3 Simple Things you can do to build your Personal Brand

There is a lot of nonsense out there at the moment about personal branding. Most of it is over-complicated marketing junk.

Personal branding is simply typecasting yourself with your target audience.

You can make a lot of money by being known for one thing.

Personal branding is just that.

Make sure people know you for one very clear reason.

If your brand is strong you might be able to handle different topics or messages, but until it is you have to typecast yourself.

Typecasting is an acting reference.

It’s where an actor is pigeon-holed into specific roles based on previous performances.

Jim Carrey plays comedy roles because he was so good at them in the past.

Jennifer Aniston plays the ditsy, girl-next-door role because of her role in friends.

Many Hollywood mega stars fear being typecast because it limits their acting capability to do the same roles.

But… they made millions being typecast.

Likewise, you can make a lot of money from focusing your message and personal brand around one topic. There is a lawyer in London who has built his business around getting people off of their speeding convictions. He charges a ton more money and focuses almost exclusively on helping people not lose their licenses.

Personal Branding leveraged the right way can be powerful.

If you want to build a personal brand here are 3 actions you should do every day, I’ve also put a plan of action below.

Talk about your topic... prolifically

You can use a variety of different angles, but repeat yourself consistently, here are some ways you can do this…

• Comparison posts: This vs That
• Actionable Advice
• Break it down into smaller elements
• Explainer posts
• Stories of success and failure

The key is to make sure your posts clearly show you are aligned with your core topic, but also add value to the audience in terms of new ideas, new ways of thinking or giving some actionable advice. People discover expertise over time, so your personal brand is not built by a handful of posts, but by a consistent message over time.

You might get enquiries as a direct result of one post, but the enquiries came from the effort of many posts building your credibility.

Over and over and over again. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. 

Don't be arrogant with it. Be confident and bold.

Show Your Face

This is the most uncomfortable one for some people. You need to show your face and help people see the insight and advice coming from a person. Give people an opportunity to see you add value through video and imagery.

Part of building a personal brand is helping your audience see you as the go-to expert for this topic. So, people seeing you add value allows people to remember your face in association with the topic.

Humans think in pictures, so showing your face through video and imagery is critical. If you go over the top people switch off, but a photo or video of you 1 or 2 times per week is a good number. If you are going to take this onto TikTok, you don’t have to do video posts of yourself every day, you can alternative with other things. Be creative, if you don’t want to show up on video every day, you don’t have to. But you do need to show your face.

Despite not being naturally comfortable with images and photos, I’ve found when I do share videos and photos of myself, I get a deeper and more meaningful engagement.

Think of it like this…

If I put a photo of you holding ketchup on social media every day in a different location, don’t you think eventually some people would say “He’s the ketchup guy”.

I just explained personal branding right there.

Show the success

If you have helped people, don’t be afraid to show it. Weave into your content your experience and success. Don’t ram it down people's throats, but share relevant stories of the success you can bring to people.

As a die-hard Brit, it doesn’t come naturally to me to share how I’ve helped people. It seems foreign and uncomfortable. But, how will people know or realise you can achieve success if you don’t explain or show people?

If you don’t share your successes through stories, people will miss out on seeing the value of your message, content, and offer.

Plan of Action

Here are 12 days’ worth of posting ideas for you.

Day 1: Why you do what you do [Mission Post]

Day 2: Image Your Image with Tweet / Quote

Day 3: Actionable Tips for Your Topic

Day 4: Video Story related to your topic

Day 5: Success Story / Testimonial

Day 7: Promotional Post about your Offer

Day 8: Image Your Image with Tweet / Quote

Day 9: Comparison Post  This Vs That

Day 10: Failure Story / Overcoming Story

Day 11: Video Post – Actionable Advice

Day 12: Promotional Post about your offer