How to Build a Powerful Personal Brand

The post was most recently updated on November 3, 2022.

Building a strong personal brand online is more important than ever before in the year 2022. Social distancing during the pandemic caused many businesses to focus more on their online presence, which is still proving to be an effective tool.  Building a strong personal brand ensures your online image is an accurate representation of your brand to those who matter most.

Great personal branding is impactful in professional and work environments. This article outlines what personal branding is, and how to create, develop and build a powerful brand.

• What is personal branding?
• Why is building a strong personal brand so important?
• How do I find my personal brand?
• Examples of people with strong personal brands
• Best ways to build a strong personal brand

What Is Personal Branding?

Personal branding is all about the perception of who you are, what you stand for, and what you can offer to others. Your online image helps others to trust you as a likable and trustworthy source.

Your personal brand embodies your “flavor,” which sets you apart from competitors. Your personal brand is specific to you, your values, and your experience. 

Personal brands are built by your online search results, and how you are represented on those sources of information to others. Websites, articles, images, videos, links, and even likes, and tweets, all come together when building a personal brand. 

When considering your personal brand, think about how you are perceived and what makes you different.

Why Is Building a Strong Personal Brand So Important?

Most people will come into contact with brands through the online sphere. Maintaining a strong personal brand is important to help others learn more about you based on your online search results. 

Google is a useful tool that can get you information on people, places, and things. How those sources portray an individual is where personal branding comes in.

Someone applying to college might want to focus on more of a professional brand based on their skills and knowledge. Freelance artists may want a personal brand more focused on creativity and professionalism. 

Create a personal brand based on your personal specifications. This is key to creating an online image representing your truest version. Developing a brand identity can help individuals endlessly by utilizing the internet as a tool to help improve their online image for good. 

Benefits of Great Personal Branding

There are many benefits to building a strong personal brand in work environments:

• Building trust in others
• Gaining authority as an industry thought leader
• Build an online (and offline) network
• Ge featured online and in the media
• Stand out from the crowd

How Do I Find My Personal Brand? 

Finding your own personal brand can vary from case to case. Google your own name to get a sense of your online identity, and take search results into account.

If you are looking to find your new personal brand, get creative with it! You have the ability to define people’s perceptions of you based on your brand identity and online image.

Examples of People With Strong Personal Brands

A strong personal brand is vital in both work settings and in your personal life. If you are looking for inspiring examples of personal branding, these icons use personal branding techniques to get to where they are today.

Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk (also known informally as Gary Vee) is a person knows a thing or two about building a personal brand. The social media marketing mogul and entrepreneur has decades of experience in building brands online. No brand is more finessed and perfected than his personal brand. Publishing insightful and unique content, his massive following has translated to 8.9 million followers on Instagram and 6 million followers on TikTok.

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah has one of the strongest personal brands in this day and age. Her brand is built on authenticity which has been shown through everything she has done. From Oprah magazine to her best-selling books, she’s found ways to connect with her audience.

Neil Patel

Online marketing guru Neil Patel has built his personal reputation into an online marketing empire. One of the most prominent digital marketing leaders today turned his personal brand into a digital marketing empire. Through sound and strategic marketing, Neil relies heavily on quality and thorough content.

His website, neilpatel.com, has become the go-to resource for all things digital marketing, and promotion tactics like email marketing. 

Martha Stewart

Lifestyle icon Martha Stewart has built her personal brand in a variety of ways. Over the years, she has grown her value as a successful retail businesswoman, and media personality. Very few people can revive their careers after prison in 2004, but with strong personal branding, Martha was able to do just that.

She’s changed her personal brand by refreshing her image and perception. Since her imprisonment, Martha has made many television appearances and successful business ventures.

9 Best Ways to Build a Strong Personal Brand in 2022

Building a personal brand takes time and effort. From developing your brand to creating your online presence, there are many elements of building an impactful personal brand.

1. Define and Outline Your Personal Brand

You truly are your own brand. Outlining and defining your personal brand is the jumping-off point to creating any marketing strategy. How are you going to sell yourself if you don’t understand what the product is? In this case, the product is the brand, and your selling point is your elevator pitch.

• What sets you apart from the rest? 
• What makes you stand out? 
• What makes you different? 
• What do you bring to the table?

Asking yourself these types of questions helps develop your content strategy. You better understand how to define your personal brand and outline what type of image you’re trying to portray. 

2. Make it Genuinely You

When developing your personal brand and improving your image, there’s no need to change who you are. Any strong personal brand is one that allows you to be yourself while presenting yourself in the best light. Be genuine, honest, and sincere. This goes a long way with colleagues, co-workers, your manager, and anyone other people you encounter in your work or personal life.

3. Tell Your Story

A great personal branding tactic is to introduce who you are through storytelling. If you have an interesting or inspiring story to tell, this will help resonate with colleagues. Your story may include how you responded to uncertainty, and adverse situations. 

A strong personal brand should be consistent online and offline. Your story should also be portrayed online to reflect your personal brand and what you stand for. Whether it’s on your social media channels, or a personal website or blog, reinforcing your story online will help build a unified brand.

4. Utilize Your Existing Skills and Talents

Another way to create a powerful personal brand is to utilize your own talents and skills. People often want to know more about what you’re good at, and demonstrating those skills and talents (both online and offline) can be helpful in building a strong brand. 

• What talents do you have? 
• What are your strongest skills? 
• How do you use the skills you have?

Your skills and talents are part of you, and therefore part of your brand. Your main goal is to be portrayed as a thought leader of your own category. 

5. Create a Personal Website 

Utilize your brand outline and reflect on your skills and talents to create a concrete plan of direction for personal branding. Now it’s time to put it all together! 

Creating a personal website is a great way to help market your personal brand. With the help of a personal website, you can completely customize your brand.

An image is worth a thousand words, and videos speak novels online! Strong visuals reinforce a professional brand, no matter what that brand is. Blogging on your website, and choosing colors, fonts, images, videos, and content that support a well-thought-out brand will help create a strong foundation for your online image. Personal websites are a proven way to increase your chances of impressing your online audience.

6. Leverage Social Media 

Social media is a great way to spread awareness and help build a powerful personal brand online. Using social media allows you to curate your image and profile by creating content for others to see and engage with.

Cleaning Up Your Profiles

Remove material that does not reflect your desired personal brand. Create content that does, and this will strengthen your image.

Decide Which Platforms to Use

There are many social media sites to choose from. You probably have at least one active profile on a major platform already. Consider which platforms will work for your personal brand.

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Snapchat
• TikTok
• Reddit
• Pinterest
• YouTube

Word travels fast online, and now is a great time to start paying attention to how you represent yourself on social media.  

7. Strengthen Your Online Network 

Your online network consists of social media, forums, and other types of online social platforms. Strengthen this network by connecting with your target audience. Create engaging content on your website, blog, and social media profiles. Weave a web of professionalism in every interaction.

8. Protect Your Brand with Internet Privacy 

It is important to maintain your online privacy to protect your brand. Internet privacy goes much further than utilizing 2 step verification and strong passwords. Set your personal profiles to private, and don’t post anything that could damage your personal reputation.

It’s much easier to improve your personal brand than repair it completely. 

9. Work With a Personal Branding Specialist

When all else fails, call in a professional. Professional branding specialists are trained in designing personal brands built for success, all while keeping integrity in mind.

Creating a brand can feel daunting at first. With the help of a personal branding specialist, you can feel reassured knowing your personal brand is in good hands. 

There are many benefits to working with a professional branding specialist. Professionals can offer you security, trust, and confidence by creating a plan of action with concrete goals and timelines to help ease the process.

Invest in yourself and build a powerful personal brand, and it will pay back dividends in the future!

Brand911 is a Digital Marketing Agency specializing in building brands for both individuals and businesses. Learn more about our branding services.