8 Benefits of Personal Branding

 

Let’s chat about the benefits of personal branding.

Examples of personal branding can be seen almost everywhere in life and online. Think of all those Instagram influencers. And in Japan, your business card is an extension of your personal brand. Have a look at this article by the Business Insider: I forgot one thing on my trip to Japan — and now I have to apologise to every person I meet.

What is personal branding?

Personal branding is the continued effort of establishing a public persona, either digitally or in real life. A more colloquial term for a personal brand is your reputation. This might be your reputation among your friends, as a fun and caring person, or at work, as someone who is reliable and hardworking. The point is you already have a personal brand, whether you know it or not.

 

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Benefits of personal branding

Personal branding leverages the same kind of benefits as you would expect from the branding of a company. That being, an easily recognisable set of values, and certain expectations. Brands can also trigger emotions in people and people often make decisions based solely on how they feel. So why not inspire people to take action based off your personal brand.

Here are some great benefits for building a personal brand:

 

1. You will become more accessible online

When you have a personal brand online you are immediately more accessible to your target audience. People can find you more easily and there are more touch points for you to interact with your target audience (Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn etc). People could simply Google your name or go directly to your website domain name.

It may be a daunting idea to expose yourself online. Just take small steps, you don’t need to give away personal information or details about your personal life. The idea is to become more visible and recognised in your field, what you make visible is your choice. Brands should be conveying a clear and concise message, you don’t need to give away everything about yourself or your loved ones.

 

2. You will build a larger network.

Overall, humans are more successful when they collaborate in harmony. The larger your network the more chances you have in collaborating with thoses who work well with you. Showing others your skills, knowledge or simply that you’d be fun to work with, is never a bad thing. For the same reason social media is a useful tool for casting a message to a large audience. Self branding will allow you to send a consistent message to a larger network of like minded people.

 

3. You will gain a greater influence

The great Greek philosopher Aristotle taught us about ethos, pathos and logos. Translated as credibility (ethos), emotion (pathos) and logic (logos), these are the tools required to effectively communicate with influence. Branding yourself personally, will allow you to exercise greater persuasion on a broader scale in a consistent way. 

 

Personal branding gives you more credibility (ethos) in your chosen field, particularly if you grow your following. Social proof has been shown to play a key role in people’s decision making. Take a look at this interesting article by Buffer: The Psychology of Marketing: 18 Ways to Use Social Proof to Boost Your Results. If you come across as an expert in a particular field, people are more likely to be persuaded.

 

As mentioned earlier, emotion (pathos) is often the driving force behind people’s decision making. Consider what people ask themselves when choosing a meal at a restaurant; “What do I feel like eating?”. People never say to themselves, “What vitamins and minerals does my body need to consume to function today?”. Self branding gives you the ability to add emotion to your message, product, service, skill. You need to be able to engage emotionally with people in order to effectively influence. People who are more likeable and can build a rapport, are able to persuade more effectively.

 

It’s not enough to have credibility (ethos) and have rapport (pathos), if your target audience doesn’t understand your message, all is lost. You’ll also sounds really dumb if you have credibility and a rapport with your audience, but there is no logic to your message. Another benefit of personal branding is your chance to convey your message in a logical way. An added bonus is you can do with using lots of different digital techniques (video, meme, blog, webinar etc).

 

4. You will have a platform to communicate

Your personal brand gives you the added benefit of having a platform to deliver your message to your target audience. People know where to go to get what they need. If you are delivering regular content, they will also know when to expect their product, service or information. If you want to share a new service, product or idea of yours, your personal brand gives you the audience and the channel to deliver your message. Another benefit to your personal branding platform is consistent messaging and branding. Think of your current social channels, does your digital self on Instagram reflect the same brand as on LinkedIn? It may not need to right now, but a personal brand will help make things consistent.

 

5. You will be more highly regarded

Another benefit of personal branding is the notoriety & credibility within your field. As your brand develops and gains traction, people will start to think of you as an expert in your area. Simply presenting yourself as an authority in an industry, gives authority. However, make certain you deliver on this inherited perception, provide great advice, services and products. Or you will lose credibility fast. This inferred accountability from your target audience can also be useful to motivate yourself, which I will talk about further more in this article.

 

6. You will stand out from the crowd

Give yourself a competitive advantage. I always like to think, if you want to be better than your competitors, you have to be doing something which they are not. When I was training for my first marathon, I’d often run on Saturday evenings. Thinking to myself, as I ran past people sitting in bars and restaurants, I’m sacrificing, but succeeding, by doing something that others aren’t.

 

If you are a consultant and you want to standout from the crowd and impress that potential employer. Ask yourself, how are you standing out from the crowd? Would your fellow candidates put the effort into self-branding? Do they have a website differentiating themselves?

 

7. You will attract like minded people and ideal opportunities

Putting yourself out there like a beacon, will likely attract like minded people. Your target audience, whether a potential customer or a mentor you’d like to learn from, will take you more seriously and increase your chances of converting them. It also helps them quickly assess what you’re about, in a world where everyone is fighting for attention. Making it easy for your target audience to understand your value proposition.

 

8. You will become more accountable

For a new entrepreneur or anyone starting something new and scary, accountability is a powerful tool. Personal branding can help you be more accountable for what you say and do.

 

Often people say to stay accountable you should go around telling people what you intend to do. The social pressure to follow through will help motivate you. Unless you are an unreliable person, who never follows through. If you are publicly espousing quality services or products, your personal reputation becomes linked to these promises.

 

Personal branding is often linked to your beliefs and values also. This might help you stay accountable for those values, and also help you recognise what your true beliefs and values are. Are you truly environmentally friendly? Do you really believe you deliver the best consulting services? Be accountable and deliver on your promises. 

 

Personal Branding has lots of benefits

Personal branding isn’t spoken often in social circles, but in my opinion it will become more and more prevalent. In some aspects we already have an online personal brand, if you use social media. There is a large cohort of people making money off their personal brand and likeability, just look at all the influencers on Instagram. There are many offline examples too, every dance teacher, academic professor or chef has a personal brand they aim to promote and protect. 

 

Leave a comment below and let me know what your personal brand is about.

 

Happy branding!

 

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