Why building a personal brand matters
You often hear people talking about building a personal brand, but to what extent does personal brand have on a business and does it matter? We would argue that it matters a great deal, especially if you are in a client facing or business development role. Here are three reasons you should consider developing your own personal brand.
People follow you, not the business. Well respected business people can create waves with every new venture they turn their hand to. Ok, you may not be Richard Branson, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have your own loyal ‘fan base’ of clients, past customers and contacts that will be interested if you started up a new business or developed a new offering. People with a strong personal brand can wield many opportunities out of their network – creating a buzz and an interest in their business activities without the need to spend a fortune on other forms of marketing.
Influence your industry. When people have a strong personal brand in business, it’s often the case that others want to know their thoughts or opinions on developments in their industry. If you can position yourself as a ‘thought leader’ in your particular industry, you will not only open the door to be ‘listened to’ via PR opportunities or as a speaker at seminars/events, but you may also be able to create real influence in the process. Another great way to do this is via online activity – putting your thoughts or advice into a blog and distributing via social media for people to access.
People buy people. It may be a clichéd phrase, but it’s vitally true in this instance. Unless you are a nationally or globally recognised brand, it’s highly unlikely that a customer will ‘buy into’ your company’s brand. Instead, one of the key ways to encourage this is to create rapport with the potential purchaser on a one to one level. Developing a relationship with an individual and allowing to them to get to know and trust you makes the process of selling them something a great deal easier.
For more advice on how to develop your personal brand, please get in touch with us.
Definition Consulting offers business development coaching, which can be tailored to focus on personal branding development as per your requirements.