Do You Need a Personal Brand as an Entrepreneur?

‘Belief buyers’ are on the rise. These are modern audiences that don’t just care about what a brand is able to offer, and what prices they’re able to offer their solutions at, but also about what a particular brand is all about; what it believes in, what it’s passionate about, what it does, and, perhaps most importantly of all, the people who are behind it.

The Impact of Changing Audience Behaviour

With today’s audiences looking closer into the ‘behind-the-scenes’ aspect of a company and considering this on almost equal terms with business branding, there has never been a greater need for entrepreneurs to work to develop their personal brand.

In building a personal brand, as well as focusing on business branding, entrepreneurs are able to showcase their character, their personality, and their integrity, creating a more well-rounded view of the business as a whole and providing contemporary audiences with the information they need to make an informed purchasing decision.

Your products and services are WHAT your audience needs, but your own personal brand as an entrepreneur is WHY they need these solutions from YOU, not a competitor.

Building a Personal Brand

There are many ways that entrepreneurs can build a personal brand but having a strategy in place is an important first step. A good branding strategy should include:

●Consideration of the message

What message do you want to send to your audience? Who do you want to be? The personal goals, aims, and beliefs that you share from your personal brand should line up with the goals, aims, and beliefs of your brand, but it’s also important to create a unique message, different from that of your competitors, and to believe in it 100%.

●Personal insight

An essential aspect of building a personal brand as an entrepreneur is being able to separate yourself from your business when needed. Personal social media profiles, which are maintained alongside business profiles, can be beneficial here, offering audiences insight into who you are and what you do beyond day-to-day operations.

●Thought leadership

Connecting your personal brand with your organisation is also essential. This can be done by working to earn a reputation as an industry leader within your sector, showing that your business is driven by experts in the field. Get involved. Create thought leadership pieces for your website, and look into relevant guest posting opportunities.

●Consistency

Your personal brand will go with you wherever you are; online AND offline. We all know the importance of consistency when it comes to marketing a business brand, yet this is something that’s often overlooked in personal branding. Whatever message you choose to deliver, whoever you say that you are, this must be consistent. Everywhere.

What Can a Personal Brand do For You?

It’s all about authority; about putting a face to a name. By solidifying yourself as a present and active industry leader, and closely associating this reputation with your brand, it’s possible to significantly boost the credibility of your business through this connection. At a time when start-up enterprises are booming, differentiation is key to success. There could be hundreds of small businesses offering app development in your city. What makes one better than the other? The power of the people at the core.