Be Your Superhero: 5 Personal Branding Tips You Need to Know
Personal branding is essential for anyone and everyone in today’s digital-friendly world. Whether you are a consultant, digital marketer, entrepreneur, freelancer, student, or homemaker doesn't matter.
It is a strong personal brand that helps you stand out from the crowd, and attract the right clients.
Think of it as creating your superhero persona that tells everyone who you are, what you do, and why they should choose you over your competitors. Learn more about the five personal branding tips you need to carve a strong digital footprint.
5 Personal Branding Tips for Business Growth
Here are five powerful tips to help you build your superhero persona and elevate your digital footprint:
1. Figure Out and Craft Your Superpower Story
If you are a Marvel or DC fan, you must know by now that every superhero has a unique origin story. You may not know it, but this applies to you too. If you know your strength, well and good.
If not, reflect on what makes you exceptional in your field.
- For example, do you have some specialized training?
- Or have actual hands-on, and not just theory experience?
- Or perhaps you have an uncanny means to solve problems?
All or even more are your unique selling points, which you use to craft your “superpower story” in as clear and engaging as possible. The length or format doesn’t matter. It could be a short paragraph on your website or a video introducing yourself.
An example is: “I started coding websites at 12, the age when most kids play football. Thanks to my idea and vision I can now help businesses create amazing and attractive online stores that attract more customers. What do I have to thank for it? My USP of being able to turn ideas into profitable clicks for you!”
2. Choose Your Catch Phrase or Brand Tag Line
Most superheroes have their respective catchphrases you remember them by like Robin’s ‘Holy Cow Batman!’ in Batman and Robin, and the Human Torch’s ‘Flame On’. Similarly, you need one for people to remember you with, and that’s your brand motto or tagline.
This is a short and easy-to-remember statement that when read, explains what you do, and why you are the best person for the job.
Example:
A personal branding consultant may use ‘Where Words Build Brands’ while a plumber may have something like “Plugging leaks since 2021”.
3. Craft Your Digital Footprint
Now speaking about superheroes, in addition to their tagline, what else reminds you of them? What do you associate with your favorite superhero?
Their superpowers and their costume
Similarly, the superpower is your USP while the costume is your brand identity or digital footprint. You craft it with the help of social media profiles, communities, online listings, and your website.
You not only need to be active in all places but also ensure you maintain a consistent look and feel everywhere. This means maintaining hte same profile pic, information about the services you offer, and of course, your superpower story.
Pointers to remember:
Here are some useful tips to remember while crafting your brand online:
- Social Media: Don’t build a presence on any social media platform. Instead, select platforms where your ideal customers are most active.
For example, LinkedIn is a better place for professionals looking for better career options while Instagram is a better place for creatives and womenpreneurs. Ensure you post content regularly relative to your services and industry.
- Online Listings: Ensure you have a listing of your business on popular directories like Google My Business and Yelp.
- Website: If you decide to have a website, don’t look for something complicated at first. KISS- Keep it simple and easy to navigate, with preferably high-quality images and videos about your work.
4. Focus on Building Relationships and Not Selling
Your favorite superheroes help and fight against injustice without expecting any rewards or payment. Their focus lies on being able to help as much and as many people as possible. Adopt the same principle to your brand identity by becoming more of a problem solver.
Work at helping people by sharing useful tips and tricks related to your service where possible. This helps build trust with your potential clients, and positions you as an authority expert.
For example, if you are a digital marketer, you could share content titled ‘5 Tools to Help you Run Your Business on Auto-Pilot’.
5. Lift and Rise
Now you know that DC and Marvel have joined forces. And why is this? So that they have the manpower to tackle even bigger challenges. Similarly, leveraging collaborations is something worth considering to grow your personal brand.
However, don’t just collaborate with anyone; look for businesses/people who complement your services. You thus have a combined and better network to utilize and also have a more comprehensive range of solutions to offer your clients.
Example:
An orthodontist may partner with a periodontist to offer more complete dental services. Or a digital marketer could collaborate with an ads expert to offer more lead generation options..
Conclusion
You can now see that building a strong persona brand is not about selecting the right colors and logos.
It’s more about defining your brand using the power of words through a strong USP, a cohesive online presence, providing value, and not focusing on selling and leveraging collaborations.
With the help of these tips, you will be able to establish a strong personal brand to attract new clients and also set you apart from your competitors. Remember, your brand identity revolves around showcasing your USP and becoming hte go-to problem solver in your area.