In the words of Barry Feldman, a content marketing
expert, you, indeed, are a brand.
What is a brand? It is an image and value statement that
is, usually subconsciously, associated with a product or
organisation instantaneously. In many aspects of your life,
there is a need to ‘pitch’ and ‘position’ yourself as well, be it
applying to a top university or vying for a coveted role in an
MNC. A personal brand is what you are known for, and what
can be expected of and from you.
To build a strong personal brand, it must be firmly
constructed on three ‘C’ foundations:
Clarity. Canniness. Consistency.
Clarity is the clear and transparent ‘message’ of your skills,
values, and character. There must be no ambiguity or
hesitation on the part of your target audience on what your
brand stands for.
Canniness is the artful craft and communication of the
message. What should your brand be about? What are the
methods you are going to capitalise on to publicise it?
Lastly, consistency. Brands are built over time. Because
reputations take time to form. And a reputation is based
on a reliant, persistent image that is fuelled by consistency.
Simply put, you cannot change your story flippantly
or frequently.
So how do you achieve these three pillars in creating a
solid personal brand? These five steps may help you in
reaching there.
1. Establish VIPS
Logically, the first step would
have to be discovering and
determining what you want
your brand to be. One method
is establishing your VIPS –
Values, Interests, Personality,
and Skills.
Values are uncompromising
motivators which drive your
actions and choices that your
target audience will attribute to.
Interests are what you choose
to spend your time on and
activities that you enjoy. It will
and can serve as an external
reflection of what you are like
which in turn will grant an
insight into who you are.
The information that are
gathered from these two areas
will form the impression of
your personality – namely what
your actions and mindsets are,
and how your disposition would
be in various settings. Usually,
what target audiences are
investing in is the person.
Lastly, skills are areas of
expertise and value-addedness
that you can offer in the
transaction. Establish these
four aspects firmly and clearly,
and you will have yourself a
strong starting point.
2. Guarantee Value-addedness
The purpose of building a
brand is letting your target
audience know exactly what
you can offer them. Think of
it as the return on investment
should they engage or hire you.
Create a focused niche that
is unique and specialised and
devote energy in developing and
promoting those areas.
Ensure that your brand’s
value-addedness is crystal clear
so that target audiences can
easily and instantly identify,
and be attracted to, its merits
and benefits.
3. Create, Create, and Create Some More
After you have worked past
the first two steps, it is time to
create content to showcase that
value-addedness. Depending
on what you are offering, the
content you create will differ.
However, the common idea is to
develop a portfolio.
How much content should you
produce? As much as possible.
This is to increase visibility,
emphasis, and relevance of
your brand. Be pro-active, be
resourceful, and be creative.
Start with the end in mind,
which in this case would be
what your brand is, and work
backwards on the kind of
content that will best amplify
and accentuate that.
4. Source Platforms
The next step would be to
brainstorm, identify, and
shortlist platforms to post
and publicise your content
on. Though not necessary,
creating a personal web page is
an effective way to ‘own’ and
centralise your brand. You may
choose to purchase a domain
name, or host it on one of the
free publishing platforms.
You may also want to consider
creating a customised e-mail
address to accompany your
website, akin to transforming
your brand into a ‘business’.
This step highly connotes a
formality and officiality in your
brand, which will come across
favourable in the eyes of your
target audiences.
Next, would be to create a
‘social media web’ around your
brand. Set up professional
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter,
and Instagram accounts,
whichever is relevant to your
brand, and populate content
there. Insert backlinks to your
other content that will move
and direct your target audiences
from one platform to another,
but constantly in the web of
your brand. That is what you
want – to retain reader traffic
for as long as possible, and not
an ‘enter and exit’ movement
and behaviour.
Aim to have stamps of authority
on your brand too. Seek out
established, well-known,
and respected platforms
and request to contribute
content on their sites or work
with them. This will develop
visibility and credibility for
your brand.
5.Audit Brand
Constantly and conscientiously
review your brand’s content.
Use feedback to understand
what interests your target
audiences. Comments, likes,
and reposts are useful tools
in gaining an insight into the
direction you should take with
your content and brand, so you
may be able to refine it along
the way.
For the more tech-savvy, digital
marketing tools are helpful
in collecting more statistical
and technical data that
translates into target audiences’
preferences.
Investing time and energy in
creating a strong personal brand
now will reap benefits in the
long run, which will smoothen
the road ahead of you when you
seek enrollment, employment,
or engagements of sorts.
Your work has not ended
here after crafting a strong
personal brand. In fact, it is
only the beginning. You now
need to analyse your brand to
see how successful it will be.
Turn to the next page to learn how
to perform a SWOT Analysis on
your personal brand.