Let’s say you have everything in your bucket to do your job. You have remarkable grades, an excellent grasp on many skills, and adapt to learning new things. Your dream job is to work in Coca-Cola. But you also know lots of other people just like you also want the same job. They are also as skilled as you are or, maybe better than you. It seems impossible to get that position unless you know the importance of self-branding.
What is Branding?
Before we dive into self-branding, we need you to know what the ‘branding’ is. We see lots of brands around in our daily life. We see brands in stores, on billboards, on the internet, and lots of other places. These are all around us because we want these to be. As consumers, a brand gives us the trust we want.
A brand is a promise…
Let’s say Coka-Cola. It is a trendy brand of soft drinks. In fact, this is the most drinking beverage in the world after tea & coffee. We see it’s logo everywhere. The interesting thing is that we don’t even have to show you the logo because you are already picturing it. There lots of other soft drink companies in the market. But if you have to pick from Coka-Cola or other beverages. There is a chance that you will pick this one.
It is the power of branding. We trust that a good brand not going to give us a bad product — no matter where you go in the world. You will always get the same quality. And, the company itself will ensure the quality to maintain the brand value.
In short, customers always pick a good brand first because it promised you about its feature, that is the excellent quality.
What is Self Branding?
Self-branding is kind of the same as corporate or product branding. Just like product branding, you need to define your features. Then, tell your story to your clients.
Self-branding is not only about making a logo…
You can create an image of trust for your clients. The trust that makes you do your job with persistence, with the same quality, reliability, and potency each day, every day. Eventually, people will give you more jobs to do because you build that reputation of yours. A reputation or promise that if you get hired for a job, you will do it. That reputation, that image is your brand.
Importance of Self Branding
Lots of people have the integrity and perception to deliver a job if you get hired for it. But getting hired is the first step that stops you from being successful. Today’s market has become highly saturated. And you are in a sea of skilled people. So, what you do now?
This problem can be solved through personal branding. An own brand makes you visible in that sea. That clarity, visibility, and trust of yours will help you get noticed by your potential clients more efficiently. Just like the Coka-Cola, you will become the first preference of your client.
A brand knows what you need before you ask for it…
As we mentioned, the brand makes the promise to give the best. So, when companies hire you, they will trust you as a brand that can take care of the things that no one can do or understand. It is the brand reputation of branding itself.
How do you maintain branding yourself?
Brand reputation not only impacts the job that you are hired for but also affect your interactions with others. If you create a brand based on a certain reputation, you have to be careful.
Good or bad, everything counts…
A good brand can become a bad one if you fail to maintain that image or reputation at every level. It means you should keep quality works with excellent communication.
Be yourself…
One common mistake people do when they build a personal brand. They try to be someone else. Do not do that. Being yourself is the ultimate way to connect with your clients. Cause personal connection matters most then the corporate relationships.
Now, let’s try to understand how one can maintain such a reputation. Let’s go through some tips that you can follow.
Self Branding Tips
At this point, you may understand how to build a self-brand. Creating the first impression of a brand is obtainable to some extent. But maintaining that image is much harder.
Sometimes one little mistake is enough to do the damage. Therefore, you need some personal brand goals to ensure. So, here are some tips for maintaining that reputation of your brand.
Specialist
You have to keep in mind that you can not be best at everything. And, do not brand yourself like that. It is very confusing for others too. Try to cover one area and be the best at it.
Specialty should be a laser beam…
Building a brand in a single area helps to grow your clients faster. It is simple for your clients also. When people talk about you, they may say, “Mr. X is good at video editing.” that’s what defines you and your work of area and, ultimately, your brand.
Lead the Area
After you choose your laser pointed skill, you have to achieve the masterfulness of that area. You have to be recognized as a respected and most skilled person in that area. In a way, people will admire your level of expertise. You have to achieve it by the consistency in your work, as we discussed before.
Distinctiveness
When you create your brand, you have to express it uniquely. Something like a signature that is only your do. For example, you may have a unique color that you use on your website and documents or how you write your name. People will recognize you by uniqueness.
Another way of sufficient distinctiveness is to build a personality. Your brand’s persona should reflect your personality. Personality is a unique set of the behavior of yours. The way you talk, the way you communicate with your clients, are the elements of your personality.
Visibility
Self-branding means you have to be in the middle of a crowd all the time. It’s like being on a stage. But not in the corner, hiding. Be in the middle of the stage. If people see you repeatedly, over and over again, people will remember you.
In this way, when people need a particular service that you provide. They may not search for that survive provider. Instead, they will look for you because they continually see you via your blog, social media, or youtube.
Persistence
As you see everywhere, brands make the trend. Trends do not modify the brands. If you are a brand, be persistent. In simple words, be the same all the time and improve you. A client may come again for the same quality or better. If you couldn’t deliver the up-to-mark quality, your client may not come back.
Make your own trend…
When a client comes to you multiple times and gets the same excellent quality every time, it becomes the trend. A trend is nothing but a superior quality product that everyone loves.
Goodwill
Be positive, be kind, and be this way all the time. Goodwill always admired. People always think about getting an excellent quality product from your brand, but they are not always thinking logically. The ideals and principles of your brand are what makes them choose you. These simple things will make your brand more influential.
You are your personal brand…
But again, do not maintain a dual impression of yours. If you are good outside, you should be good in a close door too. The best compliment of your brand is “you are the same both inside and outside.” this is helpful if your works need direct interaction with your clients.
Importance of Personal Portfolio
A portfolio is nothing but a showcase. It shows your best work to your clients. For a brand, it is vital. People will come to you with the trust of your brand. But after that, they should know you are the right one to solve their problems. So they need to see your previous works. A portfolio does that for your brand.
Making a perfect portfolio can be baffling. We discuss it in the “Personal Portfolio Website Features One Should Consider” article. It will help you to understand the right way of your brand’s digital presence. So, please check it. It’s worth reading.
Also, you may take a look at this list of handpicked WordPress Portfolio themes. These will help you to create your dream portfolio website effectively. And here are some other premium WordPress themes listed as well for your consideration.
Conclusion
To sum up, Branding is not about self-promotion and talk all the time about how good you are. The harsh truth is, people do not care about you. In terms of clients perspective, a brand solves problem. That is why people care about the brand.
We discussed here why you need a self-branding and how you can maintain it. You can let us know what else we should consider in case of self-branding.
Finally, We hope you liked this article. If so, please do not forget to share it with your friends.