What is Personal Branding & Why You Need It

Personal branding means defining and pushing forward what you stand for as an individual. It’s a culmination of not just your skills, background, and interests but also your values and ideals. Imagine yourself as a walking billboard in the competitive marketplace of careers. How you design your billboard to show potential customers or employers why you stand out from the crowd is branding yourself. 

Isn’t that the same as your reputation? There’s one main difference that separates the two: reputation is consequential, while your self-branding is intentional. To put it simply, reputation is how people perceive you, while your personal brand is how you want people to perceive you.

And the best part? You can start building your brand from as early as high school! 

Benefits of Personal Branding

Ever wondered how some people seem to have their life together with the perfect job, an impressive social media following, and everyone knowing their name? Well, the spell they use is Personal Branding, and it’s the powerup that gets you the recognition that no amount of hard work can. So why is personal branding important?

1. Sets you apart

Whether you’re a newbie in the job market looking for your first job or a business owner trying to start your own business, the importance of personal branding knows no bounds. In today’s competitive world, standing out from the crowd is one of the best strategies for success, and self-branding helps you do just that!

2. Opens doors

When applying for a new job or looking for potential clients, you might realise the need for a competitive advantage. That’s where branding comes in, giving you the unique edge you need. Once your brand helps people associate you with your niche, you’ll find opportunities coming your way that are more likely to match your desired goal.

3. Builds trust

Since your personal brand highlights the compatibility between your skills and niche, it also creates a reliable image of you for your employer or client. Branding builds trust through consistency, authenticity, and credibility. By presenting a reliable and genuine image, showcasing expertise, and maintaining a positive reputation, individuals create a connection that fosters trust with their audience. Effective communication and relatability further contribute to building and reinforcing that trust.

How to Create a Personal Brand

It's time to hit Ctrl + B and highlight those strengths and skills of yours! Building a personal brand involves a journey of self-discovery, aligning skills with aspirations, strategically curating your online presence, and building a supportive community. Here are all the steps you need to create a personal brand that shines authentically.

Step 1: Know yourself

Ask pivotal questions about your goals, skills, inspirations, and values with career mapping. Identify overlaps to define an authentic brand that truly represents who you are and what you want to be known for. This could include questions like:

1. What skills or talents are you most proud of?

2. What subjects most pique your interest?

3. What do the people you most admire have in common?

Step 2: Match your skills & goals

Reflect on how your skills align with your goals. Create a plan to bridge any gaps, using keywords like "leader" or "innovator" in your brand statement to increase visibility and maintain a consistent message for a specific demographic.

Step 3: Create an online presence

Clean up and strategise your online presence. Choose platforms based on your target audience, tailoring your content to showcase your brand effectively. Be intentional about presenting a cohesive and compelling online identity. When self-branding on social media, you also need to understand what each platform will help you achieve to create a good personal branding strategy.

1. LinkedIn: Ideal for professional networking and showcasing academic and professional achievements.

2. Instagram: Useful for visual storytelling and displaying a more personal side of your brand.

3. Twitter: Great for real-time engagement, sharing industry insights, and connecting with professionals.

4. TikTok: A platform for creative expression and reaching a younger audience through short videos.

5. YouTube: Perfect for creating in-depth content, tutorials, or vlogs to establish expertise.

Step 4: Build a community

Identify stakeholders through a stakeholder map. Reach out authentically, showing genuine interest in others' goals. Cultivate a mutually beneficial network where you can highlight your strengths in a way that helps others, fostering a community that supports your brand.

Personal Branding Strategies

Personal branding strategies are intentional approaches to shaping and promoting your public image. They encompass defining your unique value, building a consistent online presence, and engaging with your target audience. Implementing these strategies is crucial for standing out, establishing credibility, and advancing personal and professional goals in a competitive landscape.

1. Be consistent

Maintain uniformity in your messaging, visual elements, and online presence to create a cohesive and recognisable brand that fosters trust.

2. Be authentic

Showcase your genuine self, emphasising your unique qualities and values, as authenticity forms a strong foundation for building meaningful connections and credibility.

3. Pick a niche

Define a specific area of expertise or interest to stand out in a crowded space, allowing you to become a recognised authority in your chosen niche.

4. Explore platforms

Identify and leverage platforms that align with your target audience, whether it's LinkedIn for professional connections or Instagram for a visually-driven audience. When it comes to platforms, avoid keeping a narrow view and sticking to just one platform.

5. Weave a narrative

Tell a compelling story about your journey, emphasising key experiences and values, as a well-crafted narrative creates a memorable and relatable brand.

Common Personal Branding Challenges You Might Face

1. Misaligned background & interests

Navigating the challenge of being authentic when your passion diverges from your field of study involves finding common threads between your background, interests, and values. Balancing personal authenticity with professional expectations is crucial to maintaining an honest and compelling personal brand.

2. Hard to relate to the target audience

Overcoming the difficulty of relating to a target audience requires engaging with brands and businesses aligned with your interests. In such cases, you can use insightful and intentional cold-calling strategies to establish connections and make your personal brand more relatable to your desired audience.

3. Lack of clarity

Consider a marketing professional named Alex, who works in the tech industry. On LinkedIn, Alex shares insights about social media strategies. On Twitter, they discuss content marketing, and on Instagram, they showcase a passion for design. The lack of clarity in presenting a consistent message about their expertise and values makes it challenging for their audience to grasp a unified personal brand. To overcome this challenge, Alex needs to streamline their messaging and create a more cohesive personal brand across platforms.

4. Imbalance in personal branding

Consider Sarah, a healthcare professional attempting to balance personal and professional content on her social media. While she wants to showcase her expertise, she also shares personal experiences. Striking the right balance is challenging; too much personal content may seem unprofessional, while too little may make her seem distant. Balancing these aspects is crucial to maintaining a relatable yet credible personal brand.

5. Dealing with failures

Building a personal brand provides social proof and showcases valuable experiences. Authenticity is achieved by framing the brand around successes and failures. So, stick a Brandaid on there and claim your failures – it's all part of the personal branding journey!

Personal Branding Examples

When it comes to personal branding, almost everyone can benefit from it. And there are plenty of personal branding examples for students and other individuals to look up to:

1. Elon Musk pushed the boundaries of technology with his visionary ideas and ambitious projects, such as SpaceX, Neuralink, and Tesla, building a brand around innovation and entrepreneurship.

2. Be it planting veggies in the White House garden or dropping wisdom bombs in speeches, Michelle Obama's brand of grace, intelligence, and social advocacy shines through.

3. With roots in reality TV, Kim Kardashian West turned her love for beauty, fashion, and all things fabulous into a full-blown empire that's shaping pop culture & breaking the internet!

Resources for Personal Branding for Students

Self-branding is essential for standing out in the competitive job market, building professional networks, and fostering self-discovery. It instills confidence, adapts to career changes, and establishes a positive foundation for long-term success.

Personal branding is a fantastic way for students to kickstart their careers by helping them stand out to employers. Using platforms like LinkedIn for B2B connections and consumer-focused platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube enhances visibility and engagement.

1. Canva: Create visually appealing graphics and resumes on Canva to enhance your brand's aesthetic.

2. Google Analytics: Track the performance of your online presence and adjust your strategy accordingly.

3. Hootsuite or Buffer: Schedule posts across multiple platforms to maintain a consistent online presence.

4. LinkedIn Learning: Access courses on branding, networking, and career development.

5. Grammarly: Ensure your written content is polished and error-free.

In the end, developing a personal brand is an ever-evolving journey, not a finish line. It's always changing, like a story that grows with you. So, see it as a constant project that reflects the real you without making comparisons.