Ep. 475: Build Your Personal Brand in Only 6 Steps

Building a Personal Brand: 6 Steps to a Creating a Personal Brand You Control

Your business has a brand. The critical question is, “Who will control it—you or your audience?”

One of the most important lessons to learn in marketing is that you have a brand whether you’ve created it yourself or not.

For service professionals, such as real estate agents, insurance brokers, financial advisors, and the like, your personal brand and business brand are essentially one and the same thing. It’s the perception your prospects and clients have of who you are and what you stand for.

So you can easily understand how important it is to your success that you—and not your audience—create and promote the personal brand that best reflects your mission and values.

Unfortunately, not everyone can afford a personal branding consultant or a personal brand manager, but fear not! In this Silver Dollar episode of Stay Paid, we share six steps to developing a personal brand that prospects and clients will gladly support with their business.

1. Build a foundation.
2. Choose a target audience.
3. Create an irresistible value proposition.
4. Optimize your website.
5. Develop a consistent content strategy.
6. Form a community for your audience.

When you listen, you’ll discover the specific details for putting each of these steps into practice. To get you started, here’s a summary of the first step: what it means to “build a foundation” for your brand.

When building your own personal brand, be authentic

Too many service professionals and other business owners erroneously believe that they need to create a persona or a semifictional representation of who they really are that will appeal to their target audience. In fact, the most successful personal brands are authentic—they communicate aspects of the real people behind the name. But what about you is relevant to attracting an audience?

To build a strong foundation for an authentic personal brand, begin by taking stock of the “brand assets” you already possess:

• Skills and credentials: Even if you are starting a new business, you have life experiences that have taught you skills applicable to serving your clients. Additionally, have you earned awards, certifications, or other credentials that will enhance your brand?
• Passions and interests: What do you most enjoy about the work you do? Consider why you got into the business you’re in. Reflect on how your passions and interests translate into what you provide to your clients.
• Core values and beliefs: What you stand for and against are arguably the most important aspects of who you are, and infusing them into your brand is a great way to draw your audience to it.

Take a step back and review these assets to get a sense of what you want your audience to see. How do they come together to form a perception of you and your personal brand? Once you know this, you will be able to execute the remaining five steps to building your personal brand more easily.

We hope you enjoy this episode and act on the advice Luke offers at the end. We’d also appreciate it if you took a moment to leave us a 5-star review and comment on Apple Podcasts. (We read them on air!) Thanks for listening!

Connect | Resources

• Article: “How to Build a Personal Brand (Complete Guide)” from Thinkific.com.
• Book: Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller
• Tool: answerthepublic.com

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