The business world is full of sometimes unhealthy competition, especially for businesswomen. They are often bullied and ignored. This is especially common in developing countries. So it takes a harder effort to be able to compete with other business people. One of the things that is to get around this is to build branding to stick in the hearts and minds of customers / clients.
How a personal brand can benefit your business, you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. Truer words are never spoken, and they apply to you and your business.
If you’re a store owner, for example, you know that if someone has a negative interaction the first time they visit, they’ll come straight out, and likely never come back. They might even tell some friends.
But if they have the time of their lives on their first visit to your store, you have a lifelong loyal customer. And again, they might even tell some friends.
Perhaps you’ve done the hard work of building your business brand, with a logo and a professional website to match. But branding your business is only half the battle. Because if you want to stand out and reach your ideal clients, then you need to spend a lot of effort understanding, developing, and maintaining your personal brand.
While personal branding is essential for all business people of all genders, the reality is that women are so often conditioned to be meek and lightweight. So while anyone can benefit from the tips I’m going to share, I highly recommend that women, in particular, listen (so they can gain the confidence to speak out and stand out!).
Why You Need a Personal Branding Strategy
Women often ask me, ‘how does a personal brand contribute to my business?’. Branding requires work and effort, and business leaders are tuned to ROI. So they often want to know how a personal brand can benefit their business, before making all the effort.
Singkatnya, merek pribadi Anda adalah representasi dari bisnis Anda, dan orang-orang akan menilai Anda sesuai dengan itu. Kenyataannya adalah bahwa orang menilai sebuah buku dari sampulnya. Jadi membuat merek seperti penutup untuk bisnis Anda. Anda ingin penutup itu tidak hanya menonjol, tetapi juga menjadi cerminan sejati dari siapa Anda, dan tentang apa bisnis Anda.
Dan apakah secara intuitif atau langsung, kebanyakan orang percaya bahwa bagaimana Anda melakukan satu hal adalah bagaimana Anda melakukan segalanya. Jika merek pribadi Anda serampangan, malas atau tidak ada, itu akan mencerminkan bisnis Anda apakah Anda menginginkannya atau tidak.
On the other hand, when you align your personal brand with your business brand, you are much more likely to not only connect with the right people but also turn them into raving fans. So that’s ‘why’ developing a personal branding strategy.
Now, let’s get into this section of strategies to develop personal branding to support your company’s branding. If each journey starts with one step, then the first step in this journey is to embrance your personal brand.
That means being confident with who you are, this requires authenticity. Honesty is important above all else in branding – being genuine builds trust, and trust builds customers.
It can be difficult for women who are often raised to be people-pleasers and all things-for-all-people. That’s why you need to remember your target audience.
When building your brand, you need to determine your ideal client. And then realize that only your ideal client is important. All you have to remember is that not everyone has to like you, and that’s okay. Remember that people who don’t embrace your brand are never likely to become customers.
So be confident in who you are. Have it! Have your personality and don’t be afraid to share it with the world. Embrace what makes you unique, and share it with the world.
Personal Branding Mistakes That Are Harming Your Business
Personal branding mistakes can drive out customers. But how do you avoid them so that you don’t really harm your business? Here are the biggest personal branding mistakes to avoid.
Examples of Building Your Brand and Building Your Business
In my role, I wear a lot of hats. Our Canada-based agency provides almost every service you need for digital marketing: logo and graphic design, custom website design and development, SEO and SEM marketing, social media marketing, content writing, copywriting, newsletters, and strategy consulting.
And while I love all my hats, I think what I love most is working one-on-one with small business owners and entrepreneurs to help them define their personal and professional brands and use them effectively.
Branding Tips for Women in Business
So once you have a little clarity about your personal brand, what will happen next? Here are some tried and tested ways to build your personal brand:
Optimize Social Media
The best way to effectively use social media in your marketing is to be consistent and create authentic engagement.
Social media is not a tool to sell your business. Instead, it offers a great opportunity to share your personal brand. Keep your social media presence consistent to build and increase your personal brand awareness and develop a “know, like and trust” factor with your followers.
Developing the Right Content Strategy
A good content strategy is important for a variety of reasons, one of which is building your personal and professional brand. We’re all familiar with the phrase ‘content is king,’ so it should come as no surprise that well-written content is one of the most important elements of your website and marketing materials.
Now, the right content strategy will look different for different companies. This can include:
- Website content
- Webinar/Teleseminar registration page
- Product and service sales page
- Blogs and newsletter articles
- EMail / Newsletter Marketing
- Social media posts
- Press Release
- Print marketing materials
Ultimately, the goal of all content should be to showcase your brand, attract more clients, get conversions and, ultimately, improve the business. If you’re new to content marketing, we have some great resources to help you get started:
- How to Create Blog Content to Attract Your Target Audience
- How to Turn Newsletter Registration Into a Customer Without Feeling Sleezy
- How to Engage and Inspire With Interactive Content Marketing
- Receiving Praise with Mercy
- This is my own personal fault, and I suspect it’s something that many women struggle with.
- Sometimes it’s hard to respond to compliments, but I highly recommend that you take a moment and accept them. Part of having who you are is being grateful when people recognize it.
So, instead of shrinking back and fending off compliments, accept compliments with grace. And don’t shy away from your accomplishments either! It’s not bragging if you just list your accomplishments and let them stand up for themselves.
Find Your Community
Surround yourself with your target market. That way, you’re more likely to spend time with people who are more likely to respond to your personal brand. Not everyone appeals to everyone, so place yourself in places where your ideal client will be present. Mixing water with oil will only cause you unnecessary problems.
By putting yourself in the right setting and allowing yourself to shine with a strong personal brand, you will lead yourself to your ideal client. Instead – trying to be everything to everyone – only leads to obstacles that are best avoided.
