How to Brand Yourself in 5 Easy Steps

It's like a buzzword: Personal Brand. Everyone's talking about it - "You have to know your brand," you'll hear them say, from corporate execs to actors to virtual assistants.

Tom Peters, management expert and author wrote, “We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer of a brand called You.”

If you're still not sure what all that means, however, not to worry! I'm about to break it down for you.

1. Define your Individual Value Proposition: That's just a fancy way to say: figure out what your unique offering to the marketplace is. Spend some time thinking about what makes you different from your others in your area of expertise. In the business coaching niche, you may hear this referred to as your "zone of genius." Here's a question you could ask yourself: If you were to quit your job right now, what would your company and colleagues miss?

Here are some things to think about that will help you discover your zone of genius:

• What specifically do you do well?

• Who do you help?

• What part of their lives do you make better through sharing your expertise?

Once you identify your value proposition, you can create powerful offers and taglines that will stick with people - whether you're going into business for yourself, networking to land a new position or on the job hunt.

2. Do your research: Find out how people see you by asking them. The best thing you can do to get honest feedback is ask acquaintances or people who don't know you that well (preface this by letting them know you want honest feedback and you won't argue or hold against them anything they tell you). You can also ask people you trust - colleagues, co-workers, friends, or family members, just know that they might be more inclined to protect your feelings. Ask them to list four or five adjectives they would use to describe you.

• What are you good at?

• What are your strengths?

• In which areas might they describe you as “irreplaceable?”

• What would they refer you to their friends for?

3. Identify your Ideal Client: Think about companies like Starbucks - their market is coffee, so you wouldn't see them marketing to, say, pet owners. While some pet owners might be coffee drinkers, they know that that is not their niche. In much the same way, you need to know who you're targeting. To identify your ideal client, go back to step 1 and think a little deeper about who you're helping. Really dive into that person's world - some things you can ask that will help you in this process are:

• Who are they? Are they men? Women? Business owners? College students?

• Where do they live? An apartment in the city? A house in the suburbs? A ranch in the countryside?

• What do they typically do for a living? Are they entrepreneurs? Do they work retail jobs? Are they side-hustlers looking to leave their full-time 9-5's?

Once you have a clear vision of who you're targeting, you'll be able to create messaging and imagery that will appeal to them - which will attract them to you.

4. Create your Brand Identity: After you've completed steps 1-3, you'll have a clear idea of the brand you're building. The next step is to create a branding mood board (sort of a branding version of a vision board) that will help you zero in on your visuals and messaging. This is essentially a collage of images and colors that tell your brand story. This should be a storyboard of you as an online persona, so that when you look at it, it makes you say, "Yes, this encompasses who I am as a person, the image I want to be portraying online, and the kind of person my ideal clients will want to buy from/work with."

Use Canva! If you're not familiar with Canva yet, you should be! It makes design easy and has a ton of awesome templates for anything you could ever need to create graphics-wise. There's a free version and a paid version, and although the paid version includes a lot of additional graphics and features, the free version is also super powerful. You can create your entire brand identity on Canva, and pro tip: They have a logo builder 😊

5. Ask for Feedback: So many individuals think their brand is about them, and while it's true, your brand is part of how you present yourself online, it's really about your end-user. Shaping your brand identity isn't about what appeals to you, but about what will get your ideal clients saying, "I would definitely work with that person." As such, once you have a good idea of what your personal brand is, ask people (friends, colleagues, customers, clients) what they think and if there's anything that can be improved upon. A brand identity is a journey, not a race - there is no finish line. Your brand will shift and evolve as you do as a business person, so you should never be afraid of feedback - you should always take it as an opportunity to grow and strengthen your brand.

There is so much more I could teach you about creating an individual brand identity, this is just a place to start. I hope it helps!

Need some help with developing your brand? Book a free 30-minute gameplan call with me! 😄