Creating a personal brand can be a daunting task. Yet, in our look-at-me culture, it’s imperative to stand out and be recognized.
Are you looking for tips on marketing yourself? Read on. We’ll cover our top 7 tips for how to build your personal brand.
Table of Contents
1. Know Who You Are (And Who You Aren’t)
You might be inspired by what others are doing in your industry. They might be a big influence on you. Yet, being who you are is vital when marketing yourself.
It’s tempting to give in to ideas and methodologies that you see working well in the marketplace. Yet, to build your brand in an authentic way, it’s necessary that your customers see that you and your brand are honest and genuine.
It’s hard to gain loyalty from your audience when you are not loyal to who you are.
Take time to think about your strengths and what you and your company offer. What value are you providing? What do you offer that no one else does?
The clearer you are about the value you bring to the table, the easier it is for people to become loyal supporters.
When you know who you are, it is easier to find who your niche is.
2. Identify Your Niche
The next vital step to build your brand is to figure out your niche. It’s impossible to market to everyone. Plus, you will blow through your social media marketing packages budget by casting your net out too wide.
The better option is to focus on your niche. This is also sometimes referred to as your ideal target customer.
Sit down and make a list of interests, passions, and characteristics of your perfect customer.
What age are they? Where do they live? What concerns do they have?
There are so many questions you could ask. The more you dig deep to uncover exactly who your target market is, the better.
You can also approach finding your niche by exploring your interests, talents, and passions. Then you market to people who share those same things.
3. Become an Expert in Your Niche
Once you know where your people are, find ways to be recognized as an expert in that niche.
Showcase what you know by offering seminars, webinars, tutorials, and doing interviews. This helps you grow your reputation as an expert in the field.
Be sure to share relevant and valuable information that is useful to your audience. Give them what they want to know about. You want people to say your name when others ask them who to turn to for expert advice or information on a particular topic.
As you give relevant information, you are setting yourself up as a trusted authority in your field. This will work to attract people to you who are looking for information.
As you do this, it’s also smart to network and make connections with other thought leaders and media reps in your community and your field.
4. Build a Community
One of the best things you can do as you build your brand and market yourself is to create a community.
A network of like-minded people in your field who can connect deeply will be an invaluable resource to you and them. No expert does it alone. Draw upon the experience and expertise of others in your community.
You may be surprised at how many opportunities this opens for you.
Along the same lines, make sure you are of service to those around you. If you are genuinely motivated to help others, your audience will see that. That will attract even more people to you.
Think of ways that you can give to your community. Maybe it’s through mentoring opportunities or supporting a local nonprofit with pro-Bono work. Whatever it is, do it to genuinely help your community.
5. Be Consistent
Take a moment to think about yourself as a customer. What brands are you most loyal to?
You probably trust those brands because you know you can trust them. Over time, those brands have earned your trust through their dependability.
That’s why as you work on marketing yourself, it’s crucial that you are consistent. Once you know who you are and who your niche is, there is no need for you to stray from that.
Let these things anchor you to the type of content you put out. As you do this, you will engender brand loyalty in your audience.
6. Produce Value
No matter what you do, it should be adding value. That doesn’t mean you have to have high-end offerings like some big brands do. But it does me that your products or services have value to your customers.
Get into the habit of thinking about the value you can add for your customers. Even your free content and social media messaging should be valuable.
Try to push yourself to deliver increasingly valuable content. For example, learn how to record video on mac so that you can offer video tutorials and messages. Videos are more engaging than text content so use this whenever possible.
7. Use Social Media Wisely
There are over 3.8 billion active social media users out there. There is no excuse these days for not leveraging the power of social media to build your brand.
Remember to share content of value. Share your thoughts on news stories that are relevant to your field. Share your writing or articles you’re quoted in.
It takes time and effort, but it’s worth it.
Marketing Yourself is Possible
Thanks for reading. We hope these 7 tips on marketing yourself help you grow your brand. Remember, it can be easy to get discouraged when results aren’t immediate.
But keep at it. Evaluate and readjust if necessary, but don’t give up.
Check out our other articles on our blog for more useful content.
