Nine Golden Rules for Operating a Personal Brand

Apple claims "Think Different"; Nike encourages people to "Just Do It"

These successful slogans tell a story in just a few words and influence people's perception of the company. It is important to find your unique selling point so that you could bring your own brand! Brand building and brand awareness are important aspects to maintain a leading edge. In an increasingly competitive market, the way to stand out is to build a refreshing personal brand. "Personal branding is a person's story." (quote from Harshdesigns) It tells your clients who you are, your purpose, what they expect of you and why they should work with you.

Here are 10 golden rules for creating a compelling, unique, and alluring personal brand.

1. Figure Out Who You Are

The most difficult part of building a personal brand is not knowing where to start. In order to build a personal brand that accurately reflects your personal and professional identity, you first need to know who you are. Introspect and list your personal strengths and weaknesses. Ask yourself: In which areas of work do I excel? What motivates me? What do other people praise me about? What projects can I spend hours on without getting tired? If you want to answer these questions, please ask friends, family, and colleagues how they describe you. Once you have a better understanding of all aspects of your personality, you can decide how to best brand them. Remember, many people try to choose a particular niche because they don’t want to limit themselves. Realize that your personal brand, like many corporate brands, will change as your career develops.

2. Focus

Personal branding will change over time. Just like Klickly founder Cooper Harris said, her personal brand has undergone a huge transformation: from a working actress to a respected technology entrepreneur. She responds to this change by emphasizing only one message at a time and letting your message target only the target population. "Let your information and content align with a niche topic, so the target customer will not forget you." Adam Smiley Poswolsky said, "Create a niche market first and then create a niche market in your niche market. The best personal brands are very specific." The narrower and more concentrated your brand, the easier it is for people to remember your identity.

3. Be Yourself

If you are very proficient in a certain field, your reputation alone can help you build the brand you want. Elumynt’s Facebook advertising expert William Harris explained: “Be yourself. This will make it easier to manage your personal brand.” Your personal brand should be a daily easy filter that you can use to create content and Engage with the audience.

4. Tell a Story

If your personal brand does not tell a story, then you have lost half of your potential audience. Allen Gannett explains this very well: "Today, the most effective personal branding strategy is to establish an authentic narrative." Create a story around your brand so that the audience can participate and interact. One of the best ways to tell a story is through written content or film. For Pelpina Trip, a social video strategist, this is true. Her videos on LinkedIn have the highest engagement on the platform. "The most personalized online communication method is video. Just use a smartphone to send video messages to customers and establish personal contact with potential customers. Everyone can use a smartphone!"

5. Be Consistent

If you consistently build content and brand voice around the theme, it is easy to get recognition on the theme. CyreneQ, Snapchat’s top storyteller, recommends: “It’s consistent in terms of visuals and personality. People can connect with your brand and know that you’re unique. For example, after each film you will show a mascot or have a line-people may fall in love with it and remember you more." Her mascot, Ele, has won millions of views for brand work on Snap, and her interesting personal brand represents large brands such as Walmart and DC. So whether you want to create a wild, incredibly interesting brand, or when it comes to a conservative enterprise, creating a more interesting brand, consistency is the key.

6. Have a Positive Impact

After running your own brand for a while, there are usually two ways to continue building your brand: surpass others, or steadily develop a community around the brand. Maintaining a positive attitude for a long time and helping others will only benefit the healthy development of your brand.

7. Lead by Example.

When initially creating a personal brand, a great way to integrate your actual lifestyle and brand. Tim Salau said, "Your personal brand must be a reflection of your true identity and can magnify your beliefs." With this in mind, your personal brand not only reflects your abilities (such as marketing, finance, or creativity), but also reflects things like your ambitions (such as helping female entrepreneurs succeed in their careers)

8. Expand Your Online Presence

Jason Wong, CEO of Wonghaus Ventures, said: “People who are interested in personal brands need to start marketing themselves like the celebrities they look up to every day .” His success usually comes from studying trends and popular trends on different social media platforms, and then doing a second creation, and recently he was crowned the title of "The King of Infernal Pictures". If you follow all social media platforms, then creatively dissect social analysis and determine the next big trend can also be in your grasp.

9. Let Others Tell Your Story

The best PR is word of mouth. Building a personal brand is no exception. Aaron Orendorff, the editor-in-chief of Shopify Plus, told his personal story through vivid videos, and occasionally held one or two bunny events that audiences would remember. They are able to recall brightly colored clothes and animal friends, and connect the story in the story with their interpretation of his brand. He said: "Personal branding is when people tell stories about you when you are not in the room."

To conclude, Personal branding is a lifelong project that is constantly evolving and changing. Even experts who build or enhance the largest brands in their business know that there are no hard and fast rules for creating a personal brand. However, these general guidelines can help you take the first step, especially when you start a new brand or rebrand.