FIVE SIMPLE GUIDELINES TO BUILDING A PERSONAL BRAND

By Busisiwe
Nkhwashu-Leburu

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.