To develop a powerful personal brand can be a daunting task, as many entrepreneurs and small business owners struggle with developing a brand for themselves. But branding is not only for companies, it defines who you are. Like everything else, your personal brand is unique.
What is a personal brand and why is it important?
A personal brand is a perception in someone’s mind. As I said earlier, when someone calls out your name, what would be their response? The truth is, you can determine what you want people to think and say about you.
Developing a brand is about taking control of your image, and that reflects who you are in many aspects. When someone calls out your name, it should give them an honest impression of your talents, values, and beliefs.
Developing a powerful personal brand is crucial for entrepreneurs and small business owners. In fact, it’s important for everyone. Because our personal brand will not only boost our business – it helps drive them to success.
For example, what makes you different? What are you known for? This means, what are your values? Are your values aligned with your mission and beliefs? And what kind of impression do you want to leave behind for the world?
You are your brand, no matter what your current job is. Click To TweetBranding is like a mental game. It acts as a magnet that pulls the matching pair together. So, if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you must develop a powerful personal brand.
If you don’t develop a powerful personal brand, it makes you no different than others in regards to your profession.
The more you present yourself to the world, the higher your brand gains its credibility and recognition. So how do you develop a powerful personal brand? In this article, I will share 3 of my secrets to develop a powerful personal brand.
1. Brand Around Your Talents, Values, And Beliefs.
People like to know the story around why you did it and what makes you do it. It can be because of a certain talent you have or a strong belief of a product that you’ve created. Either way, people are drawn into a combination of vulnerability and enthusiasm. Your beliefs are what drives your core values.
Everyone looks at your watch and it represents who you are, your values and your personal style. – Kobe Bryant
When I say value, it isn’t based upon your position at your company. Rather it’s based on what you can bring to the marketplace. What is the unique talent that you do exceptionally well that others can’t? When you establish your own target audience in your niche market. You’ll be able to develop a unique talent around your niche. So, why do you have to do this?
Because with your own target audience, it helps you narrow down your potential customers. Clients won’t just walk up to your doorstep. You need to put yourself out there and when you understand your audiences, it is easier to create value based on their problems.
But before you do that, ask yourself these questions. This is where you begin.
- Am I perceived as I want to be?
- How strong is my reputation in my industry?
- What does my brand reflect most on my personality? My ability?
- What makes me unique?
- Does my website/blog reflect my brand?
- Does my social media channel reflect my brand?
Asking yourself these questions is where you begin developing a powerful personal brand. Choose what you want to be known for and focus on being the best at it. If you’re looking to be a successful entrepreneur, being the best at what you do sets you apart from your competition.
2. Develop A Powerful Signature Style
As I said in the beginning, branding is like a mental game. It’s like a magnet that pulls a matching pair together. So, when you develop a powerful personal brand, you need to stand out. Because being average makes you similar to everyone else and this is where you take control in developing what people think and say about you.
When you think about a signature style, it can be varied. It can either make or break a personal brand. So, be careful when you decide on your style. If you can develop this well, it can be powerful and make you instantly recognizable. Think about your favorite brands. What makes them unique? This is crucial to know because your brand allows self-expression through your personality to the marketplace.
You can visualize your style with these guides. But remember to be consistent with your style.
- Logos
- Trademarks
- Signs
- Core visual elements
- How you dress
Think of it this way, if you have a different color logo on your signs and your blog. People will find it hard to understand what you do. So, being consistent with your style is a surefire to success.
Apart from that, develop your unique dress code. As I said earlier, you are in control of what people think and say about you. You want people to remember you for the right reasons. My mentees associate me with my red suit and my Bentley. Steve Jobs always dressed exactly the same and Obama only wears either a blue or a gray suit.
My point here is, these may be their signature style. But when you call out their names, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Steve Jobs – Apple products. Dan Lok – Red suit and Bentley. On top of that, a powerful personal brand gives you an advantage in your professional and personal life.
3. Create An Impression With An Elevator Pitch
An elevator pitch allows you to earn someone’s conversation. It is never an opportunity to close a deal. However, it’s an opportunity to get people’s attention. It acts as a quick introduction and with a short, snappy explanation, it explains how you can help your customers.
So, where and when should you use your elevator pitch? You can leave an impression with an elevator pitch during a networking event, warm calls or conferences. You also use an elevator pitch with job interviews. Especially when someone asks you this question, “Tell me about yourself” or “What do you do?”
Instead of convincing someone to hire you, earn 30 seconds of conversation. Click To TweetA compelling short stunning elevator pitch will uplift your value. Which means, people will instantly remember who you are. But never forget that when people who listen to your pitch, the first thing they think about is “Does that bring me value?” or “What’s in it for me?” Therefore, when you develop a powerful personal brand, it’s crucial to understand your audiences.
For example, at a networking event. Someone prompts an attention-grabbing question saying, “Isn’t it a daunting task to develop a personal brand for yourself?” And you answer, “ Yes, but you know what will make it less daunting? The founder of my company constantly creates educational content. They created a video training that cost less than a cup of coffee a day. And if you spend 30 days on coffee, you could discover the secrets to develop a powerful personal brand without feeling daunting.”
Or if someone asks, what do you do?. You can say, “I help companies scale their business by exponentially increasing their conversion rates.” While different types of questions have different impressions, it should also be memorable and punchy.
What Should You Be Doing To Maintain Your Personal Branding?
Now that you’ve developed a powerful personal brand. What should you be doing to maintain your brand? Yes, it’s time to gain visibility. This is where you’re letting your audience know you exist.
To gain visibility requires multiple processes. For example, creating a well-strategized plan across your social media platform. In order to establish a strong foundation, you need to be active in a couple of things.
Here’s how you can market your brand through different channels.
- Client Referrals
- Direct Mail
- Networking
- Joint ventures
- Seminars
- Public Relations
- Warm Calling (if you have a product or service)
- Internet (Social media platforms)
Don’t get overwhelmed by the number of platforms. To begin with, you can start with one. Decide which is your best channel according to your target audience. Now, let me give you an idea of what I do to promote and maintain my personal brand.
Here’s what I do to maintain my personal brand. And this is strictly on personal branding.
- Give one interview per week. 52 interviews a year which includes TV, Radio, Podcast or print.
- Conduct one interview per week with successful entrepreneurs.
- Create and upload 200+ videos per year on YouTube.
- Publish at least one new book per year.
- Give away a minimum of 3,000 books a year.
- Deliver at least 20 presentation or speeches a year.
Ensuring your brand is personalized, creates compelling and convincing content. Write valuable and educational content to your audience. You need to put value to the marketplace. Why? Because your brand and value is a self-expression through your personality. So, if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, position yourself by being the best at what you do.
Why Entrepreneurs Fail At Developing A Personal Brand
As I said in the beginning, many entrepreneurs struggle to develop a powerful personal brand. So, whether it’s personal or business life, it defines who you are. In order to be successful in any business, having a powerful brand is crucial because branding elevates your success exponentially.
Developing a powerful personal brand right is crucial for success. Click To Tweet
Of course, it’s not an overnight success. You can’t get the world to know who you are in a day. But if you’re consistent, it’s a surefire to success. It takes time and effort to understand and learn how to develop a powerful personal brand effectively.
Here’s why entrepreneurs fail at developing a personal brand.
They Don’t Fully Believe In Themselves.
If you don’t believe in yourself, certainly, nobody will. If you want to develop a powerful personal brand, you must be clear and certain about who you are and what you can offer to the marketplace. Again, your value is on what you can bring to the marketplace. But keep this in mind, there’s a difference between confidence and arrogance. If you set yourself with confidence, you’ll overcome hurdles with grace.
No Strategy
Everything you do reflects on your brand. Therefore, having a good strategy is important in every area of business. If you want to stand out and be remembered. You need to put in the extra effort as it won’t magically appear for you. Think and plan out a couple of strategies before you execute. But don’t be afraid to fail. I failed in 13 businesses before i became a self-made millionaire.
How you do anything is how you do everything – Dan Lok
Unsure What Is Personal Branding
Don’t get confused between professional and personal branding, because they are very different. Personal brand is a perception in someone’s mind. It is how people perceive you would be. Remember the first question you ask yourself? Am I perceived as I want to be? Talking to people and asking for honest opinions is the best way to do this.
They’re Inconsistent With Their Content On Social Media
Have a narrow focus on your topics with your social media channels. When you’re consistent, it’s easier to recognize a voice. To ensure a powerful brand is achieved, you have to demonstrate consistency across your communication.
Never Leverage On Social Media Platforms
In 2018, an estimate of 1.8 billion people worldwide purchased goods online. And during the same year, global e-retail sales amounted to 2.8 trillion U.S. dollars. It’s projected to grow up to 4.8 trillion U.S. dollars by 2021. So, can you imagine the number of people purchasing a product through social media platforms? It’s significantly high. So, leveraging social media might be the key to your success.
Not Investing In Themselves To Learn
I’ve seen many entrepreneurs make plenty of excuses. Such as, I’m too old to expose myself in social media. I’m not young enough to learn new things anymore. Well, let me tell you this. If you want to develop a powerful personal brand, you need to have a shift in mindset. The process of gradually developing into the person you wish to be is crucial. When you get constructive criticism, you can use that to grow. Regardless of how long it takes, your brand will grow much more quickly.
If you want to grow your business, investing in yourself to learn new technology is essential. Unless you have the confidence to learn through my free 200+ video content. Engaging a mentor and gaining their secrets will bring you success quicker.
Want To Develop A Powerful Personal Brand?
Making a name for yourself can be tough and frustrating. As I said in the beginning, it can be a daunting task. It requires time, effort and consistency. When you see other leaders making a name for themselves, you wonder, how did they have it all figured out? When you want to develop a powerful personal brand, you have to understand the most important aspect, which is trust.
A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another. – Seth Godin
Whether it’s for personal or business. If they aren’t any trust, you’re not likely to achieve a personal brand for yourself. That’s why I told my team to prepare a special training video that consists of my secrets. Discover the secrets of my personal branding here.
Back in my early days, when I was in high school, I was the invisible kid. No one wanted to talk to me and people didn’t think I could succeed in business. But now that I’m a business magnate, Internet celebrity and global educator with students and fans around the world, people want to know how I developed such a reputation.
In today’s world of technology, opportunities for growth are more than before. So, to develop a powerful personal brand, be sure to stay focused and the brand stays with you.
A personal brand is nothing more than your personal reputation. If you want to create a powerful reputation for yourself, create a compelling elevator pitch and develop the perception you want your audience to think and say about you. That drives your core values with the beliefs you have.
And, if you’re a serious influencer, entrepreneur, and expert earning over $300,000 in revenue and want to take your business to the next level, read below. If you are an influencer and entrepreneur who wants to:
- Scale their business to 7-figures and beyond using social media.
- Generate a predictable and sustainable return on investment every month.
- Build a 7-figure business that runs with or without them.
