This document provides strategies for using social media and Facebook effectively for personal branding. It recommends determining your core message and values, knowing your target audience, being consistent in your branding, recognizing your niche, and using the right media channels for your desired communication and influence. The key aspects are defining your brand personality through visuals and written content, and engaging with your audience through relevant, value-driven posts and updates.
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Marketing pro with an eye for
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– Becky Livingston
I help people to clear their head
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help them to set it on fire!
– Alexia Leachman
I help people to transform their
businesses, their careers, and
their lives. – John Purkiss
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Many people think personal branding is only for celebs, yet each and every one of us has and is a brand. Personal branding, by definition, is the process by which we market ourselves to others. We do it each and every day through what we say, how we act, and yes, by what we wear.
The term personal branding is relatively new. However, the phenomenon of people “instant labeling” based on reputation is as old a human character itself. Personal branding makes who you are, what you do, and why you do it more clear to those around you, and THAT brings new opportunities your way. Remember, when building a personal brand, it’s important to focus on who you are and communicating that message, not making something up and pretending to be someone you’re not. People reinvent themselves all the time—to take on a new challenge, shift into more meaningful work, or rebut perceptions that have hindered their career progress.
There are many benefits when it comes to personal branding. Here are some ways in which dedicating yourself to a personal brand can help you to achieve your goals.
Let’s walk through these Brand Creation steps. Once you know the answers to why, take a look around an see what other people are doing , and how they are doing it. Know how you’re doing things differently than your competition. Think about Lady Gaga and her people. No matter what you may think/feel/believe about the people, they are her people. She communicates with them in a way that makes sense and resonates with them. One way to demonstrate to others who your people are, is by being around them either literally or virtually. Remember to consider spreading your net a little wider to keep growing your knowledge base and networking.
A good tagline is the single-most powerful, condensed, compact expression of your brand that you can have. In one short, concise sentence (preferably seven words or less) your tagline conveys the essence of your brand. In a sticky way, your tagline communicates your purpose with some personality. It’s a shortcut descriptions for what people do. The key to a good tagline is to communicate your purpose in a slightly unexpected and un-obvious way. You don’t come out and directly say what you mean, because people will ignore trite, obvious expressions.
Taco Bell’s tagline, “Think outside the bun” says, in an irreverent way, that you’re not going to get ordinary (read: burgers) fast food. One of the secrets to creating a sticky tagline is to use metaphors and synonyms. Start with a list of keywords and phrases about your business and industry. Then make a corresponding list of synonyms and metaphors. Collect other clever taglines and begin substituting words from your synonym list while trying to communicate your brand promise.
Just like people, businesses should have personalities. Remember, brands are relationships, and people have relationships with personalities, not objects or businesses. A business with a personality is more memorable and personal. Exercise: Describe your brand’s personality. Start with your personality and then pick an adjective that will characterize your brand. - Gregarious - Fun-loving - Empathetic - Gracious - Generous - Easy-going - Professional - Intense - Eccentric - Bubbly It doesn’t really matter which personality you choose. Only that it’s authentic and inoffensive.
A logo is not the brand itself, but a symbol of the brand. A logo is a visual representation of your brand. Customers assign meaning to your logo, but a logo does not assign meaning to your business. So the most important thing about a logo is being technically correct so that it gives customers a peg on which to hang your brand.
The 4 Ps of Traditional Marketing Though the boundaries of traditional marketing no longer exist due to online media and new digital technologies, its core tactics can be reworked to guide your self-marketing strategy online. The four Ps of marketing are product, price, promotion and place . In the realm of self-marketing, you are the product that’s up for sale, which means you must successfully apply the traditional marketing model to you: the person, the professional and the brand. Know your strengths and play to them by creating a consistent brand around yourself that’s complete with mission, objectives and recognizable visual brand elements.
The importance of this element in online self-marketing is twofold. In addition to accounting for the value you add to an organization, you must decide what you, the hard-working professional, are worth and what your bottom line is — particularly if you ever decide to freelance or become an independent contractor. Based on your accomplishments and experiences, your expertise comes with a price tag in the form of a salary. Decide what you’re worth based on how much others in your industry are being paid for the work they perform, and be resolute about how much you’re willing to accept. Every time you step foot into a store and buy a product, the price is more or less the same, so your hourly rate or salary requirements align with your industry and level of experience in a similar fashion.
Thus, it’s critical that you select a sphere of influence and stick with it, though it could be based on industry or knowledge base as much as geography. Be realistic about where your target audience spends their time. Research who needs your services and where they participate online. Spreading yourself too thin across communities and niches where your products and services aren’t needed will only make more work for you … with little reward.
Selecting the appropriate mediums means the difference between being heard loud and clear or getting lost in the clutter. Determine where members of your target audience get their information and make sure your messages are present on these channels. Again, whether that means building a website to market your services or running an ad on a local newspaper’s website or blog, the most effective tactic depends entirely on your audience. Use every necessary option in your self-marketing toolkit to get the job done right.
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See notes on this section. Include them in the workbook
There are so many tools you can use – some free some paid – to build a a newsletter you can then share with you contacts, connections, friends, and family. My favorites happen to be the ones that collect data from across the web and develops the newsletter for you, which you then send to you audience.
Brand Mission: Develop a clearly stated mission that states the purpose and answers the question "Why I exist for customers?" Elevator Pitch: Creating a clear elevator speech that clearly identifies who you are, what you do, and why I should care. Niche Market: Identify the niche market and provide a detailed description of the niche. Competition: Research and identify your competition, note any comparisons and differences. Profiles: Develop and create social profiles that are consistent across all platforms. Content Strategy: What is the plan to provide content for the profiles? How often will you post on each? Is the content strategy consistent with brand and relevant within the industry? Graphic Design: Do all pieces have a professional look to them, both for print and digital? Brand Personality: Is the brand personality clearly defined and consistent in all media and design elements? Tagline: Does the tagline communicate the purpose in an unexpected or un-obvious way? e.g., Taco Bell's tagline "Think outside the bun."
Build a brand that fits you; doing anything else would be like buying a suit that doesn’t fit and then gaining weight to fill it out.