When you hear the word ‘brand’, you probably think of things like Apple, Microsoft, Virgin or Coca-Cola. These are some of the biggest brands in the world and we have pretty good ideas of what to expect from their products and services, of what their logos look like and of what their guiding principles are.
But what about Angelina Jolie? David Beckham? Tim Ferriss? How about Pat Flynn? Or Hulk Hogan?
Because actually, these are brands too. We know the name, we know the look and we also know what they’re all about and what their ‘mission statement’ is. These people have managed to turn themselves into brands just like those companies and have built up the same amount of recognition, trust and exposure that they have.
And you can do the same!
How to Become a Personal Brand
If you want to make your own personal brand, all you need to do is to put yourself at the forefront of your marketing campaign, web design and message. You might call your website JoeBlogs.com and have a photo of yourself front and center. You can then tell people about you, what service you provide and why they should trust you.
This of course means that you need to be willing to expose yourself to a large audience. And that also means that in many ways, you need to strive to become the embodiment of the message you’re selling. If you’re a health and fitness guru then you need to be in some kind of decent shape!
Advantages
While there are some downsides to a personal brand, there are also a lot of upshots.
One is that it makes social media considerably easier. Once you have a personal brand, you are trying to get to know your audience personally. That means you can treat them almost as you would your own friends and that you can post the same kind of content.
Rather than needing to find exciting industry news, it’s now okay to post about your lunch – especially if your blog is about healthy eating! That means as well that maintaining an Instagram account can become a matter of posting some images of your day from your phone camera.
And all this is going to help you to build a lot of trust and familiarity with your audience. These people have seen what you had for breakfast, you clearly have nothing to hide, so they might well decide to buy your products or listen to your advice!
