Why Building a Personal Brand Matters

Do you dream of writing a book, public speaking, or being a leader in your community or industry? Then you need to build a personal brand. Establishing a personal brand can also help you in your business or career by helping you stand out from the crowd and can help if you plan to pivot in your career.

Personally for me, I come from the beauty industry and for many years most people only knew me as a professional makeup artist. When I decided that I wanted to pivot into the coaching industry I knew that I needed to pivot my personal brand. That took planning and time but it worked out and I was able to build my coaching business.

In business your branding is your logo and what colors you use, but your personal brand is who you are, what you stand for, and the impact you want to make in the world. We have to be conscious of how people perceive us and that is a big part of what personal brand mapping is. We work on creating your legacy and reverse engineer that to help you create your vision and goals so you know exactly what to do each step of the way.

If you’re interested in building your personal brand for your business or career, let’s set up a virtual 1:1 class! To book your your class go here to send me a message to get started!

xx,

Kim

Are you posting and hearing crickets?

Have you been pouring your heart out creating content and posting but no one seems to be paying any attention?

You set up your website and your social media just like you were told to do and got to work. You’re spending so much time creating blogs and posting but every time you post something you hear nothing but crickets. You know you could help so many people if you could just get them to actually stop to read or listen to your content.

I have some tips that may help you get more engagement and build quality relationships that will be selling your products or services in no time!

Know Exactly Who You’re Talking To

When creating content think of that one person that desperately needs your help, find out where they hang out and post content that solves their burning problems. Be consistent, the statistic is we have to see something 12 times before we decide to trust or buy it, so don’t feel bad about posting often.

Connect with Video

Written blogs are great but most people just skim and barely read anymore so having video will help them connect with you faster. Besides creating live videos, create quality video content to post in your blog posts, on IGTV, your Facebook page, YouTube and LinkedIn. (If you just went holy hell how will I ever post to ALL those places, trust me it takes no time and gets your message out to so many people!)

Build Relationships on Social Media

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been reading a great business book and go to find the author on Instagram and they are either no where to be found or they have 6 posts and they haven’t posted in two years. I understand that we can’t be everywhere all the time but find out where you ideal client is hanging out, Instagram is great place to share more of who you are and behind the scenes stuff. Have your social media buttons easy to find on your website and remember your industry colleagues may be on Twitter but your ideal client may be on Instagram and wants to know more about you!

Get on O.P.P. (Other People’s Platforms)

Share you knowledge and build your audience faster by being interviewed for podcasts, written and video blogs, or guest post. I’ve been contacted right after one of my interviews aired for coaching, so yes this is a great way to get yourself booked out! By getting on O.P.P. you will build your audience and credibility so much faster and make great connections along the way.

Create Your Community

Using your Facebook page or create a group, connect with your community of followers, stop talking to them and engage with them. Post things so they can go, “Me too!” and maybe you have a hobby or a belief that will deepen your connection with your true followers even more. Pull back the curtain and share more of who you are… your story, your personality, skills and the people and things that you love. If you would like to learn more about building a personal brand go here.

Have you been hearing crickets with your content? Let me know in the comments how you plan to change that and if these tips helped you!

xo,

Kim

How to Build a Personal Brand

Let’s first talk about what a personal brand is not… it’s not your logo, your font or your branding colors.

Building a personal brand is the act of marketing yourself, your experiences, your personality, your interests, and your unique knowledge and skills.

Building a personal brand allows you to pivot in your career, connect with people on a deeper level, stand out and build the know, like, and trust factor. When you build a personal brand, you make yourself economy proof by becoming the “go to expert” and solving a big enough problem.

Ask yourself…

What makes me unique?

What am I skilled and knowledgeable on?

What problems can I help solve?

What do people naturally come to me for?

What do I want to be known for?

A favorite personal brand example of mine is Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, you know those amazing things that we wear under our clothes to make us look slimmer? Yeah like one of the best inventions ever! She has built a personal brand empowering women on her Instagram and speaking at conferences, she’s stepped out behind her incredibly successful business to build a brand as a thought leader.

As a makeup artist in the beauty industry for so many years, the questions I was always asked were, “What do you love most about doing makeup? What are your favorite products? What are your top tips for a 5 minute makeup routine?” It use to drive me crazy because I’m thinking there’s way more than just makeup tips in this brain of mine!

It wasn’t until I started to build a personal brand outside of my makeup artistry business that people became more interested in me. I started sharing my stories, my personal experiences of transformation, I shared my strategies and methodology for business and personal success. People started to see me, not just my craft, by building a personal brand I was able to pivot in my career and establish myself as a transformational life and business coach.

5 Steps to Building a Personal Brand

1. Craft Your Story

Sharing you story will connect you with others who need to hear what you have to say. If you tell your story in a compelling way and have others say, “Omgosh me too!” you connect with them on a deeper level.

2. Get Social

You want to start building your community and focus on serving not selling. Respond to comments on social media, don’t be afraid to take the conversation into your direct messages, consistently post valuable and useful content.

3. Know Who You’re Talking To

It helps to know your target market and specifically who your ideal client is so you can craft your message. Once you know your ideal client you can start talking directly to her and building a relationship.

4. Solve a Problem

Find out what your ideal client struggles with and then solve her problem, become the “go to” person in your industry… this does not mean be the only expert but become a contributor.

5. Make it Personal

Share who you really are, pull back the curtain on your life and share what makes you unique because the things that makes you different are your greatest assets.

Building a personal brand is about finding your voice, sharing your story, and building your community! If you have a desire to become a thought leader in your industry, building a personal brand is imperative. Even if you don’t but you want to stand out, building a personal brand will set you apart from the rest.

Would you rather watch than read? Check out the video below about building a personal brand!

I would love to hear from you, let me know in the comments if you’re building a personal brand for your business or career! If you’re ready to set up a free introductory coaching call go here.

xo,

Kim