5 ways to build your personal brand

With most people in the business industry now being active on social media and attending networking events, you need to really think about what could put you out there more than your competition. Having a personal brand could really help.

A personal brand is essentially what makes you, you. It’s your reputation, your skills and knowledge and your interests. It helps people understand what you stand for, what you value and what you could possibly offer them if they were to consider you for business. Here are our six tips on building your personal brand.

1. Define your brand
You may have loads of skills and a lot of experience, but you will need to narrow these down to what you are best at. Write down all the words you would choose to describe yourself, and be honest with yourself. This is your personal brand, so there’s no point being someone you’re not. Consider your skills and what you would happily do for people, this will help narrow down what you’re passionate about.

2. Create a blog or website
This is incredibly important, as you need somewhere that people can go to if they want to know about you. Try writing a blog and if it goes well, you can always turn it into a website eventually. Write posts and upload content about things that interest you and what you’ve been up to. You never know who could come across your blog and what opportunities may come along from it. Although writing a few posts a week can be time consuming, they could be worthwhile.

3. Be active on social media
Make sure your personal brand is broadcasted across your social media and make some effort to be active and known on them. Take time out in your day to make new connections on LinkedIn and follow people on Twitter. People are never going to know about your brand if you make no effort to put yourself out there online.

4. Networking is essential 
There are so many different types and ways of networking now that you can’t afford to miss out. By putting yourself out there and making the effort to meet with and talk to people in your industry, you will become known and people will keep you in mind for opportunities. Tell people about your skills and what you want to do and who knows what exciting things could be round the corner for you.

5. Remember the little touches
If you want to build a successful personal brand, you need to take everything into consideration. Set up a professional email address for your brand and make sure you have an email signature as it makes you look much more business minded. Give your Twitter and LinkedIn biographies some thought too, so you’re showing your brand across what you use.

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