The Ultimate Guide To Personal and Business Branding For Entrepreneurs

Why is Personal Branding Important?

When competition is stiff, personal branding can help you break through the noise by staking your claim in the market, elevating your reputation, and expanding your network.

Branding yourself starts with finding the unique qualities that help you stand out from your competition. Maybe you want to highlight your expertise, your beliefs, or your quirky personality traits. Whatever you decide to focus on, now is the time to lean into your eccentricities and let your gorgeous self shine!

When you have a personal brand that clearly articulates who you are, what you do, and what value you bring to your market, you open the doors for like-minded people to connect with you. As your network grows, so does your credibility as a reliable and relatable business owner. The more meaningful connections you make, the more likely people will be to see you as a go-to source for thought leadership, trend forecasting, and — most importantly — expert services.

So, now that you know the impact a strong personal brand can have on your company’s success, how do you create one? Here are 8 actionable strategies for achieving an elite and enviable personal brand.

How to get started developing your personal brand

1. Align Yourself With A Mission.

A personal brand is more than a logo, font, and colour palette—though, we’ll talk about the importance of maintaining a consistent visual style later—it’s a profound statement of who you are and what you represent. Think about some of the amazing entrepreneurs who have influenced your life and business. Many of these fierce leaders have invested their time and energy into a cause as well as a company; helping to move the needle on important social issues.

Take Cindy Eckert, for example. The serial entrepreneur is a strong advocate for women. Having started and sold two businesses for more than $1.5 billion, Cindy now invests in and mentors other women looking to “smash the pink ceiling.” She has a social media following of over 80,000 and has been featured in Fortune, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Vanity Fair. As her website says, “You cannot miss Cindy. Everything she touches turns to pink.”

The benefits to aligning yourself with a mission go beyond building a strong following and reputation. It’s widely recognized that consumers prefer purpose-driven brands. Back in 2015, a Nielsen poll found that 2 in 3 consumers are willing to pay higher prices for products and services from brands with a social impact mandate.

“A Nielsen poll found that 2 in 3 consumers are willing to pay higher prices for products and services from brands with a social impact mandate.”

So, how do you find your mission? Consider making a list of all the things that make you mad, sad, and glad. Then, identify where you can make a difference. This can be an effective exercise for uncovering worthwhile causes to invest your time and energy in.

2. Show Your Strengths.

Many of the entrepreneurs I meet feel building a personal brand is little more than a vacuous, attention-seeking activity when, in reality, it is so much more than that. It’s an opportunity to take charge of your success by strategically showcasing your strengths to the world.

Let’s consider the United States’ former First Lady, Michelle Obama. During her time as FLOTUS, she made significant improvements on a number of social issues in the U.S., including the support of military families and the role of women in the workplace. She faced criticism head-on, and put her strengths—compassion, confidence, and candidness—to work on the frontline. There’s no denying that this woman has a powerhouse personal brand. Some say Michelle’s brand is more influential than her husband’s, now that Barack Obama is no longer in office.

When developing your personal brand, don’t be afraid to set yourself up by demonstrating your expertise as it relates to your particular field. Identifying your strengths may take a bit of self-work. Again, I recommend making a list to guide you.

3. Focus And Find Your Niche.

Once you know what you want to say, you need to figure out who you’re going to say it to. Niching is the act of focusing your offer on a specific group of people. Think about who you want to help, specifically, and target your offer towards them. It might seem like a scary concept at first, but it is essential for building your reputation as a specialist in your field. After all, until you know your niche, how can anyone know you?

Because it requires you to consider your customers as individuals and respond to their particular needs, niche marketing can help you create long-standing relationships. And, as we know, relationships are key to succeeding in business. You want your personal brand to resonate with your target audience, so keep these folks in mind when marketing yourself, and it’ll be easier to create content they love.

To narrow your focus, make a list of your competitors and take a close look at the problems they aren’t solving for your clients. These gaps are where you can find your niche. Test the concept with a few of your close connections. If it seems like a good fit for your business, run with it!