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Have you ever heard somebody speaking and been completely swept away by their personality?
Michelle Obama is one such an inspiring personality. The former US first lady has campaigned and contributed to global initiatives, has proved her mettle as a great human being, and her articulation, compassion, and intelligence have won many hearts.
Oprah Winfrey is another example. She has changed the course of people’s lives with her words and actions.
Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey are among the world’s iconic personalities who have great value attached to their names. They are also examples of personal branding or self branding.
What is personal branding?
Personal branding is a term used for people known for their unique knowledge, skills, and experiences. To build your personal brand, you don’t necessarily need to be a Michele Obama or Oprah Winfrey.
You can build your personal brand based on your expertise and skills within your professional circle. Building yourself opens up doors of opportunities that you never knew existed.
Benefits of personal branding
Some of the benefits of having a personal brand are:
- It helps you stand out from the crowd
- It demonstrates your qualities, knowledge, and skills
- It opens up opportunities such as job offers, partnerships, speaking assignments and so on
- It helps in networking and business growth
- It proves your authenticity and distinguishes you from competition
Strategy for personal branding
Digital platforms and social media have taken personal branding to an astonishing new level. With cutting-edge competition, you will have to be more precise and innovative with self branding to succeed.
Here are some ways to build a special strategy for personal branding:
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Build your story
Branding yourself is a fine art of telling your story in an engaging and convincing way. You need not shout out loud to do so. It can be an honest narrative based on your qualities, values, and commitments.
Hitesh had an online business of organic groceries. As a strategy for personal branding, he started sending video messages to his customers to establish a personal bond and promote his products with creative messages. This reach-response-results strategy worked wonders for his personal branding. His business soared.
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Carve a niche
Maintain consistency and focus on self branding. Sara’s journey from a homemaker to a catering entrepreneur was amazing. She built a credible brand of herself on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram with focused messages. She carved a niche in Punjabi cooking. Her well-planned strategy of personal branding won her a strong customer portfolio.
Explore your unique selling point, get deeply involved in it, carve a niche, and educate the world in your own way. An excellent brand reputation will automatically follow.
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Be authentic
Authenticity is the courage to be yourself without any awkwardness. It is a magnetic quality that draws people towards you.
Master your craft or skill set before you enter the market as a brand. Do your personal branding genuinely. Never project a false or exaggerated image of yourself. (gavinbros.com) People generally see through it, and your self branding will not achieve the desired results if you do so.
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Follow your inspiration
Rajeev was a die-hard fan of author Deepak Chopra. He modeled his personal branding on his idol and achieved great success as a personal and life coach in his circles.
Branding yourself like the people you look up to is also a good strategy to create an inspiring identity.
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Maximize social media
The digital revolution has taken the world by storm with social media connecting people globally. Are you making the most of it?
Maintain a personal website and update it regularly. Put all your writings, performances, achievements, awards, and testimonials out there. Let the world know who you are.
Enhance your digital presence through a blog, Twitter, Facebook, or other platforms. Be a thought leader in your capacity. Branding yourself as a trustworthy expert is the way forward these days.
Harappa’s Building Presence course is crafted to acquaint you with constructive ways of branding yourself. Learn about body language techniques or nonverbal cues that increase your confidence at work, apart from the process of building a brand.
In the post-pandemic times people’s brands are going to matter. Personal branding is the need of the hour. Start branding yourself now and the future will yield exciting returns for you.
Explore topics such as How to Develop Personality, Personality Traits, the 7 C’s of Communication and Types of Communication from our Harappa Diaries blog section to ace your skills.
