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By Busisiwe
Nkhwashu-Leburu
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Building a personal brand means providing value in one
or multiple niches that people begin to associate your name with the idea of
what it means to be successful in that industry, that is how you become a
thought leader and influencer.
There are some general guidelines to building a
personal brand. This is particularly effective in the digital age of social
media. These simple guidelines will make you realise that you do not have to be
a miracle worker to be a thought leader or an influencer; all you need is you.
1. FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU’RE GOOD AT AND HOW YOU CAN
GENERATE AN INCOME FROM IT
The first step is acknowledging what you like doing,
because if you don’t like it chances are you won’t take it very seriously, and
if you aren’t willing to take it seriously it won’t be a success.
Once you’ve figured that out, you need to make a
commitment to being as great as you can possibly be. This has nothing to do
with being competitive; it has to do with realising that whatever you like
doing many other people like doing it too and they are ready to take your
position.
Commit to becoming a thought leader in the thing you
love doing!
2. FIND YOUR SOCIAL PLATFORM
One mistake that most people commit is that they rush
into building a website for themselves or spend a lot of time trying to come up
with how they are going to brand themselves.
What matters is that you need to start owning your
craft and providing value to people in a public domain. Everything starts from
there.
Find a platform that suits your interest and start
creating the best content you possibly can
3. COLLABORATE
Build as many relationships as you can with other
thought leaders within your niche. This will open many doors for you and help
grow your social following. Find other people who create great content and
collaborate.
Create content together and trade audiences. That way everyone
wins, everyone grows, and you’ll create awesome connections and friends in the
process.
4. BUILD YOUR WEBSITE/EMAILING LIST
Once you have a significant following on social media,
it’s time to build your website. Start with something simple. There are many
cost-free platforms online. Do your research and find the one that’s best suited
for you.
Your website should be the ultimate value-add to your
audience. You attract their attention on social media and give them all the
value in the world on your website.
A win/win here is for you to offer specialised content
in exchange for their email address and contact details. This content could be a
free download, a trial code to a program or app, etc; something that will
provide them value and give them even more value over the long term.
5. LAUNCH YOUR OWN PRODUCTS
The whole purpose of building a personal brand is to avoid the route of
being affiliated to someone else.
The incentive for launching your own products, far more than monetary,
is the credibility it gives you. Today’s business cards are books, courses and
products that speak on your behalf and demonstrate your knowledge. These are
intended to open doors to other thought leaders in your industry and tangential
industries, so that you can continue building your social followings,
collaborating and engaging with new influencers and their audiences.
LAST WORD
Building a personal brand takes a lot of hard work,
drive, passion and dedication. If you’re ready to embark on that journey, these
guidelines will help you get started. Don’t focus on the numbers – Twitter
followers, Facebook likes, etc. Those are very poor metrics for building a
meaningful brand. Rather focus on perfecting your craft and building content.
