Personal Branding: 5 Reasons to Brand Yourself

Wouldn’t your life and business be easier if the right clients, people, and opportunities found you and asked to work with you and buy your products or services, instead of you going after them to make a sale?

If you answered ‘yes’ to this question, then personal branding can help you! In today’s competitive market, it’s essential for anyone who wants to stand out and succeed.

Reputation has always been important in business, but with the increasing transparency the online platforms are creating, your reputation online is pretty much the name of the game in today’s market. People nowadays buy from people they know, like and trust, not from faceless organizations. 

What is more, if you have created any online profile, you already are a personal brand, whether you like it or not!

So what is a personal brand?

Your personal brand represents the unique value that you bring to the world as a person and as a professional in your area of expertise. At the same time, your personal brand also represents your online footprint and how people perceive you today when they check your page on Facebook, LinkedIn or other social media.

All the things people find about you when they Google you or check your social media profiles represent your personal brand.

All the things people say about you represent your personal brand too.

All the products, services, and value you bring to the world as a person, are also part of your personal brand.

Why would you want to brand yourself? 

1. People will Google you anyway and what comes up on Google represents your personal brand. 

Either you are going to a business meeting with a new contact or a job interview, data shows that more than 90% of people will Google you first anyway.

They will check your online social media profiles, your website, your background, and anything that comes up on Google when they search your name. It only takes 1 minute, and people who are playing in key positions in the business world will take that minute research you if they are planning to do any business with you.

And this can actually be a very powerful tool if your online profiles present a strong and clear image of you. They can help you build credibility around your name.

2. A personal brand helps you attract better clients and opportunities. 

Having a strong and clearly defined personal brand is so powerful that if you do it successfully, you will never run out of customers or stay without a job. When you build a personal brand, your status and credibility can attract so many clients, opportunities and even employees that you have the option only to work with the best.

3. A personal brand allows you to position yourself as a top expert in your specific niche or area of expertise and stand out from the competition.

To stand our in today’s market, you need to be visible. The bigger and stronger your personal brand is, the more you will stand out as an authority in your niche and people will look for you as the top expert.

4. You need to market yourself in the year you live in. And now is the era of personal branding.

What people did 10 years ago to promote themselves and their business, is not relevant today. You need to be able to adjust to market trends. Everyone who is on social media or has a blog is a media channel transmitting information on the Internet 24/7. You can use this to your benefit because every person who has a strong and unique message, product or service now has the opportunity to build their own media channel with thousands and millions of highly targeted followers.

5. A personal brand builds credibility around your name, products or services.

Trust is a key component in doing business with anyone today in this very transparent market. Nothing can boost your credibility like a powerful personal brand.