What Is Personal Branding & 4 Reasons Why It’s Important

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The concept of a business building a brand for itself is a pretty common idea today.

Most, if not all, businesses are branded, and they make money by developing those brands.

So why can’t people do the same thing?

A personal brand isn’t that much different from a business brand. Instead of marketing a store or product, you’re marketing yourself.

Building up a personal brand has a ton of benefits, both personally and professionally, and it can help open many doors for you in the future.

In this article, we’ll delve into exactly what a personal brand is as well as why it’s worth developing.

If you Google your name, what comes up?

If the answer is “nothing”, you probably haven’t spent much time developing your personal brand.

When I Google “Adam Heitzman”, the entire first page of the Google SERPs is devoted to my online presence.

You’ll see my business pages, my social media pages, and various websites where I’ve published articles such as Entrepreneur Magazine and GoDaddy.

You don’t even have to click on any of the links to understand that my “brand” is related to online business marketing.

This is because I’ve taken the time to develop my brand through my online presence. I’ve created social media profiles on all the relevant sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter.

I’ve created a descriptive author bio on my employer website and I’ve spent time creating blog posts and then looking for guest posting opportunities on other websites where I can also create an author bio.

My voice and photo are consistent throughout all these sites so there’s no mistaking that it’s the same “Adam Heitzman” regardless of which link you click.

Some people choose to develop a logo and theme for their personal brand (take Oprah, for example) and they’ll ensure that those logos and colors are also consistent within every page that includes their name.

Developing a personal brand takes work, and it’s not going to happen overnight. But once you do it, the benefits are endless.

A personal brand is a great way to demonstrate your skills and knowledge about a particular subject or field.

You might be much more knowledgeable than John Doe next to you, but if someone Googles your name and John Doe’s and John is the one with a personal brand and professional online presence, he’s going to look better than you.

Building a brand is your chance to show your audience what you know and why you know it, and it will help set you apart from others who might be vying for the same opportunities but who haven’t taken the time to build their own personal brand.

A strong personal brand will lead to a multitude of opportunities, including:

A personal brand is the building blocks that will lead to success for your future. It can help you reach any number of goals, both personal and professional, and it can also lead to many opportunities for advancement in your career.

Many people, especially those of the millennial generation, don’t trust larger businesses that utilize traditional advertising.

That’s why there’s such a big push nowadays to “shop small”, and why influencer advertising is so successful.

People are much more likely to buy from, and listen to, someone who looks, talks, and acts like them as opposed to a large corporation.

So if you build your brand like a business, but still maintain a personal front, you’re guaranteed to inspire trust amongst your audience.

Whether you’re applying for college, for an entry-level job, or for your future career, someone is going to be Googling your name.

Some employers will expect you to have an online presence, whereas others just want to ensure you don’t have a poor reputation online.

But regardless, it’s better to control the results that appear in the SERPs as opposed to leaving them up to chance.

Developing a personal brand is a great way to show potential employers that you’ve worked hard to build a positive reputation online.

One good place to start is by cleaning up your social media accounts. You can control what your reputation is online, and so you don’t want anything you post on social media to negatively impact your presence.

Another positive place to begin would be to create a personal website.

Use your website not only to build your brand, but to add value to your audience. This is your platform to showcase your skills and experience, and also to share valuable advice with your audience.

Create a logo and theme for yourself, and keep it consistent throughout all your social media profiles.

Next, define who your audience is and devise a content strategy with them in mind.

Publish compelling content that will draw in your audience and keep them coming back for more because your content adds value to their lives.

Consider creating specialized, personal content that you can give your audience in exchange for their email address; this is a great way to build your email list.

These are just a few tips to get you started. Hopefully, you’re able to see the value in developing a personal brand.

Have you branded yourself yet? What went into creating your brand?

Can you share any tips for our readers about the importance of developing their own brand?

We’d love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the Comments section.

Featured Image: DepositPhotos.com All screenshots taken by author, September 2019