What is a personal brand for and how to create one

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

A personal brand is needed not only for a public person. Even if you are a teacher or an electrician, he will help you become a sought-after specialist.

The most important concept in marketing is brand. If you are not a brand, you do not exist. Who are you then? You are an ordinary commodity.

Philip Kotler Professor of International Marketing

From the moment you put together your first resume, you've become a commodity in the job market. And in order to find a good job with a decent salary and be in demand, you will not only have to develop as a professional, but also work on your personal brand.

What is a personal brand

Brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room.

Telegram became popular because it was made by Pavel Durov, not Petya Ivanov. They paid attention to Tesla, because Elon Musk is involved in the project, and not some John Smith.

Didn't anyone create messengers before Durov? Surely some talented student of a technical university had a better graduation project. Only no one knows about him, but everyone knows Durov. The same can be said for the Mask. Electric cars weren’t invented by him, and the buttonless telephone wasn’t invented by Jobs. All of these things have become popular thanks to the personalities of the brands.

We can say that a personal brand is a certain image that has been created for more than one day. And when people hear your name, this is the image they represent. Igor Mann is the # 1 marketer in Russia, Artemy Lebedev is the designer of All Russia, Maxim Ilyakhov is the creator of the info style, and so on.

Great talent needs to develop their personal brand so clients or employers hear about them. Your personal brand is your reputation.

A personal brand should only answer two questions: who knows you and what people think of you.

When you need a personal brand

There are two main cases:

1. When there is high competition in your industry.
2. When the payment for the services of a popular specialist is much higher than yours.

People are willing to overpay for expertise and experience. And overpay a lot. They want to buy peace of mind and confidence. And for people to want to pay, there is a lot of work to be done to create a certain image of an expert in their heads.

There are a lot of professions where a personal brand is needed: from hairdresser and stylist to doctor and builder, from lawyer and sales manager to copywriter, designer and SMM specialist. The sphere of art is especially worth mentioning - an artist, writer, musician definitely cannot do without a personal brand.

What is a personal brand for?

It's time for millennials. Generation Y has entered an active consumer phase. And it seems that this generation does not believe in anything: neither in justice, nor in laws, nor in advertising. He needs personalities. Therefore, in order to stay at the top of the business chain, you need to develop not a company brand, but a personal one.

Personal brand builds trust. People are more likely to buy from other people than from abstract brands. Sales and new partners flow from trust.

A personal brand is like a school student: first you work for it, then it works for you. It's simple.

Personal brand types

Expert

This person only talks about work and profession. You will not find information about his personal life and hobbies on social networks. Only professional regalia and mentions.

This look is ideal for those who are going to train their own colleagues. Therefore, it is important for an expert to build an image of a guru so that a whole sphere moves behind him.

Insider

This person combines his expertise with personality. He talks about himself, shows that he is alive, but everything is within the framework of what is permitted and does not undermine his expertise.

His audience wants to look the same, relax the same, live the same. But at the same time, his personal life remains a secret. For people, he is an expert and a tough guy at the same time, but no more.

Shocking man

Scandals, intrigues, divorces, betrayals - all this is about him. The image of the majority of public figures is built on this approach. People love to poke around in someone else's dirty laundry, and they are given a reason for this.

The difficulty lies in maintaining a constant interest in your person. Since there is no expertise, the audience easily switches from one outrageous personality to another - who will surprise you more.

What is a personal brand

Expertise

This is your experience, skills, portfolio. What clients and employers want in the end.

Without this item, you cannot create a personal brand. First, you become the coolest electrician in your area, then in the city. Word of mouth brings new clients to you. People love your approach to work and its results. You show that you are a real expert, not a fake one.

Reputation

When your audience believes you unconditionally. You always confirm your words with actions.

Reputation is the second most important item after expertise. It can be spoiled by one small oversight, but it is difficult to conquer it again. Therefore, it is important to keep track of what you do, what you say, how you look.

Popularity

What's a personal brand without popularity? When you've proven that you are the coolest electrician in the field, that your perfect reputation is ahead of you and leads you to new customers, it's time to think - how popular are you?

Building popularity is also a job and an integral part of developing a personal brand. All potential clients and colleagues should know about you.

What happens if you neglect your personal brand

Remember the recent scandal with the teacher who posted a photo in a swimsuit? After that, a flash mob began on Instagram, where other teachers also began uploading their vacation photos.

The point is that a teacher is also a personal brand. It has its own audience: students, parents, colleagues, management. And he needs to prove his expertise in the media space in order to be an authority.

A friend recently talked about her failure at an ad agency interview for a marketing position. HR checked her social media and, upon meeting, said that she did not come across as a professional. On her page were publications of raffles of fabrics for embroidery.

Simply put, if you don't pursue your personal brand and don't look after your reputation, you can face a lot of unpleasant things: from scandal and refusal to hire to low salaries and a lack of clients.

7 steps to create a personal brand

As stated above, a personal brand is an image. It needs to be matched, it needs to be supported. No contradictions, only constancy, so that the image does not collapse in the heads of different people.

1. Pick an area that you know best. Define your specialization.
2. Tell your friends and acquaintances about yourself as an expert in your social networks.
3. Determine who your target audience is, your potential customers. Get a detailed portrait of your ideal customers who bring you the most value. You need to understand where they spend their time, what they read, what channels they watch.
4. Read books on your and related fields, improve your erudition, study foreign languages - become a person with whom it is interesting to talk.
5. Think over the external image. Just like a product, you, the person-brand, must have certain traits by which you will be recognized: mustaches, brightly colored ties, pink hair, braids, glasses, and so on.
6. Flicker wherever your colleagues and potential clients are: take part in exhibitions, conferences, contests.
7. Move through different channels: start developing your own pages on social networks, create a website and blog. Then go to industry platforms and online publications, give your comments, write articles. Create an expert image for a wide audience.

Related Literature

• “Number 1. How to become the best at what you do”, Igor Mann.
• “How to Become a Guru in 60 Days,” Robert Bligh.
• “How People Think”, Dmitry Chernyshev.
• “20 habits you need to give up in order to conquer the pinnacle of success,” Marshal Goldsmith.
• “Transform yourself into a brand. 50 surefire ways to stop being mediocre.”- Tom Peters.