When you are talking about brands you are most likely referring to big companies like Apple, Microsoft, Burger King… – but not only the companies have brands. Everything and everyone around you have a brand. Your personal brand is what other people thin of you. For those, who do not know you personally, the only source of information is your online surfaces. And that is what is making up your online personal brand. Here is the guide for building an appealing one:
Be strategic
Set your goals. Ask yourself the question, why do I want to have a more attractive online presence? Do you want to get a specific job? Do you want to build your personal brand so you will become an influencer? Once you have the answer stick to it. When making a decision about whether making a change to your presence, just check if it helps you achieve your goal or not.
Clean up your past
You might have been using multiple different social media platforms. Decide on which ones you are going to focus and set the others on private or delete them. If you don’t regularly use a channel, but people can still find you there, it will seem outdated to them, which can affect your brand negatively.
Search for your name, go through your images, and only keep those results public, which will have a positive impact on your brand. Nobody wants to take advice from people who have photos of them being totally drunk.
Consistent and cohesive visuals and voice
The visuals (colors, fonts, logo) that you use need to synergize. Once you found the right combination, you should use it on every platform and stay consistent with it. It is also important that they also align with your voice (the written tone of your personal brand), this way all these little elements become part of your bigger picture.
Pick your niche
What is your passion? You will have to communicate your true self otherwise you won’t be able to stay consistent over time. Once you found your passion that is aligned with your goals you will have to find an actual controversial topic within that niche, which is yet uncharted. The uncharted area is needed, so you will be able to distinguish yourself from the other people, who are talking about already solved topics.
Find groups, and influencers
Now that you found your niche, start looking for groups within. Become part of the conversation, share your ideas, thoughts about it. Integrate into the community, and contact the main influencers. Study their writing style and make interviews with them. Share their’s, and other legit pages’ posts on your timeline, this way you will become more trustworthy.
Comment and post wisely
Think twice before posting any comment. Is your comment aligned with the brand you have built? Stay away from racism and politics, unless that is your niche, that is not a solid ground. Make sure your voice is right, the influencers that you have already studied can give you ideas about it.
3-4 posts on a weekly basis should do the job, as you don’t want to get too annoying with posting too much. Share engaging content like quotes, tips, motivations and a bit of your personal endeavours.
Buy your personal domain
A personal domain can be the best place for everyone to find you. When people google your name, that will be between the first things that they will see. Either if you want to create your own blog, or if you would like to create a portfolio of who you are, this is the optimal place. The yearly fee of a domain name is around 7-12$ and the server hosting is around 2$ per month. The most hosting providers will also help you set up your website. It isn’t that costly after all.
Sources
Forbes –Â What Does Your Online Presence Say About You? 15 Ways To Build Your Personal Brand
Forbes –Â 5 Ways To Establish A Personal Brand On The Internet
Careercast –Â 10 Ways to Build Your Online Identity
Digital Marketing Institute –Â 10 Steps to Building Your Personal Brand on Social Media
The Businesswoman Media – How to build a strong personal online presence
Lifehacker –Â How to Clean Up Your Online Presence and Make a Great First Impression
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