People love to see the face behind the business – it helps them make a connection and feel like they’re dealing with an authentic company.
For this reason, many small business owners are investing time and effort building up their personal brand.
When you make the decision to build up your personal profile, it’s tempting to jump straight in. But, just as your business needs a marketing strategy, so do you.
Endlessly posting on social media, attending events and writing for other publications might seem like a great approach, but if you haven’t thought it through it can be time consuming and even emotionally draining.
Now consider how you want people to see you. Would you rather those images of you drinking beer on a ski slope weren’t visible? Then tinker with your social media privacy settings.
Is your profile consistent across all channels? Check your social media introductions have synergy and all link to the right website. If information about you is out of date on third-party websites that you’ve contributed to in the past, contact them and politely ask if it can be updated.
Small changes like these can make a big difference to your professional appearance.
Go back to your personal USPs here and make sure your content pillars enable them to shine. This helps you to avoid creating generic content that will easily get lost and provide structure to your marketing.
Who do you actually want to buy your products or use your services? Outline their demographics and interests and dig a bit deeper to understand their pain points and how you can help them. Showing them how you can improve their lives through your expertise is one of the best ways to build trust.
To find out more about people’s concerns:
For this reason, many small business owners are investing time and effort building up their personal brand.
When you make the decision to build up your personal profile, it’s tempting to jump straight in. But, just as your business needs a marketing strategy, so do you.
Endlessly posting on social media, attending events and writing for other publications might seem like a great approach, but if you haven’t thought it through it can be time consuming and even emotionally draining.
The benefits of building a personal brand
Personal branding doesn’t come naturally to everyone, so it helps to see the benefits before you start. Here are some of the best reasons to build your own personal brand:- Developing trust – By communicating with your audience directly they will start to connect with you on an emotional level rather than a practical one, helping you build trust with your target customers.
- Building credibility – Personal branding is all about becoming known as an expert in your field. With the right strategy, you’ll become the go-to person for the specialist areas you know about, boosting credibility in your industry.
- Set yourself apart from the competition – If customers discover your name in the process of their research it will elevate your brand above the competition and give you the competitive edge.
- Attract relevant business opportunities – Ultimately, all this effort is leading to one thing: more sales leads. And if you build your brand correctly, the leads will be more relevant and targeted, saving time and resources in the long run.
Five top tips to develop your strategy
To get the best results – and use your time efficiently – invest some time at the outset to plan exactly how you want to be seen by the outside world. Use these five top tips to help you:1. What’s your personal USP?
You may be an accountant, but what’s the specialist area of accounts that you know better than anyone else? Pinpoint these and make them a focus of your marketing.2. Set a benchmark
How do others currently see you? You can quickly and easily test this by doing an internet search for your name and analysing what comes up.Now consider how you want people to see you. Would you rather those images of you drinking beer on a ski slope weren’t visible? Then tinker with your social media privacy settings.
Is your profile consistent across all channels? Check your social media introductions have synergy and all link to the right website. If information about you is out of date on third-party websites that you’ve contributed to in the past, contact them and politely ask if it can be updated.
Small changes like these can make a big difference to your professional appearance.
3. Develop your personal story
People buy into a strong personal backstory, so make sure you know yours. Ask yourself:- How did you get to this point and what has been your driver?
- What challenges have you faced along the way?
- Have you made mistakes and how have you overcome them?
4. Set out your content pillars
Content pillars are the foundations of everything you talk about. They are topics that you’re passionate and knowledgeable about, and most of your personal branding activity should fit into one of them.Go back to your personal USPs here and make sure your content pillars enable them to shine. This helps you to avoid creating generic content that will easily get lost and provide structure to your marketing.
5. Identify your target audience
Getting a flurry of likes and shares on your social posts is great, but not if it’s the same group of friends and family sharing them each time.Who do you actually want to buy your products or use your services? Outline their demographics and interests and dig a bit deeper to understand their pain points and how you can help them. Showing them how you can improve their lives through your expertise is one of the best ways to build trust.
To find out more about people’s concerns:
- Read industry forums
- Follow key hashtags on social media
- Look at AnswerThePublic to see what questions people are asking about different topics
- Look at the most popular searches on your company’s website or the customer services call log
