started.

Step 1: Determine how you want to be perceived (and why)

The best personal brands are unique, authentic, and trustworthy. They build a strong reputation for you that can help you personally and professionally.

Your personal brand is an extension of YOU. So make sure you are reflecting that in your digital presence.

Here are questions you can ask yourself:

• How do I perceive myself?
• What are my top talents?
• Which industries am I able to help the most?
• What sets me apart from others?
• What’s my personality color?

You can take these answers and translate them onto your digital persona.

PS. You’re allowed to change your answers overtime. We’re human – we grow, learn, and ultimately, change.

Step 2: Determine what your unique value proposition is

What is it that sets you apart from others? And more importantly, others in your industry.

It doesn’t have to be a skill that’s applicable to your job, maybe it’s more personal. Think of your background, where you grew up, an experience, or even a hobby.

Take that unique thing about you and turn it into an action statement. This is something that you will want to highlight in your personal brand.

Step 3: Lock down your audience (and what they look like)

Your audience is not the entire world. But, you already know this. Your personal brand needs to mirror your business and ultimately, your customers.

What does your ideal customer look like?

Where are they?

Why do they need your expertise to help?

Step 4: Finetune your digital platform to attract the audience

Now that you have your audience clearly defined, you can finetune your digital presence to attract and retain your audience.

Your digital presence needs to be consistent across all your social channels where you are engaging and interacting with your audience. This could be your LinkedIn account, your website, your email list, and more.

For example, if your value proposition is on your website, it should also be visible on your LinkedIn account, and email signature.

Step 5: Prioritize content distribution > content creation

Connecting with your audience and sharing your content is the easiest and most effective way to get your personal brand out into the digital world.

And similarly to Step 4, your messaging needs to be consistent.

There’s an easy trick to having consistent messaging: prioritizing content distribution over content creation.

For example, if you write a blog post or a long-form email, take a paragraph or even a sentence or two and copy and paste them onto your social media as a post. You can take a piece of content and reuse it, remix it, and reconnect with your audience over and over again.

Consistency and repetition is the best way to resonate with your audience, so act on it!

Step 6: Constantly engage with your audience

It doesn’t stop after you hit “Post” or “Send on a piece of content into the digital universe.

You need to follow up with people who comment on your posts, who send you messages, or who are looking for more information.

To keep your personal brand alive, you need to stay active on social media just like you would at a networking event. Standing in the corner won’t get you new leads, but interacting with the crowds will.