Whether you like it or not, the business world is becoming increasingly digital, and the more active and engaged you are online, the more you’ll get back from it.
Entrepreneurs who are able to appear omnipresent and create quality content for their site, newsletter, and social media handles can become influencers in their own right, commanding respect from fellow business owners and unlocking the door to exciting new opportunities both online and off.
Though it may seem daunting or even unnatural for you to start building your personal brand on LinkedIn and Twitter, sharing content from reputable sources and success stories from your company, it pays to put in the effort and make the leap.
Below, we’ve rounded up some of the biggest reasons why you should build your personal brand as soon as possible…
Why building your personal brand makes sense
Oprah Winfrey. Richard Branson.
Two of the biggest names in the world of entrepreneurship; and not by accident.
With a little help, these self-made stars have built organizations around their personal identities, with Oprah Winfrey even launching her own self-titled magazine and television network in the United States after hosting a popular talk show for several decades.
What do Winfrey and Branson have in common?
They understood the power of building your personal brand early on, and made conscious decisions to solidify their place in business…
Building a personal brand increases visibility
It’s natural for entrepreneurs to want to hide behind their organization’s profiles and keep a firm separation between their personal and business lives, but the truth is that the opposite will benefit your business the most.
By focusing on both company pages and professional pages for yourself, you’re doubling the potential exposure and visibility of your business.
Some consumers won’t follow businesses on Twitter or Instagram, but will follow successful entrepreneurs and thought-leaders; that’s a “win” for you as you’re reaching users who could be interested in your products or services.
Likewise, a strong personal brand allows you to diversify your brand and its objectives, identifying gaps in the market for product launches.
Build your personal brand to express yourself
Finally, don’t underestimate the value you can achieve by building a personal brand; not only in terms of new leads and business opportunities, but personal growth.
By spending the time creating content for your audience and listening to their queries and concerns, you’ll not only learn from your customers but understand what really matters to you.
It’s easy to get stuck in a rut – but personal branding allows you to express your interests and beliefs in new ways.
You might be able to connect with like-minded entrepreneurs and spur each other on, or even achieve your goals of wealth mastery.
Set realistic milestones – like gaining 1,000 new followers or closing a lead via LinkedIn once per month – and celebrate those little victories.
If you can, partner with another entrepreneur or a member of your staff to help each other grow on social media.
You could invite your connections to like each others’ professional pages, share each others’ content and piggyback off of each others’ viral posts to benefit both of your personal brands, organizing collaborations or perhaps even a joint giveaway.
Career development
Whatever your personal circumstances, building a personal brand that’s strong and ballsy will give you the opportunity to improve your own value and worth in the business world.
It could mean you’re asked to branch out into publishing your own book where you can share your knowledge of your industry and lessons you’ve learned, or you could speak at events.
If you’re able to maintain and successfully build a public presence and be consistent, you’ll stand out far more than those who don’t have the time or inclination to focus on personal branding, and opportunities will come your way for both career and personal development.
Building your personal brand increases exposure
Whether you’re a self-employed hustler trying to launch your first business or you manage a team of twenty, building a personal brand can have a significant impact on your business.
If you spend a lot of time posting content online, sharing your knowledge and experience with your followers, and creating a community, you’ll also expose your company to more clients.
From attending conferences and networking meetings to hosting a question and answer session on Instagram, you’ll be able to position your company’s brand, increasing its reach and exposure as your own audience grows.
And because people discovered your brand through you rather than through an advertisement, trust and engagement will increase, too.
Build a personal brand for SEO
Finally, building your personal brand allows you to control your own narrative online.
If you’re the CEO of a successful organization you might have had hundreds of news articles written about you and forum posts commenting on your successes and management style.
Though there’s “no such thing as bad publicity,” being able to control the search engine results pages and rank high for “Your Name + Company” will give potential clients the right first impression.
That’s why it’s so important to be consistent with personal branding. Set up pages on all of the major networks (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest) even if you’re not going to use them to ensure your username, use the same professional headshot and bio, and always link back to your company website or personal biography.
That way, whenever someone searches for you online, they’ll find your professional profiles before other content.
Better yet, use a social media scheduling tool such as HootSuite to automatically share new content across all of your key networks; that way, your pages will always be kept up-to-date.
Wrapping up
It can be tough when you see a competing entrepreneur amassing thousands of followers and nailing their social strategy – so much so that you might decide to give up before you even get started.
Power through, focus on building your personal brand, and in a couple of years’ time, you’ll look back on where you started and wish you’d done it many years ago.
And the good news is that you don’t have to build your personal brand alone. With the right support from a company like Biz Online Marketing, your brand building can be done for you, allowing you to focus on what you’re good at – growing your business and making sales.
Reach out if you have any questions, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram – we regularly share tips and advice on building your personal brand.