A successful personal brand is what sets you apart from your competitors. When done correctly, it’s how people recognize you and think of you. It’s the first impression they get of you before they meet you. It’s what they remember about you when they leave a conversation with you.
Building a successful personal brand comes down to five noteworthy elements. Understanding these elements will help you recognize opportunities and make smart brand-forward decisions.
A successful personal brand has these 5 elements
1. Authenticity
Your personal brand is your reputation or your first step forward. If you don’t know who you truly are, how can you possibly know how to show up to the world? It’s easy to get caught up comparing yourself to others, feeling like you’re not good enough, and allowing imposter syndrome to creep in.
What if I told you that you can limit those feelings simply by getting to know yourself better?
It’s true! In fact, personal branding is really about bringing out the best of who we are.
Did you know that 94% of customers are likely to show loyalty to a brand that offers complete transparency? How about the fact that 88% of consumers say that authenticity is a key factor when deciding what brands they like and support.
When it comes down to it, we all have a unique set of skills, interests and experiences that make us who we are. When we look at our lives from this perspective, it can be easier to recognize that we’re good enough just as we are — and that there’s no need to compare yourself against anyone else.
2. Values
Statistics show that 89% of shoppers stay loyal to brands that share their values.
Values are the beliefs that are most important to us both personally and professionally. They don’t have to be tangible or quantifiable; they can be more abstract, like integrity or empowerment.
When establishing a set of values, start by asking questions like:
- What do I stand for?
- What do I want to be known for?
- What is my superpower?
- How do I want to be remembered?
- What is my why?
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Values act as our compass in making decisions and strategic plans. They help us clarify our mission, vision, and purpose — the reason why we do what we do. When we know what we value most, we are able to provide clarity on the kind of work we offer to others.
Values help us connect with others by showing them who we really are in just a few words. You may attract others simply because their values align with yours. That attraction is not as easy to develop if we do not clearly paint the picture of who we are and what we stand for.
3. Vision
A vision is essentially a big-picture perspective of where you want to be, who you want to be, and what it looks like when you get there. It’s the guiding light that helps us stay on track when things get tough, or when we’re faced with difficult decisions or unexpected challenges.
That’s why having a vision is so important. It helps us maintain focus in an ever-changing world, making sure we don’t get lost along the way.
A vision is made up of three elements:
- The journey
- The strategy
- The tactics
The journey lays out where we are headed over time. This may be measured in days, weeks, months, or even years.
The strategy illustrates how we will get from Point A to Point B to Point C and so on. To think of it in another way, the strategy is a brand’s road map.
The tactics are the specific steps that will help us achieve our goals. The tasks we perform should help support the completion of these steps so that we are making progress (however little or big) each day.
4. Purpose
Purpose is the reason we get up in the morning. It’s what drives us to continue moving forward, even when things get tough and we want to stop.
Purpose is our North Star — it’s helps us remember what it is we’re doing here and why it matters.
Establishing our purpose helps us focus on what matters most. Without it, we’re just going through the motions. By working towards something bigger than ourselves, it becomes easier to make decisions about priorities, opportunities, and options when we’re at that metaphorical fork in the road.
Understanding your purpose may start by keeping your vision in mind. Ask questions like:
- What do I do well?
- What do I want my business to look like in 5 years?
- What do I want to accomplish by then?
- What do I do that gives me the best results?
If you don’t have a specific purpose right now, that’s okay! But it may be time to start thinking critically about why you’re in business.
To set your brand up for success, you want to be sure you are deeply in tune with why your customers should care about what you’re selling them and how they can use that product or service to make their lives better.
5. Growth
The ultimate goal in a successful personal brand or business brand is growth. That growth can show up in many different ways depending on your values, vision, and purpose.
Think about the qualitative and quantitative returns for which you are working towards.
- Are you looking to build yourself up as the resident expert?
- Do you want to be the trusted source people come to first?
- Do you want to take on additional clients?
- Are you looking to increase sales?
Maybe it’s a combo of these or all of the above? Maybe it’s something else entirely.
Whatever it is, there are two things we know for sure:
- Growth will happen when you are intentional about it.
- Growth will happen when you have a clear idea of what kind of growth you’re looking for.
In Closing
Now that you know how to work on building a recognizable and successful personal brand, I encourage you to spend some time thinking about how you can incorporate these elements into your brand.
If you’re not actively engaged in any personal brand-related projects at the moment, this is a good opportunity to take some time to brainstorm about where your brand’s growth could use a little boost.
Your customers will notice and remember the difference, and they’ll be more likely to stick with you than if you were just another company competing for their money.
