Are you looking to grow your business In 2024? Instead of sinking money into paid ads or investing time in learning the next big social media platform that will likely go out of date within a few months, how about investing in something that will produce a lifetime of dividends? Your personal brand.
You’re likely fed up hearing about personal branding in 2024, but there is a reason ‘they’ talk about it so often and that’s because it works.
Your unique identity is now, more than ever, your strongest asset. But how do you show up ‘authentically’ as you? And how do you communicate your brand so that it connects with your ideal client? You need to build out three fundamentals:
1. Your brand story: Also known as your origin story, this is the story behind why you do what you do. Sharing this is invaluable for two reasons:
- Clients are not just looking for a service, they’re looking for human connection and the easiest way to do that is resonating with your story.
- The story of why you’ve found the solution is the reason your product or service is valuable. Clients want to feel heard, seen, and understood that they’re dealing with someone who has been where they’ve been.
To build out your personal brand story, map a timeline of what led you to launching your business, and if your business has been around a while, map out its development since day one. Don’t forget to highlight the hardships and obstacles that you’ve overcome as this will increase the value of what you sell.
2. Map out your three personal brand pillars: The most common challenge of building your personal brand is knowing how to communicate it effectively without feeling like you’re oversharing or waffling online. This ensures all the messages you publish are brand-aligned and targeted to make more sales or grow your connection with your audience, but how do you do it? Identifying your three pillars and sharing all three equally creates the perfect cadence of content that both nurtures your audience and sells what you do without the waffle.
3. Your expertise: Within this pillar, you share your knowledge plus zone of genius to educate and inform your audience. This must be solely related to what you sell. If you give your audience tactical and implementable advice, it will give your audience small actionable wins that builds trust to work with you further.
4. Your story: Within this pillar, you share snippets of your brand story and the person behind the brand. Take elements you’ve already outlined from your origin story and share. You can discuss challenges and obstacles you have overcome, achievements, lessons learned and anecdotes from your day-to-day life.
5. Your solution: Within this pillar, we focus on our understanding of the client so that they know that we have walked the path they’re currently on. This content will address their objections, challenges and mindset blocks.
6. Your stickers: If you consider your brand pillars being your message and mission that you want to be remembered for, your stickers are little (almost subconscious) reminders of you. Think of a friend that you share an inside joke with and everytime you see that thing, you think of them and send them a picture. You want to achieve this with your audience, you want to be on their mind as often as possible. For example, mine are: margaritas, waking up at 4am and my dog, Kevin. Yes, it’s unrelated to my brand but people are reminded of me when they see these things. You will be the first to pop into their head when they need to buy what you’re selling. Action point: Identify three key things someone will remember you for:
- A ritual or pastime that you practice daily.
- A favourite drink or beverage you consume often.
- Your children or pets.
- A passion you have.
Identifying the three fundamentals of your personal brand is the first step to developing an irresistible personal brand that people are desperate to buy from, but it is in actioning your brand pillars and stickers daily and consistently across online platforms such as social media, YouTube, podcasts and more that will keep you in the mind of your ideal client.
You have a gift to share — don’t be a best-kept secret.
