Stop the Scroll: Why you need a Personal Brand

Marketing yourself is more than business cards and CV’s these days. In this day and age, the age of the individual, HOW to present yourself has never been more important to your customers, your clients and prospective employers.

We all know good company brands, instantly recognisable companies that have built a reputation, are known for a certain something and use their strengths to differentiate themselves from their competition. McDonalds, Coke, Virgin, these are all instantly recognisable brands that have built a reputation as being experts in their field

Your personal brand is how you ensure YOU are memorable, what qualities YOU have that are special, what makes you uniquely you and tells the world what differentiates YOU from the others. 

“Your Personal Brand is how you distinguish yourself from the crowd”

Dianne Hauritz, Yoga Instructor

I’m going to use my old friend, Richard Branson, as an example. He is a very successful businessman of MANY MANY successful Virgin brands worldwide.  But the single thing he is most famous for? Being Richard Branson. Being himself. Being so relatable, so human and so uniquely himself. He stuck to his values, his true beliefs. He earned himself a reputation. He took risks and showed the world HOW he was unique. He used his own talents and strengths to show the world exactly how he wanted to be known. 

Richard Bransons personal brand is reflected in the company culture he creates

Developing your own personal brand allows you to engage with people on a personal level. Show people what you want to be known for and allows you to build a reputation of being an expert in your field. 

According to Nielson’s Global Trust in Advertising Survey, only 33% of buyers trust messages from a brand, while almost 90% of customers trust a product of service from people they know. Becoming more personable in your digital online presence opens the door for a relationship with consumers as well as current and potential employers. After all, consumers are more likely to trust a smiling person than a faceless corporate logo.

Building your personal brand starts with being natural and honest across all of the platforms that showcase your brand. We have seen this with the uprise in influencer marketing, whereby personal branding is EVERYTHING. Influencers are pressured to be as organic as possible, so that consumers can build the level of trust within their brand. Let’s use Ashy Bines as an example here – she has built a cult following of women offering authentic advice on motherhood, nutrition, workout plans and positive life advice. Her approach to building her personal brand is built on being organic and truthful, which is why her audience is very well connected and her following continues to grow exponentially. 

“Personal Branding shows the world what matters to YOU and what makes your skills unique”

Claire Limbrick, Interior Designer, Chameleon Avenue

Personal branding is also the key to being memorable. Whether you are promoting through social media or advertising channels time and time again, the people outshine the product. Being personable creates brand transparency, ultimately resulting in increased engagement, retention, loyalty and business. Just think, what do you want to be remembered for? 

In these digital days of scrolling and information coming at us from EVERY angle, you don’t have much time in front of anyone before they scroll on past, ready for the next shiny thing to catch their attention. This is where images have never been so powerful. A single image can stop the scroll, bring someone to attention and give you a few powerful seconds in front of someone to show them YOU and bring back the ‘human’ into the digital world. 

Personal Brand Photography is a relatively new niche area in the photography industry that is becoming increasingly important as people scramble for attention online. A great image of you, doing something relatable, doing something that shows how you are unique and doing it in your own way can stop the scroll of a potential client, a potential customer or even a potential employer and bring YOU to the forefront of someone’s mind. All without reading a single word.

Your values and your edge make your personal brand more relatable to your clients and customers

Personal Branding shows what matters to YOU!

To learn how you can build your personal brand online, contact me

To learn more about a tailored Personal Brand Photography shoot for you, click here

Post co-created with the awesome team @strictlymarketing

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