Читать книгу Launching & Building a Brand For Dummies - Amy Will - Страница 18

A personal brand is one that develops around a person. You already have a personal brand: your reputation. People may know you as a sharp-dressing, punctual overachiever; a careless, fun-loving creative; a devoted parent and respected member of the community; or something else entirely. In a career or business, people develop personal brands to

 Increase demand for a product or service they provide

 Further their career

 Expand their opportunities

 Build credibility and trust

 Establish themselves as thought leaders

With a personal brand, your efforts focus mostly on the following activities:

 Discovering who you really are and finding your most attractive (and in-demand) traits, knowledge, and skills

 Expressing, in a genuine way, who you are, what you do, and what makes you so special Fake it till you make it doesn’t work; people will eventually see past the façade.

 Being your best you — you are your business and your product, so you need to embrace learning and self-improvement

 Building a strong portfolio, which may involve earning credentials, developing or gathering samples of your work, or soliciting customer testimonials or reviews — anything that demonstrates success in your field

 Attending or speaking at industry events and other opportunities to get your name and face in front of people

 Presenting content that demonstrates your knowledge and expertise — articles, blog posts, social media posts, photos, videos, podcasts, white papers, and so on

 Engaging with customers and prospects to answer questions and solve problems to further demonstrate your knowledge and expertise

You’re constantly developing your personal brand whenever you do anything that affects other people in any way. Whether you’re working as an employee or freelancer, launching your own website, posting content on your social media accounts, or driving through town, all your engagement with others contributes to your brand.