Building a personal brand is important if you want to grow your online business. In the online world, where there are many scammers and dishonest people, people must recognize you and your brand.
Can I build an online business without a personal brand?
Yes, you can have an online business without building a personal brand, I remember the time I was promoting numerology products, I just had a logo on my Twitter account and a landing page, no personal name, no pictures, no personal stories and I was able to make some money.
The problem with that is that it is more difficult to scale and build strong relationships with your audience but it can be done, there are a lot of blogs and pages that have just a logo or an avatar, and no one knows who is behind them and they are doing very very, so it is doable.
But building your brand and telling your stories will help you to attract the right people into your business and it will increase trust and hence make more money.
People buy from other people that they know and like, so if you have a brand it is likable you can make a lot of money.
What does it take to build a personal brand?
Here is what it takes to build a personal brand.
Get specific
You can not be everything to everyone, you need to be specific, and you need to narrow down what you want to be known for.
Instead of trying to be everything for everyone, narrow it down.
- What do you want to be known for?
- What makes you different?
- Who are you serving?
When you can explain what you do, who you help, and what makes you unique in a single sentence, you know you have clarity.
Be congruent
When creating a brand make sure that it is congruent with you and what you are doing, you need to have the same name and post similar content on all platforms.
I always tell people who want to hear from me that make sure that your domain name, your social media handles, your email address, and your logos are all the same across your accounts, this will make your followers identify your message and follow you on different platforms.
Imagine this, your X handle is theincomeguy, your Instagram handle is motivationguy and your blog name is profitablebiz.net and the emails are coming from jonespassive@gmail.com, nothing is related to each other, and people will think these are accounts from different people.
Deliver value
Now you have your social account set and they are congruent, you need to deliver the goods, the easiest way to do this is to share what you know and do.
If you do everything that you share with your audience, you will never run out of content ideas, you go to the gym, share the story, close a client, share the story, etc.
When it comes to creating content, what are the stories only you can tell?
In a world of AI-generated content, this helps make what you share feel authentic. It also helps you stand out from the crowd and break free from the noise.
When you have a specific audience in mind, and tell the stories only you can tell, you make yourself memorable.
Be consistent
Even if you get everything above right, you can’t just do it one time. Show up every day, and put out content regularly to get results.
When you are just starting, no one will read or watch your content, and that is okay, prepare the content to the best of your ability, and post it anyway.
Actually when you have a small audience is easier to create rapport with people by treating them well, you can answer all comments and help people on a personal basis.
When you have a huge following it can become very time-consuming to answer most of the comments, so build those relationships while your brand is still small and reap the benefits for the rest of your business life.
Never wait for a perfect time to start
All of this feels so overwhelming, that you never start. Next thing you know, you’ve hit snooze on building your brand for a year—or many years, even.
Your brand will grow, slowly, but organically. Be prepared for people to provide you with positive, negative, and critical feedback.