Updated July 2023

Actively shaping and reinforcing perceptions of who you are so that you encourage people to know, like, and trust you is the work of building your personal brand.

Think of any established brand—Starbucks, for example—and immediately a distinct image comes to mind. Whether it’s the recognizable white cup with the familiar green logo, or the image of a cozy coffee shop with local patrons, Starbucks has put a lot of thought and money into building an enormously successful brand, and it isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

In 2011, the Seattle-based coffee company got rid of the “Starbucks Coffee” text on their cups, leaving the cups bare, with just the distinctive siren pictured. Bold move, considering they were assuming people walking down the street would know that a passerby got their coffee from Starbucks and not the chain next door. The assumption worked, because now I bet you’re scratching your head trying to remember when there were words on the cups. Starbucks has mastered what it means to set yourself apart from the competition with their successful brand imaging, and it’s time for you to do the same.

Personal branding is essential in today’s world. If a stranger looks at your marketing efforts and can’t tell who you are and where you’re going, then it may be time to get serious about changing up your brand.

Why personal branding matters

When it comes to branding, it’s critically important to understand that regardless of whether you are actively building your brand, you already have one.

As a service professional—be it a real estate agent, insurance broker, financial advisor, or any other industry where you are your brand—your brand is what people think of when your name comes up in conversation, or how they view you when you walk into a room. Actively shaping and reinforcing that perception to encourage people to know, like, and trust you is the work of personal branding.

Ultimately, your brand should clearly and memorable answer one question: “Why should a person do business with you over someone else?” The answer can truly be a deciding factor in whether your business rises to the top or tanks.

5 tips to help build your own brand

These tips for personal branding will put you on the right path and give you a strong foundation to develop your personal brand.

1. Be authentic

People want to be reassured that the person they’ve seen and come to know through your marketing is the same person they expect to meet when they see you face-to-face, so focus on sharing your personality rather than creating a semi-fictional persona.

Don’t hesitate to share aspects of your personal life with your target audience. If you send a newsletter, engage in email marketing, or post to social media, don’t make it all about business. Share stories about your vacation, hobby, pets, and personal accomplishments. You might also post about holiday get-togethers, birthday celebrations, family events, and books you’ve read or movies you’ve seen. Shared interests and values are a foundation for attracting loyal clients because people do business with those they like and who are like them.

2. Find your niche

You’ve heard it said that the riches are in the niches. In business as in life, you can’t be all things to all people. To be happy, productive, and profitable in your business, decide the type of people you want to work with and the problem they have that you can best solve. Target your marketing to that audience and be able to clearly and succinctly explain your value proposition to them.

3. Create a unique logo

A logo is not your brand; however, it is a exceptionally strong representation of it. The green siren on a Starbucks cup isn’t their brand, but it is immediately recognizable and brings to the forefront a host of thoughts and feelings about their coffee and company.

There are a host of online services that will allow you to create your own logo, but be careful—there’s a lot of psychology at play in the design of an effective logo. As visual representations of your brand, you want to make sure that it evokes just the right thoughts and feelings. Your logo needs to showcase your individuality, and color, font style, image, and more need careful consideration.

Let the team of creative professionals at ReminderMedia help you build a memorable logo unique to you!

If you want to give designing your own logo a shot, our Creative Services team stresses the importance of choosing the right color palette, keeping the design simple, and sticking with one font. You can read more of their advice here, and you can always reach out if you’d rather have a dedicated expert from our team design a logo for you.

4. Optimize your website

Your website is one of the first places prospective clients will visit to find out more about you and your business, so it’s vital that it be optimized to promote your professionalism and deliver the information they need and want.

First, you’ll want to ensure that within seconds of landing on your page, your visitors know exactly what you can do for them. Make sure your homepage includes a clear and prominent value proposition, your logo, appealing photography, and social proof in the form of testimonials and any accolades you may have. And don’t forget a call to action—tell visitors what you want them to do whether it’s to join, click, visit, buy, download, or something else.

Listen to “Build Your Personal Brand in Only 6 Steps” on our Stay Paid podcast to get more information about optimizing your website and other tips for building a stellar personal brand.

5. Use social media

I don’t think you need to be told that today, building a personal brand on social media is an indispensable part of marketing your business. The only question is, are you utilizing LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram to their fullest potential? 

While you want your brand to have the widest exposure possible, keep in mind that different social media platforms attract different audiences. If you can only dedicated your attention to one or two platforms, select the ones that you know attract yours. No matter which platform you decide to spend the most time with in terms of building your brand, you need to ensure that all of them are updated with your most recent info, including recent pictures, career changes, a strong bio, and, of course, unique posts.

Posting both organic (original posts you created) and curated (retweets, reposts) content is important to having an authentic social media identity. Follow industry leaders in your field (or the field you want to be in, if a career move is on the horizon), and interact with them by commenting and sharing their content. Engaging with others is not only a strong way to network but also can help gain traction for your own social media accounts.

The takeaway

Your brand is how you want to be seen by the world around you. It should be something you’re continually building upon as you go through both professional and personal changes. Writer Tom Peters put it best when he said, “All of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.”

Let us help

We’re experts at personal branding and helping entrepreneurs stand out and rise above. Our team of marketing professionals will work with you to ensure your marketing keeps you top of mind for referrals and more repeat business. Download a free copy of our personally branded magazine, and imagine your brand on the cover.