The Smart Way to Build Your Brand

In the world of business, I believe you want to treat yourself as a brand and to position yourself effectively in the mind of your target audience. Personal branding is a way to build credibility, get noticed and get clients.

This being said, building your brand effectively is not easy, which is why many people take a shot at it but very few actually become brands. As a communication coach, I often work with people to help them become brands. Here are the things I’ve concluded to be the most important.

1. Differentiation. To a large extent, a personal brand is a way to attract attention and be remembered. Well, the human mind has a knack for noticing the things or the people that stand out through distinct features.

This is why you want to differentiate yourself. In all your communication, emphasize what makes you unique, what you have to offer that no other person has. This way you create for yourself a competitive advantage.

2. Consistency. A product, organization or person can stick in people’s minds only by being consistent. This means that all the communication reinforces the same key messages, the same key features.

Thus, according to the law of repetition in the psychology of memory, people will remember you much better if you do this in your branding. You don’t want to spread yourself too thin in communication, you want to focus.

3. Honesty. Some people believe that building yourself as a brand is about making others think you have what they want. It’s not. Primarily, it’s about communicating what you truly have and at the same time, they want.

For this reason, the best brand communication strategy is to be honest. The point is not to create a fake image; the point is to create an honest image about yourself that emphasizes certain key elements.

Typically, effective personal branding takes time and consistent work. It is a long-term process that creates long-term results, not a quick fix. However, there are simple tips and ideas you can start applying immediately to improve your personal branding.

Working as a communication coach, I have identified several such ideas and tips. Here are the most important of them:

1. Have a personal look. Most people don’t really have a personal look. They dress and accessorize depending on their mood or on their event and there is no red line in the way they dress for various occasions.

What you wan to do is have consistency in the way your dress, have a personal look you use everywhere and adapt slightly; because a consistent look helps create a consistent brand.

2. Say your name slowly. Most people rush through saying their name when they introduce themselves to somebody. It’s much better to say your name slowly and clearly. It will make you appear more confident and help others remember you and your name.

3. Present yourself memorably. People will often ask you “What do you do?” It’s a very good idea to have one short and powerful sentence describing what you do, which you use every time to answer this question. It’s your unique selling proposition and a key part of your brand.

4. Have a blog. When you’ve met a person, give them an opportunity to get to know you better by giving them the online address of your blog. Naturally, you don’t just want this blog to exist; you want it to look good, have a good presentation of you on it and post quality content on it that reflects your interests.

Give these simple tips a try. They’re easy to put into practice and you’ll be impressed by how much good they can do in personal branding.