So, the question isn’t “Does everyone have a personal brand?” 

It should be…

Should you have a personal brand?

‘No personal brand’ is a personal brand. A limited or no digital presence comes across as unapproachable to your prospects and damages the legitimacy of your business. People are much more cautious about where they’re spending their money these days so pretty much everyone is doing at least a basic amount of research before committing to a purchase.

This research isn’t just comparing prices or service features. Your prospects want to know more about your values, why you do what you do – everything that gives them a better idea of the service they are investing their money into. Beyond the product or service, they want to learn about the legacy their purchase is helping to build.

You need a personal brand so that you communicate all of this to them without shoving it in their face in a single, overwhelming piece of content.

Your personal brand acts as bread crumbs your prospects can follow and pick up, learning along the way and bringing them closer to you and your business.

A single post will not build your personal brand

Why do social media posts go viral? Sometimes, there’s a solid strategy behind them – a user puts an original spin on a current trend and creates something never seen before. And, other times, all they do is post.

Yes, that’s how simple it can be to go viral. But that should never be your goal, not only because it’s an impossible goal to guarantee and replicate but because you don’t need to go viral to succeed online.

That’s where your personal brand comes in.

Building your personal brand is a long-term game. This means that everything you post has the potential to lead to client-winning interactions and conversations. However, building your personal brand isn’t just about posting, you also need to ensure your profile is optimised. Whichever posts catch your prospect’s eye need to lead them to a better understanding of you and your offer.

Start building your personal brand today

We live in a digital centric age; your personal brand is going to be built whether you like it or not. But, building this kind of legacy takes time – time you might not have when you are running your own business. Let the PINAKL team lend a hand. We’ll work with you to build a personal brand that resonates with your prospects and maintain it for you while you get on with what matters most: growing your business.

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So, why isn’t it working?

You’re making it all about you

Just because it’s your personal brand doesn’t mean it should be all about you. Yes, you should be sharing personal stories and milestones but everything you share and every interaction you have should come back to your audience in some way. 

When built the right way, your personal brand has the power to invite people on your journey – giving them a personal stake in your success and making it more likely for them to invest in it.

Your promises are too vague

Do you save people time and money? You’re not the only one. Vague promises like this prevent your personal brand from making a connection with your audience. They do nothing to differentiate you from people with similar services. 

For your personal brand to build credibility and reliability, your offer needs to reflect this in strength and confidence. People have become very conscious about how they’re spending their money so get specific to reassure them that it will be money well spent.

You’re trying to sell to everyone

Your target audience is not ‘everyone.’ No one’s target audience is ‘everyone.’ You need to have an unwavering belief in your offer to build a confident personal brand, but targeting everyone doesn’t convey this belief. 

Instead, it communicates to your audience that you don’t actually know who you’re trying to help so you’re throwing a net out, hoping it reels someone in. You need a clear idea of who you’re talking to so you’re speaking to them directly every time. 

You’re not present for your audience

Are you posting and ghosting? Your audience will never get to know you if you’re not around. Sure, you might have just dropped a post about a really exciting business development but people want to know more.

Encourage this curiosity with CTAs that direct people to reach out, specifically by commenting on the post. Not only do these comments help boost your posts but it gives you the chance to start one-to-one conversations with potential prospects and share even more value.

You’re too impatient

You can start building your personal brand at any time but it won’t take off overnight. You have to stay consistent no matter the response. Monitor engagement and adjust as needed but don’t make it a building block of your personal brand.

It’s tempting to drop off when you’re not getting the results you want but that will only make it harder when you eventually come back. The good news is that you don’t have to build your personal brand on your own. The PINAKL team can help you build, maintain and monitor your personal brand so you can dedicate more of your time and effort to those client winning conversations.

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Not at all. Instead, you need to understand the difference between them, the different kinds of results they produce so that strategies you use to build both align and don’t double up the time you spend on them.

Why do you need a personal brand?

Personal brands do exactly what they say on the tin: connect with your prospects on a personal level. These brands are all about direct communication and individual engagement, putting yourself in your prospects shoes and proving to them that you have their best interests at heart. 

Even though it’s called a “personal” brand, it’s your prospects that are very much at the core of it. Every post you share or update you make to your profile should benefit them in some way. Whether it’s drawing attention to a pain they didn’t know they had, sharing parts of your journey to invite them behind the scenes or breaking the ice with a personal anecdote, every effort you make with your personal brand is about building these personal connections.

Why do you need a company brand?

On the flip side, company brands are much more about a company’s identity and where it stands in the market. While company brands should still be built with prospects’ interests in mind, it’s much more about boosting awareness for your business. You want to be using your company brand to establish brand authority and showcase its expertise.

However, this doesn’t mean that things need to be rigid and regimented compared to personal brands. Employee advocacy is a great way to still share a peak behind the current and humanise your brand.

Which brand should you focus on building the most?

There will be overlaps between personal and company brands but this is a good thing! It makes it much easier to align the strategies between them. Your personal brand shouldn’t stand for one thing and your company brand for another. There needs to be a clear harmony between the two. 

However, when it comes to which one you should focus on building more, your personal brand will always win. It’s not just because people respond to personal connections much more these days, but because your personal brand can be used to help build up the company. Once you understand how to connect with your prospects on a personal level, you can use the company brand to boost this further. 

It’s also worth remembering that a lot more goes into building your personal brand and that’s why it will often take priority over a company one. However, don’t forget that if you want to get your time back while still building a strong personal brand, the PINAKL team is here to help.

The post What’s the difference between a personal brand and a company brand? appeared first on PINAKL.

There’s plenty of questions that make just the thought of building a personal brand overwhelming. So, let’s start with what a personal brand is and how it helps your business grow by selling more.

What is a personal brand?

As we’ve already said, a personal brand is more than your LinkedIn profile. It’s the content you post, comments you leave on other posts, DMs you send; basically, it’s your entire online presence, how your message and values are communicated to your prospects before they’ve even interacted with you. Which is why – if you’re not actively building your personal brand – you’re almost saying to your prospects, “Hey, I’m just here for the sales. Don’t bother me with anything else.”

Why is sending out this kind of message a problem? After all, you are here to sell your offer to interested prospects… The issue is that while people want to buy, they often don’t like being sold to. This is where your personal brand comes in.

How does a personal brand help you sell more?

People are much more conscious about how they’re spending their money these days, and it’s not just about being financially savvy. Consumers (including your prospects) want to know what their money is contributing to beyond the product or service they’re buying. Whether it’s big scale contributions like supporting sustainability or something a bit closer to home such as supporting a local business, your consumers want to know.

A personal brand connects to this side of your prospects. Your values, your why, your message – all of this can be conveyed through your personal brand and help you make these connections with potential prospects. Before they decide if they want to work with you, your prospects need to know what you stand for so that they can trust and rely on you to deliver the results you’re promising.

Simply telling them this in a post or DM isn’t enough. A consistent personal brand built over time will show them why working with you is the best decision. 

Overnight success doesn’t exist

Building your personal brand is a long-term game but this means that everything you share and interaction you have has the potential to become a client-winning conversation. However, it’s only going to work like this if you’re following a strong personal brand building strategy. Don’t have time for this? Let the PINAKL team know. We’ll work with you to build a personal brand that resonates with your prospects and maintain it for you while you get on with what matters most: growing your business.

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