Why A Personal Brand Is Crucial To Being An Entrepreneur

As a young boy growing up, I was at times, asked what I wanted to be when I grew up? I never knew at the time and simply answered, fireman or policeman – not connecting with either. Some know from a very early age what they want to be and achieve and go for it and others, like my brother, had an experience at a young age that still motivates and drives him to this day. This trend appears to still be the same today among teens. However, one thing has changed. Today we are all our own personal brand. This begins the moment; we complete our first profile, at whatever age, and never stops. Whether we like it or not, every like, comment, image, tweet or video, we add is building our curated opinion of life and things that matter to us and our close nit community of family and friends. Are you aware or your growing personal brand? or more importantly are you shaping it the way you want to go?

This same information is how others connect and engage with us, including employers, lovers or colleagues. Our personal brand is known and promoted to by the very platforms we use to share and discover the world around us.

The real question is whether you are already managing and building your personal brand? The good news is it’s never to late to build and develop your own personal identity.

While it may seem daunting, once you start it’s easier than you think to sharpen your profile and present to your followers, your unique point of view and the lessons you have learnt and the ways you can help your tribe prosper.

As Virgin CEO Richard Branson said, “Branding demands commitment; commitment to continual re-invention; striking chords with people to stir their emotions; and commitment to imagination. It is easy to be cynical about such things, much harder to be successful.”

Why should you build your own brand?

By managing your personal brand, you become clear about who you are, what you like, who inspires and influences you and most importantly how you can contribute to add value. Today, more than ever, teams are brought together by entrepreneurs building bigger and better things, and they aren’t afraid to disrupt the older traditional ways of doing things.

In order to achieve this, they are scouring the web looking for like minded thinkers of specific talent just like you, and me. Being clear also enables you to be both a provider to others and an entrepreneur, even at the same time. By branding yourself, you can dictate terms like working from your favourite location anywhere in the world, or take a holiday while still working!

An essential part of developing a personal brand is mustering the boldness to discover and express authentically who you are and own it.
Why Developing A Personal Brand Is Essential For Every Entrepreneur

Our personal, social brand makes redundant old marketing ideas like elevator pitches and the good old-fashioned CV? As this article points out about what graduates need to know about developing their own brand.

Ditch the Elevator Pitch for a Social Selling Personal Brand

By elevator pitch, I am referring to a personal branding sales pitch that you could verbally offer during the short time needed for an elevator ride to the upper floors of success. Yes, you need an elevator pitch to lead your personal branding. Yet, I … Ditch the Elevator Pitch for a Social Selling Personal Brand – Business 2 Community

Standing out in the crowd. A personal brand can go viral with an easy warm up routine like Australian hot runner Michelle Jenneke! Such a modest action before each race puts a smile on my face and wants me to ask more; what’s her secret? What exercise routine has Michelle created? Or What’s in her food? Whatever it is, I want some! Imagine if we all had this much enthusiasm before a meeting?

How your personal brand can stand out in crazy-competitive spaces

It’s a common misconception that personal branding is reserved for authors, speakers or those looking to become well-known personalities. In our digitally savvy world, where potential clients, investors and employers are just as apt to look you up on …Business.com How your personal brand can stand out in crazy-competitive spaces – The Next Web

As parents and educators let’s start observing and encouraging our children to find, test and explore the world; to discover their passion and then show them ways to produce content with this passion. I know parents that encourage the consumption of digital media in whatever way their kids like but with a simple rule – no more than 10 hours per week, and 2 of those must be producing their own content.

What Every College Graduate Needs To Know About Their Personal Brand

Block out time every day to give your personal brand the attention it needs. The amount of time will vary depending on where you are in your career. It can be as little as twenty minutes a day for maintenance and as much as a few hours when you’re in … What Every College Graduate Needs To Know About Their Personal Brand – Huffington Post

How to start your own personal brand?

What makes your heart sing? Can you see yourself still learning and teaching with passion, great; you are well on the way?

[tweet_box design=”default” float=”none” inject=”#personalbrand”]Be authentic, if you lose your passion, you’re done.[/tweet_box] Be clear and define your brand. Doing this part well will make you focus, which helps you deliver with more clarity and find those like-minded advocates. This clarity will flow through to your branding, website and message. The more content and value you provide will connect you to your network and influencers.

10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Creating Your Personal Brand

When it comes to your personal brand, being another face in the crowd isn’t going to cut it. You need to know how to differentiate yourself. But in order to do that, you need to know exactly who you are and what you stand for. To get started, try … 10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Creating Your Personal Brand – Forbes

Even back in 2011 with fewer media options Jacob Cass, a prolific graphic designer in New York talks about how building a personal brand and effective use of social media got him out of some interesting debacles in life. What I like here is the ownership Jacob took followed by a commitment to nurture his own brand. Take notice of another benefit of regular article writing. A more long-term benefit was the way in which he found ways to provide great resources to build a following from other designers eager to learn and discover his secrets.

Over the years, Gary Vee has been very consistent. Do what you love, be everywhere and care about your followers. Oh and work hard with lots of hustle. Personal branding at its best.

4 ways to design a positive personal brand

Everyone in the workforce, irrespective of stature or level therein, must be mindful of one critical truth: Your brand goes wherever you go — because your “brand” is you!

If you authentically change your mindset from, “I must focus on the CEO and ignore all others,” to, “Everyone is important to the success of this company and will be treated equally,” those in charge will take notice. The key factor is authentic engagement with others regardless of their position in the workplace hierarchy.

In today’s economy, building an authentic network of business relationships is essential to achieving lasting success. Reputation is everything. Patience is required with this type of networking because it needs time to grow organically.

… 4 ways to design a positive personal brand – Birmingham Business Journal

Much has been written on developing your own unique brand. There is no shortage of ideas and ways to get going. The decision you need to make is to take action. Implementing even some of the techniques listed above could create the edge you need to stand out.

Be discoverable online, suggests the following Delightful Communications infographic: “Someone somewhere will be searching for you at some point in your career. Use your real name on the Internet and optimize your social media profiles for discovery!”

Conclusion

[tweet_dis]Personal branding was something only a few needed to do, today there is no option.[/tweet_dis] You are online, are you the one driving the message? We also need to adapt according to one study, “Millennials will experience about 15 to 20 career changes in a lifetime.” With that kind of fluidity, personal marketing is not an option but a necessity.

Take ownership of your personal brand. Spend time with yourself to become clear about what you love and what you want to share. Make those around you and those who find you to enjoy, share, learn and achieve more by knowing or employing you and your services.

What are your goals and passions? Is there anything holding you back from sharing your dreams?