What is personal branding and why is it important?

"You must develop your brand", you may have heard or read this phrase many times, and you are still wondering: "What exactly do they mean?"

Don't worry! We'll finally clear that doubt up for you today and in detail. Knowing what personal branding is all about and how important it is in the new world is fundamental when it comes to being recognised or being just another worker.

From the creation of a personal project, to the recognition of skills, the success you achieve and the areas in which you stand out.

These are some of the characteristics whose meaning and purpose in personal branding we will explain to you, which will allow you to have a better approach to develop it.

Once you read this, you will have a clear objective to achieve and a path to follow.

What is personal branding?

After personal identity (i.e. your ID), personal branding comes next. This is the experience and perception you have of another person when you talk about them.

When we talk about personal branding we don't mean a title or something palpable, physical, per se. It is rather the impact of your actions and values during the development of your competencies or professions.

It's the ability to influence, to be recognised in the eyes of an audience who, when they hear about you, instantly identify who you are and how trustworthy your work is.

Why it is so important to build a personal brand

Imagine the following example:

You are a growing sales consultant, you are starting your work and you want to start your own business project.

Your mission is to use your services and your knowledge to really satisfy the needs of your clients, achieving the proposed sales targets.

Well, if this project starts to succeed and you are a very good advisor, charismatic, respectful and you know how to connect with your audience, this is what will identify your personal brand.

It's not your title of advisor, there are already hundreds of advisors with the same purpose as you, what really differentiates you, are the results of your skills/knowledge and the relationships you build with your clients.

So when people talk about you, they will identify you by adjectives such as:

• Efficient

• Responsible.

• Quality assured.

• Effective. 

• Honest. 

• Helpful.

You get the idea, don't you? 

This is what marks and characterises a good sales consultant, which also translates into a value of job security. 

In a market as volatile and unpredictable as the current one, having highly trained personnel whose presence is the determining factor between success and failure is something highly valued. 

4 Fundamental approaches to developing your personal brand 

With all of the above, the need to develop a strong and decisive personal brand becomes evident. A brand that allows you to be independent regardless of whether your work is in a company. 

But how to do it then? Here are 4 very important approaches to work with:

1. Intrinsic value 

If you were fired, would it be easy to find more job options? Would people contact you or look for you?

Asking yourself this question is of utmost importance as it refers to your ability to bring value to any prospective client from your speciality and competencies.

It's not about seeing yourself as an employee, but as an asset to the company you work for. Someone who adds value, whose work is distinguished and recognised by those around you.

This is built and studied in two ways:

• Association: What do your clients and other experts in your sector say about you? 

• Visibility: How many people can say yes to the above? 

Of course, in the first case, the important thing is to determine that what is being said about you meets your criteria and that this recognition is satisfactory. If not, then you need to introspect and work on improving what you dislike. 

Once this is clear, the next step is to increase your reach to further secure your personal brand for new jobs. 

2. Differentiating value 

Well, there may be people and professionals who can vouch for your excellent job performance. However, this is not enough for many companies or clients, especially in very ambitious projects.

What value can you bring to the table that another professional in the same sector as you cannot? 

That question is what really determines a personal brand. Your ability to take risks, to know and to master technical and practical skills that are functional for a project, or even to know when to say no.

The latter is key, knowing when to turn down a project and why (whether it's a matter of principles or a lack of requirements). Knowing when to warn that a procedure is not the right one and to argue why.

Getting out of the comfort zone is no easy task, which is why it's in such high demand!

3. Long-term vision 

Ask yourself the following questions: How do you want to be remembered? What is your purpose or objective? What do you want to bring to society from your sector?

All these questions must have a clear and precise answer, as they will totally determine your behaviour and decisions throughout your life with the aim of achieving that or those objectives.

Imagine for a moment Messi: this character needs no introduction to know what we are referring to. What is his intrinsic value, how is he different from others and what was his vision as a footballer.

He may or may not be your favourite player, he may not even be one of your favourites. But it would be impossible not to recognise his achievements throughout his career. That's what personal branding with a clear vision of goals is all about.

4. Principles

We mentioned it a few paragraphs ago, and we emphasise its importance again here. All of the above will not be possible if you do not have values and principles in line with your actions.

It's to have coherence between what you say you are and what you do. It isn't what you do, but how you do it and how you convey it. Remember that transparency inspires trust, recognition and confidence. The more coherence between what you say and what you do, the stronger your brand will be.

Are you disruptive? Do you question everything? Do you have strong personal beliefs? Do you recognise your mistakes? It's not about being loved by everyone, it's about being authentic.

Means to develop a personal brand

Whether you work as a freelancer or as an asset to a company or business, building your personal brand is a must. Especially today, which distinction is essential to identify greater value and therefore have a greater chance of success and independence.

Thanks to the development of digital media, there has been a growth in terms of platforms and plausible tools to demonstrate creativity and ingenuity.

• Youtube. 

• Instagram.

• LinkedIn. 

• Facebook.

• Twitter. 

• Patreon. 

• Tiktok. 

• Behance. 

Well, each of these platforms works as a means of disseminating a particular type of information. Each medium has a purpose in the digital market, however, in each of them it is possible to build a personal brand.

The interesting thing is that each platform has one or more options for developing such a brand. For this, it's necessary to do a market study and based on what we want to achieve or build, work on one or several alternatives at the same time.

For example: 

1. Talent or specific skills. 

Do you consider yourself good at dancing, playing a sport, mastering an artistic, scientific or social skill? Platforms such as Youtube, Facebook, Patreon, Tiktok or Behacen might be of interest to you for branding.

Why? Because they have different types of formats to expose your work and skills to an interested audience.

And each of these platforms have features that allow you to monetize those skills or talents, or create a means of dissemination with which to build recognition.

2. Community of followers 

Want to create a community that's loyal to your content? Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are the ideal mediums. 

As well as creating a community of followers in line with your goals, they provide you with many other opportunities to interact with that community and create more social projects for profit or non-profit.

3. Portfolio of work 

If you want to show the world the results of your professional work, and build a socially recognisable brand, Behance, Instagram, LinkedIn and Patreon should be your top choices.

Also consider creating a much more powerful presence in the form of your own website. A site that everyone can access and learn about you and your work, where you can demonstrate what you know, offer your services and showcase testimonials.

Each of these options offers you that opportunity in some way, the important thing is to know how to approach the information and present it to the public.

If you have come this far, it's because you want to take the next step in your career independence and recognise the importance of building a personal brand that speaks for you even when you are not present.

You now have the information and tools you need to let your imagination run wild and get your branding project off the ground. Practice, make mistakes and try again, that's what it's all about...

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