How To Build A Strong Personal Brand

A personal brand is no longer the optional accessory it once was, it is the key to having a business or career that feels effortless

Why have a personal brand?

Your personal brand is an integral part of your success framework. Having a strong brand establishes yourself as a thought leader and an authority in your chosen area, and that would open doors which would not ordinarily have been opened.

That boost self-image puts you into a virtuous cycle which will lead to confidence and assertiveness that strengthens the perception of you as an authority.

A personal brand also acts as a guide for numerous things from personal development to how you negotiate. Your personal brand ultimately represents you, and you represent your personal brand.

Push and pull to maintain your personal brand

So, to maintain your brand, you would want to be associated with certain values, you would want to distance yourself from others. You would have heard of the former, in the form of celebrity endorsements of clothing, etc, but the latter is becoming increasingly common as well. Eg, Abercrombie & Fitch actually paid Mick Sorrentino NOT to wear their clothing, and Burberry changed their distinctive pattern to disassociate themselves with soccer hooligans.

Knowing this, we need to actively manage our personal brands so that we do not end up in a situation where we are the ones being negatively endorsed!

Your values are your personal brand

The best way to do this, is by building a brand that fully represents your values.

That way, you attract customers that share common values with you, and customers with values that are opposed to yours would naturally not be interested in you or your product.

Your personal values are not some ideas that can be plucked out of thin air. They are distilled from your most important memories and actions, and once you distill these, you will have a clarity in your mind like you never had before.

That way, you brand will always be consistent with your values, and you will never betray your brand.

The effects of having a strong personal brand

Once I developed my personal brand, my business became effortless. I was working with people I wanted to work with, and people who didn’t want to work with me naturally didn’t gravitate to me anyway.

In this day and age, where the internet give us a global reach, we can afford to build a business this way, as there are enough people in the world who will share your values.