When it comes to building your personal brand, it’s essential that you understand yourself. If you don’t, you can’t possibly represent your best self to your ideal clients.
You need to know how you’re wired and be able to communicate that with potential clients.
From there, clients will choose whether to work with you or not based on what you’ve shared about yourself.
Understand how others see you
One tool that can be very helpful in building your personal brand is How the World Sees You, by Sally Hogshead. This book can show you both your strengths and weaknesses. It provides tips for using your strengths to your advantage, as well as how to present those strengths so you don’t overwhelm potential clients.
Consider your top priorities
Your top priorities can help you build your personal brand and attract your ideal client. One solopreneur, who helps her clients build their online business, values her family and considers her loved ones her top priority. She doesn’t post pictures on social media of lavish vacations or fancy cars. Instead, she chooses to share family moments, like dyeing Easter eggs with her kids and taking her family to the water park.
By sharing this top priority, she’s attracted clients who value family just as much as she does. Her clients love working with her because they know they’re not working with a faceless corporation. They’re working with someone who’s trying to build her business around her family’s lifestyle.
Choose your business model
Choosing your business model is an important part of your personal branding. Whether you choose to offer services or products or a combination of both, you need a business model that you enjoy. When you love what you do, that enthusiasm is going to shine through to your potential clients and attract them to you. As a result, they’ll be eager to work with you.
Before you decide on your business model, it can be helpful to consider other jobs you’ve worked. What did you enjoy doing—presentations, leading others, teaching, etc? What did you hate doing—researching, admin tasks, etc? When you know what you enjoy, you can fill your business with more of those tasks. As for the tasks you hate, consider outsourcing them to someone that enjoys them.
Own your experience
You don’t have to have a college degree to be considered an expert in your field. There are plenty of other ways you can show your expertise. Maybe you’ve been quoted in a popular magazine or your work has appeared on a well-known website. Maybe you’ve been thanked for your insight or your help with a difficult project. With permission, use these thank you messages as testimonials. Display them proudly on your website or blog.
Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through your business. Personal branding can help you create a business that you’ll love for years to come.
For more business building tips, download the Personal Branding workbook.
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