#BeTheBrand - Why is personal branding important? How do you build a personal brand? Is is possible to build a personal brand whilst working for an existing company? These are the questions that Ben M Roberts answers in his latest keynote presentation!
I want you to be the brand. Build your own brand, and if you need to tie it in with an existing business brand
This is the first glimpse of my brand new keynote!! You are the first eyeballs!!
This is me an my brand
I want to tell you that building a personal brand doesn’t have to be separate to your business. Many of you will be entrepreneurs, start-ups, some of you will be 5,10, 20+ people businesses. Everyone has a personality, that can be used to help elevate the brand.
A brand can act as a hub of people who are knowledgeable about a certain topic(s), sharing those messages. Amplification.
Just because you may not be top dog, doesn’t mean you can’t be an authority.
When you work for a brand, and change your social media bio, or tell someone where you work, you become that brand.
If you have all your employees working on their personal branding and become somewhat experts, then the perception of your brand increases. If you allow them to become experts, customers have more routes into your company. People buy into people. People like people. People want to learn from people.
A brand is everything about you, it’s how people perceive you, think about you, how people talk about you.
It’s how people will judge you before and remember you after
Why Important? People are digital. If you meet someone, they’ve checked you out online first. Or they’ll do it soon after to make sure you are who you said/do what you say you can do
How many of you looked on linkedIn or twitter before or straight after meeting someone? How many of you looked to see who myself or Sonja were before today?
People have the power to find out about you. But like a reference, it’s as much about what you aren’t saying as much as you are. If you have a poor digital profile, it says a lot. When people look for you, you want to make their mind up for them. Don’t be an egg. FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT
What even is your end goal? Speaking? Courses? Book? Work for a business? Sell more? Recruit more? – If you don’t know where you are headed, you have no direction. Like navigating without a map . . . seamless link to Sonja’s talk. Have a focus.
Share Knowledge, add value - You are what you share! Customer First Approach – not about showing how much you know and creating a disconnect. – Think about your favourite teacher (Chris Marr). Elevate others. Inspire others.
The worst acronym of all time. – But it’s so right. – If you want to be an authority, and you are sharing content. Think what will my audience get out of it. Are they there to be entertained, inspired? Learn new skills or tips? – Is it going to show who you are as a person? – Move away from narcissism and move towards being helpful
The more people know about you, the more open you are, the more personality you show, the more people like, know and trust you. People don’t like not knowing, and people are rightly sceptical. - be transparent, and trust will build.
Buzzwords. A word, or a phrase. Give examples. Align yourself to that, and become known for it. – I want to be known for breaking down buzzwords and using them to help build brands. What do you stand for or believe in?
Could be an existing thing, or something new and personal
Think T shaped. Think specific and deeper not wider. Anyone can go wider. You become an authority by going deeper, by offering your own unique thoughts, experiences and insight.
Map out the steps. (link to Sonja) – it takes time. Brands don’t just appear. You have to be working towards a goal in 1,2,3 years time.
How will people notice you and fund you. Don’t be a jack (jack of all trades). Don’t spread yourself too thin. Find a medium, a space, a place and own it.
You have to find a medium you are comfortable, and you can do consistently over a period of time. For me I have said that I will do a minimum of 100 podcast episodes.
That consistency, gives trust.
Again, don’t spread yourself too thin. Find a space you want to build an audience in. You aren’t a global superstar with millions of instant fans, so you need to focus of one or two.
Communicate it!! – times change, so you are allowed to change too.
Pivoting is natural. Do not fear it. As long as you are not chopping and changing.
Without a solid core you cannot do/hold as much, or last as long. If you have a day off posting, it won’t destroy your reputation, but it is incredibly important.
I believe that value to the customer is king. – I share value, CONSISTENTLY to build an audience
You build an audience around doing things consistently. The more consistent you are the stronger the core is, the bigger fan base you will build.
Without a solid core you cannot do/hold as much, or last as long. If you have a day off posting, it won’t destroy your reputation, but it is incredibly importrant.
Not just an impression or a like. Think shares, comments, questions.
Being there isn’t building authority. Interacting and talking to people is
b/c people like, know and trust other people.
b/c people like, know and trust other people.
Cool Bonuses – Please let me know if you’d like to find out more.
Key takeaways: Find what you stand for as a brand and a person. Drill deeper, be authentic, and you’ll build authority.