Your personal brand is what makes you unique, what puts you in the spotlights for everyone to notice you. It’s what people remember about you and how they talk about you. What do you want to bring when you walk into a room or when someone opens your website? What do you want your presence to express? And what should they remember?
Building a strong personal brand is an imperative nowadays, especially when you are an entrepreneur and you are the face of your business, online and offline.
This is not an easy thing, as there’s no recipe that suits all. A personal brand is unique to each individual, an expression of their authenticity, their personality. However, there are some guidelines on how to discover and build a personal brand that will make you memorable, and I thought I should share them with you.
Six secrets of a strong personal brand
1. Knowing your mission.
Your mission is the starting point of all your branding. The journey to building your personal brand starts with self-discovery, because understanding why you do what you do and what you want to accomplish is essential when building your brand. Your mission carves a clear path for your future actions and also provides clarity for others. Make sure you formulate your mission before starting everything.
2. Defining your vision.
Your vision is your aspiration for the future. Who you want to help, what you want to be known for. A vision should be aspirational, as well as inspirational. Whatever area you work in, you want to inspire people in your own way, and leave your mark on the world.
3. Discovering your brand archetype.
Brand archetypes are derived from Carl Jung’s personality archetypes, developed in 1940. Jung believed that archetypes were innate and hereditary, representing a model image of a person that transcends language, culture, and time. When building your brand, it’s important to define your archetype, because this will help you create deeper connections with your audience by generating the emotions you are aiming for. Your archetype influences the tone of voice, the words and colors you are using to describe your brand. There are twelve brand archetypes, and yours is most likely a combination of two or more of them. If you would like to discover your archetype, you can try this test I prepared for my clients: Archetype Test
4. Defining a visual strategy.
Having a well crafted visual strategy is key in making you memorable. It’s all about how you “package” yourself. Let your personality define your visual style and choose a color palette, as well as the fonts you’re going to use for your brand. Create a logo and a brand manual.
5. Showing your face.
We’re talking about a personal brand here, so the most important element of the equation is yourself. It’s important for your clients or collaborators to know you, to put a face on the brand. If you are an entrepreneur, having at least one professional photoshoot a year should be a must. Dress yourself according to your personal brand and get a few beautiful images that reflect your personality and that you can use for your online presence. Also, showing your face on the social media stories and videos is equally important. People will get to know you, they will put a face to the ideas you’re sharing, they can see your (maybe not so polished) personality.
6. Authenticity.
Talking about the polished personality, I want to stress here that building a personal brand doesn’t mean inventing a persona. Your brand should be authentic; it should reflect you and the values guiding your life and work. Building an authentic brand requires a deep understanding of yourself, otherwise you will not be consistent across all the channels you are manifesting it or across the years. Embrace your uniqueness and share it with the world so you can create meaningful relations.
I hope this was helpful, and if you need help with your personal branding, I’m here for you!
Kasia Giska