5 Tips for Improving Your Personal Brand
A personal brand is a combination of skills, expertise, and personality and how you present them on different platforms is important. For entrepreneurs, a personal brand is everything, but how do you know if you’re doing enough?
Here are a few ways that that I’ve found helpful for my portrait photography business which can also be applied to your personal brand!
1. Get Specific
To really make your personal brand stand out, you need to define it. Jot down what you’re passionate about, what you are known for and what your areas of expertise are. Be as specific as possible. For example, saying that you’re good at baking is too general. Having a niche focus will ensure that people truly believe that you know what you’re talking about. In my case, though I have a plethora of types of photography I create for my clients, I’ve created separate Instagram pages to showcase them into niche specific genres to keep things specific to my ideal clients. For example you wont see my Senior Portrait Photography work on my Personal Branding Photography page!
2. Keep Your Profiles Consistent
If you are present on several different online platforms, it’s important to make sure that your profiles are consistent. Use the same photo, bio, and graphics across all of your profiles so that people will instantly recognize you. If you have made a point of creating profiles on social media, be active on a consistent basis as this will show that you’re trustworthy and reliable. Below you can see I use the same profile imagery across all of my platforms.
3. Share Your Knowledge
Seek out opportunities to write and share your expertise. Finding industry related websites and newsletters that you can contribute to will not only spread the word about what you have to offer but showcase your knowledge on a particular topic too. If you don’t already, it may also be a good idea to create your own blog that you can write for on a weekly basis. You’re reading mine now 😉
4. Engage with Your Audience
Networking is a crucial part of growing your personal brand, which is why engaging with people both online and offline on a regular basis is a must. Whether you participate in discussions on forums or attend networking events, you will be showing people that you are out there, interested, and engaged. The more you connect with people in an authentic way, the more quickly they will recommend you to others.
5. Speak at Events
If you feel confident enough to speak in front of an audience, keep an eye out for speaking engagements in your area. Speaking at events will help you build rapport with your audience and give you the opportunity to network afterward too. Just be sure that you have a professional headshot and branded photos to send with your bio and that your website is looking good before you start sending traffic there. I personally enjoyed being interviewed on the Career Relaunch Podcast and having an opportunity to share my personal career journey with the world!
