Believe it or not, you already have a personal brand. Just google yourself, and see what pops up. These results are the first impression people have of you. Do the results present an accurate image of who you are today? If not, then it’s time to upgrade your personal brand.

There are so many reasons why you should develop a strong personal brand. For one, a personal brand will help manage your reputation online. Nowadays, more job seekers are looking at your social media, LinkedIn, and online portfolio, when making hiring decisions. Nearly everyone is networking online and gathering information about other people from what they see on their profiles. Why should an image or blog post from 5 years ago, mark the person you are today?

Personal branding is all about managing your reputation and interactions and developing positive impressions in the minds of those who you want to influence. The impressions you make and the personal reputation you develop profoundly affect your ability to succeed.

Unlike business brands, personal brands focus on the individual. They create awareness about who they are, what they stand for, what they do best, and how they contribute to the world around them. There are two different types of individual brands: personal brands and personality brands. But in this post, I’ll mostly focus on personal brands.

Personal Brand

A personal brand will help you establish yourself, enhance visibility, gain influence, and power success through your personal goals. Your personal brand is your most important brand because it affects your success in every aspect of your life.

Personality Brand

Personality brands are well-known individual brands such as celebrities, influencers, thought-leaders, etc

Why build a personal brand?

Having a personal brand can increase trust, establish authority with your audience, lead to exposure, boost reputation, respect, brand sponsorships, influence and so much more.

Your personal brand is pretty much everything that makes YOU who you are. From your beliefs, your image, mission and core values. Your brand is what you stand for. This is why the best personal brands are 100% authentic and genuine. Do you know what the key to building a successful personal brand is?

It’s all about getting PERSONAL. Personal brands are not afraid of revealing who they are—the real, the good, and the messy. They do not shy away from the spotlight.

Through Personal branding you can gain self-confidence in in your strengths, your goals, your target audience, expertise, your unique personality, and the message you want to consistently cultivate and convey.

Questions to ask yourself when launching your personal brand:

1. What do you want people to believe and trust about you?

2. What’s your idea of success?

3. How do you want to present yourself?

4. What will it take to get your personal brand image from where it is to where you want it to be?

Whether you’re looking for a better job, building a reputation for your solo-business, or establishing your expertise, personal branding can deliver positive impressions that pave the way to success in all aspects of your life. It helps you define your assets, your audience and core objectives. Once established, you can relax and present your authentic self with consistency.

Learn how to develop your personal brand.