Personal Branding Guidelines

Let’s define what is Personal Branding

Areti Vassou
IDEADECO

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Personal branding is the ongoing process of establishing a specific image or impression in the mind of others about an individual, group, or organization. Personal branding most of the time involves the application of one’s name to various products or services.

How to Build your Personal Branding

Your personal branding is all about how you appear to the world. So you must do it correctly if you want to have a strong authority value for a certain area of service or expertise.

The big question is, how can you do this?

A well-defined personal brand permits you to:

  • Make clear how to show your best self.
  • Get familiar with your strengths and weaknesses.
  • Stand out from your competition.
  • Build your “tribe” (others who share the same values).
  • Be kind.
  • Show credibility.
  • Demonstrate your value with your actions and decisions.
  • Have meaningful interactions with others.
  • Find your niche.
  • Spread your message and values.
  • Breath with confidence.
  • Be able to say no gracefully.
  • Set the example.
  • Be a mentor.

How I made my Personal Brand

I always remind myself of these four words: Be your authentic self.

Be true and stay humble. Do not try to fake your identity because it is impossible to build a brand around your “fake” self. You would have to constantly lie about everything. And it is very hard to act in a “to-prove-it-right” way, appear that way, and say the “to-prove-it-right” words. It is exhausting to build a “fake” personality and then try to build a brand upon it. It is like building castles with sand!

First of all, ask yourself:

  • What do you believe?
  • What do you stand for?
  • What are your strengths?
  • What are your weaknesses?

People respond to people. People connect with people. And everybody is able to understand, sooner or later, if someone is true or fake. Never underestimate the power of common sense.

Develop your communication skills

Be specific and focused. Share your knowledge in a clear and polite manner. Show people that you know what you’re talking about, and always be ready to answer questions in a way that shows the depth of your knowledge not to just show off.

Be calm and confident. Even under the pressure of public negative feedback. Get to the point with slow breathing and in a very peaceful state of mind. People tend to disagree strongly, so you have the option to act like a pro or react like a child.

Always thank someone for their opinion. That means that you must act as the better person in the room and be calm. Especially if you are in a very difficult situation, you can start by saying: “Thank you for sharing your opinion and although it is a bit difficult for me to answer to this comment, I will do my best and give it a try…”

Show up to public events

Start with small steps, and keep blending with different groups. Most probably at the beginning, you may end up talking in front of not so close to your perfect audience. No matter how far away it may look from your ideal goal, go for it. Any starting point is way better than no point at all. Quality talking opportunities will find you as long as you are out there already doing the “appearance argument”.

Write articles or books

Have your own voice means that you are able to tell your expert opinion about your industry issues. Leadership articles, books, researches, or interviews can help you establish your credibility and your authority value. Speak up but make it relevant. Be crystal clear and sharp like a piece of ice with the use of arguments. No one can resist a well-written opinion when it is backed with solid proof of credibility and accuracy.

Use the old fashioned etiquette

Be polite. Show your good manners to everyone and everywhere. Say thank you, please, you welcome, etc. Remember what grandmothers used to say: “Nobody will accuse you of been too polite”.

Have you read this article? 10 reasons to mind your manners

Be responsible

Take your online presence seriously. Take matters on your hand and keep a balanced journal of your digital footprints. Online and offline identity are the two sides of the same coin. And remember what goes online stays forever!

Build your online mark by hiring a professional Digital Strategist or a Social Media Manager. That will help you define how you would like to be found online.

Tune your Social Media Profiles

Nowadays almost everyone has many social media accounts. Refresh them frequently, clean them up from embarrassing moments, keep your network as human as possible. You can set the privacy for some aspects of your profiles to strictly “friends mode” or you can define what can appear public or not. If that sounds like Greek to you, then hire a professional to do all the work.

Make sure that your profile photos are not from your last summer awesome vacation to Santorini, ok? Get high-quality professional photos for your social media accounts. No one will take you seriously if you are drunk and smiling with your bikini from Santorini!

Website or Landing Pages

If you don’t have a website or a landing page about your personal achievements, then it is time to think about creating one with your personal name as the domain. By doing this when someone is looking for information about you, then he/she will land to your personal website with your timeline. See this example www.aretivassou.com

Buy a domain and start building your personal website right away! You can find exceptional WordPress websites at low prices and also you can buy your domain into their platform. Or just hire a WordPress Expert to create or fix your website!

Google yourself

If you can not find yourself at the google results then no one can. You are digitally invisible. Fix it as soon as possible. Starting with social media, website, SEO, advertising, articles, events, or start blogging. NOW.

Educate yourself often

Every industry changes rapidly. Keep pace with what goes on in your industry by attending seminars, lessons, workshops, conferences, events, meetups, etc. Stay on the edge by sharpening your mind. Learn new tools, things, skills, languages, and take new risks. You are not a stone so do not stay inactive.

Give back to your community

If you are really good at something then give back to your community for free on special occasions. Let’s say that next week is your 1st year anniversary for your new brand. You can offer for free a 4-hour session with your expertise. Or you can set up a giveaway for your book. You get the picture, right? Be generous! It pays back, big time.

Learn from your mistakes

We all make mistakes. But that doesn’t mean that we all repeat them. Accept the fact that mistakes are part of our life, learn from them and next time, do better. Avoid drama and keep walking straight ahead.

*Note to remember

Plans are ok, but actions are better. Take time to plan your next step but if you are not doing anything to make it real, then plans will remain only as ideas. So, plan and act.

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Areti Vassou
IDEADECO

Managing Director at IDEADECO SEO Copywriting Agency, providing Content Strategy, SEO, Copywriting, Branding, Email Marketing. www.ideadeco.co