Creating Personal Brand

By Laura Perry, Copywriting & Editing Intern at Talent Academy

Having a personal brand helps to make you stand out in a crowd. People will recognize you for certain achievements, actions, values, who you are, what you stand for, and what you do - not unlike a reputation.

What does personal brand mean?

A personal brand is essentially a way for people to recognize what you’re all about: your ethos, your expertise, your actions, etc. It’s a widely-recognized and largely consistent perception of an individual.

It’s important to make sure you craft a personal brand that is the way you want people to see you. Having a personal brand is useful for making connections and creating opportunities, and helps potential employers differentiate you from thousands of other candidates.

How can I build my personal brand?

• Figure out what your passion is

You need to establish what you’re all about. What will fulfill your life? What do you excel at? What brings you joy?

Knowing your passion can help you figure out where you want to go, and can help you associate with like-minded people, opening up a whole new network of connections.

• Determine what makes you unique

You may be a freelancer or contractor offering services that hundreds of other people are also offering. You want to make a point of what sets you apart from these people. Do you have a niche area? Do you have a particular style? What are your strengths?

• Define your audience

Knowing who your target audience is provided clarity for your self-promotion. It’s easy to want to fall into the trap of appealing to the masses, but that makes it very difficult to succeed. It becomes a lot of work for you to handle, and it is far easier to market your brand to a specific audience.

• Optimize your personal website and social media

Online platforms and social media prove to be extremely useful tools in building your personal brand. Having a personal website allows you to highlight all of your skills and what you care about in one place. Websites are places for you to be more in-depth about who you are and what you do than on social media, they are also a great place for your to direct your social media viewers so that they can find out more about you.

Social media such as Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tik Tok are great ways of building up your online presence and getting your name or brand known. Create content that is unique and specific to you, compiling the sort of work, values, and expertise that you want to be associated with your personal brand.

• Give value to your audience

Your audience wants more than just empty words saying how great you are. They want information that will add value to their lives. This could be in the form of free samples that make them want to buy more from you, or through offering information that is useful and holds meaning.

• Build a community

You want to have a group of people who back you and your brand. This is where social media platforms become useful. Generate conversation and engagement with your audience, this will help convert them into a community that discusses certain topics associated with your brand and gets your name out there.

A personal brand isn’t just for people offering a particular service, it applies to everyone. Your personal brand could be as simple as being “the girl who always wears colorful earrings” or as big as “the speaker who is an environmental activist.” Whatever your circumstances, you can find your personal brand and promote it to the world. Being unique is one of the wonderful things about being human, and we should all celebrate that and use it to our advantage.

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