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What Is Personal Branding?

Article Overview: Most people are familiar with the idea of building brand recognition and a brand reputation, but many people don’t equate that type of brand building with building a brand around a person. When Paris Hilton said, “I’m a brand,” she was talking about all the personal branding efforts that made her name and products famous. Personal branding is important to any small business owner who is selling himself and his expertise.

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What Is Personal Branding?

Most people are familiar with the idea of building brand recognition and a brand reputation, but many people don’t equate that type of brand building with building a brand around a person. When Paris Hilton said, “I’m a brand,” she was talking about all the personal branding efforts that made her name and products famous. Personal branding is important to any small business owner who is selling himself and his expertise.

Components of a Personal Brand

A personal brand is more than just a logo, though that is an important visual part of building a brand. It is also a reputation and a relationship with the public. Everything that you do online is a part of that personal brand. If you keep a blog, write an article or leave a comment, all of those things contribute to the way that others think about you. That is a big component of personal branding.

Building Business Relationships

Part of the reputation of any business is the way that business treats the public. This is as true for a hardware store as it is for individuals who are selling their own expertise. Having a good and helpful relationship with customers online is an extremely important part of building an online reputation.

Online customers expect to have some communication with the people and sites that they do business with. Even large, multi-national companies have set up Twitter accounts and other communication routes so that the public feels that it is in communication with them. To build up a personal branding, your communications must also be personal, cordial and useful.

Personal Branding Strategy

While all personal brands have most of these components in place, the exact strategy that you choose must be given consideration based on the customers that you want to attract.

There are some exceptions to the main rules that may pertain to your business. Donald Trump has built his personal brand on his own lifestyle and his lack of communication with the general public. Other successful business owners build accessibility and likability into their brands to attract their ideal demographic.

To analyze what your ideal personal strategy should consist of, think about what people in your field have done to become well known. Think about how they could become better known and what type of branding it would require from you.

Once you have your strategy decided, make a detailed plan to make it happen. Some of it may require outsourcing a few of the tasks to professionals who can better handle them. Some of it may require a daily schedule of tasks related to your personal branding. Once the strategy is underway, your brand will become better and better known.