The very foundation of any business starts with the owner – or, in other words, you. If you think about it, customers never buy from the company (especially start-ups); they buy from the people of the company. They trust the individuals who run it. It’s a person that makes the transaction possible. And from that very fundamental perspective, personal branding came into existence.
[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@1alexkhan”]Why branding yourself is going to help you build your business better and faster:[/tweetthis]
But What Just Is Personal Branding?
In a nutshell, it’s the way of marketing yourself together with your skills – you become the product itself. The objective is to gain people’s trust that you are an individual who is truly an expert at what you boast. You can do that by being visible to the public by means of creating a portfolio through a website or, of course, social media.
Why Do It? What Can You Get from It?
Well, as I’ve mentioned earlier, customers actually buy from people. Think about it this way, would you buy, without hesitation, a start-up product that’s completely new in the market without someone vouching for it? To be honest, there are those who are daring enough to try, but they’re less than a handful. So, in a word, it’s no.
But what if it was advertised or owned by a person who’s fairly popular at being an expert at what he does. Or, for a better example, think about cold food products – wouldn’t you buy it instantly the moment you’d knew it was Gordon Ramsey (a world-renowned chief) who made it? Well, I hope that made you smile. Because personally, I’d grab a couple of what he has to offer.
That is why it is imperative that you should, at least, let the people know why you’re capable of starting a business. Show them what you’re good at. Make them feel that you, as an entrepreneur, would give value to their lives by means of purchasing what you have to offer – product or service.
Quick Tips for Personal Branding:
- Make use of social media platforms that allows you to share your thoughts and can get you to communicate/respond to your audience on a personal level. Facebook and Twitter are your main options that can make that happen.
- Uniform yourself on every platform, don’t be an entrepreneur only on Facebook and then suddenly become a family man on Twitter. Keep it balance as much as possible.
- Showcase your skills and expertise by using infographics or videos. Write articles that you think can truly help your audience – give them substance and not fluff. Do it without expecting anything in return as much as possible.
- Use live stream for questions and answers. Try to appear professional every time you do it.
- Lastly, never forget to say “thank you.”