Learn what to do after you have defined your personal brand
In this digital world, what is one of the first actions that you make when you want to know something if not to look for the definition on Wikipedia? This platform with an exotic name has become the most authoritative and official definition offered by the web, has been translated into almost all languages of the world, and is the first among the entries that Google identifies in search results. I offer you here the definition of personal branding given by Wikipedia: “the term personal branding means the ability to promote themselves, in order to be liked or at least appealing against a community of associates, with methods similar to what happens in the economic field, with commercial products “ .
The definition, although well articulated, can still be expanded and supplemented in many ways. For example, some might call personal branding “the effective communication of your personal brand”, others might see it as “a process for identifying and developing their skills, abilities and passions, learning to communicate in the best way to stand out thanks to their uniqueness, especially through the web and social media, still others may identify with “the art to increase sales by exploiting one’s image” and I could cite dozens of other definitions. For example, I asked our CEO Gianluca Stimulation, who defines personal branding as “the art of taking care of your image and the way you look from the outside to better communicate to your target audience how your value differs from your competitors.” As we are not talking about an exact science, I would take all of these as good definitions and therefore they are all effective at clarifying the concept.
To summarize and merge it all, we can say that personal branding is the ability to promote yourself and your skills in an effective and productive way to those who need them by becoming a “palatable product,” to return to the official definition. This is not simply to “knowing how to sell” as we have said many times, but rather discovering and defining yourself, studying and carrying out a strategy that requires perseverance and time, all aimed at positioning a brand in a market where there is demand and where it can be appreciated, making it attractive in a given area for its quality and building relationships with the public.
By refining the concept further, I want you to note that unlike other disciplines such as personal improvement coaching and training, personal branding also focuses on the value of the person himself, paying special attention to his promotional methods. So I would say that personal branding is a true “path” that takes time, dedication, strategy and clearly defined goals, as well as many notions of marketing, sales, and personal growth.
Now let’s get back to the official definition, where, as you can see, I have deliberately emphasized the words, which I would like you to pay attention to: “promote yourself”, “community” and “methods”.
Promote yourself: be careful with the concept of promotion, as it is important to learn how to use all instruments at your disposal well, especially those that are the most useful, profitable and well-suited to our target. But another important thing is that you are promoting yourself and so you need to invest some time in yourself, to know yourself, to know your values, define your goals and start to act in line with what you want to establish yourself to be.
Community: defining and knowing yourself, however, it is of little use if the image and the identity that you create is not recognized by others. Community in fact means dedicating time to others, giving them value, helping them resolve their needs, listening to them and knowing them, interacting with them constantly until you come to be recognized as an expert in your sector. Remember, “you are the product, but it is others that buy you!”
Methods of promotion: methods are important because with all the competition that you will have on the market, you will need to promote yourself in order to make you better perceived, so that you will be presented to others for who you are, for the value that you have and especially so that you will be chosen among the competition. It is important to continue to stay up to date, knowing all the methods of communication and being present on those used by your target as mentioned before. It is important to know how to leverage their feelings, find true utility that will improve their lives and know how to communicate it in an effective and lasting manner. Methods of promotion also means studying a real marketing plan, understanding your sales funnel and knowing the language you use to describe yourself and the services you sell expertly.
Why did I want to dwell on these semantic concepts? Because from now on, after you understand what we’re talking about, I’ll try to make you understand how Stand Out can contribute to your personal branding.
There are too many coaching schools today that promise miracles, you sign up, follow them, you learn, and then what? What percentage of people know how to put into practice what they learn in this field? In our experience, people who come to us have been disappointed, having spent so much money to learn the theory, maybe even joined some small classroom practice group, but the reality is that the path to personal branding is so long that the results do not come immediately, so most people think they have just wasted time and money. I offer you good news: you have not wasted time and money if after your training you have come to thoroughly understand the marketing concepts that are the basis of personal branding, as from there you’ll know how to go on! Maybe no one told you that you can’t stop with courses, coaching or training, but the next step is to rely on people who have made personal branding a profession and can translate into reality the theory that you have studied. That’s because it’s really hard if you already have a job to also deal directly with your personal branding. For sure you can do your best and there will be exceptions to the rule and those who without much effort will become magicians of image and sales, but the vast majority of those who want to raise their standards, improve their image, get more sales and increase turnover while also being recognized as an authority and personality in its market sector, do not have time for anything else and should not do anything else. Everything has its place and your image can be cured only by someone who knows how and what to do. Personal branding is not just marketing, not just having a Facebook page or a Twitter profile, not just showing off at parties or attending conferences, nor only is it written marketing plans. It’s all of these aspects combined, a balance between popularity and authority, between being, giving and taking, a balance between talent and results. Consequently, in addition to an entire marketing team that follows you, Stand Out also has a real press office that maintains a presence in traditional media, which is always important for popularity and authority. And, finally, what you do not know, is that if you do not write a book it is difficult to be recognized as an authority on the subject. We make it easy even when it comes to this, as we will help you produce e-books, audio or video material according to your needs. Our path with you concludes with the publication of your book, the signal that you are now a reference point, that you’ve done it and can be recognized as an expert, as a brand in yourself! Not doing so is like attending college without graduating! Stand Out, at the end of a path in which we have curated your image, your presence, your social recognition, your professionalism and even your proper market positioning, then helps you publish your book and graduate your business into the world by finally asserting the talent you have and making it recognizable to all, because remember that “your talent deserves to be recognized!”
If you want to know more, if you want to see firsthand our strategies and their results, if you want to be supported by a whole team dedicated to you that will help you bring out the best in you and really express your talent as you deserve, make an appointment with us for a free consultation and soon you’ll have the tools to soar. Fill out the Contact form on the home page, follow us on our Facebook Page Stand Out Communication and on our Twitter profile StandOutAgency to become part of our community dedicated to personal branding.
AUTHOR: Veronica Penzo – ( Twitter: LadyBitterHoney )
From a young age, used to playing with foreign children, with the desire to become friends with them, I thought: “the mind is not made to communicate in only one language! ” That’s why I chose to travel, to study 5 foreign languages, and to examine communication in all its forms, from PNL to verbal and non-verbal language! I decided to grow these passions for language and for people, first in international TV journalism working with NBC News, then in a communication field even more current: the web and mobile. I have therefore become an expert on all the major social networks, and am up-to-date on all topics of webmarketing, social ads, lead generation, neuromarketing and personal branding.
A social media influencer on Twitter and Instagram, I am now leading the social media management for Stand Out and HRD Training Group and I write and coordinate the Stand Out blog.