Does a Small Business need Personal Branding?
You have just started your own business or maybe you have already been in business for a while. Congratulations and welcome in the world of the self-employed.
No matter for how long you have been in business. If you have made your first, second or even third year in business, that’s a great achievement. Most businesses don’t make it that far.
Have you ever wondered “Why you are so low on cash every month and hardly make it to the next?” or “Why are you the best kept secret in your area?” and why clients don’t come in big numbers through your door?
It doesn’t matter if you are a Real Estate Agent, Dentist, Lawyer, Network Marketer, Owner of a small hotel or hostel … the problem is everywhere the same. You are sure that you have done everything possible to make potential clients aware of your existence. You printed business cards, spread brochures, did the occasional ad in the local newspaper and you even have a website.
Of course that’s all not easy and time consuming. You most likely forgot one important point: You have to tell your potential customers “Why” they should come to you and not chose your competitor instead! Personal Branding is the answer!
What – you might think? I thought Personal Branding is only for the rich and famous. How do you think Lady Gaga, Madonna, Oprah Winfre or Paris Hilton started in the first place, when nobody knew them? All of them built their personal brands when they weren’t famous yet.
What is Personal Branding?
Personal Branding is referring to establishing and promoting what you stand for. A brand called “You”. Your personal brand is the unique combination of your skills and experiences which you have in one specific field, one that makes you “You”. It makes you different from other professionals in your field or niche.
Your personal brand is a clear idea that comes into people’s mind when they think of you.
It is how people perceive you and it has to answer the following questions for them:
• Who are you?
• What do you do?
• What makes you different from your competitor and/or how can you create value to your audience or target market?
We are used to thinking that brands are companies and products like McDonald’s, Starbucks, Nike etc. But nowadays a brand can be anything. This was true before the Digital Age started. Today, also as an individual, you have a personal brand.
So what is your personal brand? It doesn’t really matter what you do, you have a brand that exists both Online and Offline.
Many people are still uncomfortable about the idea of personal branding. But, if you don’t take control of your Online Personal Brand, you are missing out a lot of opportunities and let your competitors control your specialty or niche.
Why is Personal Branding important?
We should all have realized it by now that we are in a different world; we are in the Digital Age! Today, people are searching for products and services Online on their phones using Google and Facebook.
Job security doesn’t really exist anymore. You can read or hear it every day in the news – and it happens in all countries … big sections of corporate companies closed down, this and that has been restructured due to economic pressure and many people have lost their jobs at once.
Most likely this is why you have started your own business. The main question you have to answer for yourself is: How do you create your own job security?
How many people actually know you and your reputation? No matter if you are a Dentist, Lawyer, Network Marketer, owner of the Local Diving Center, Fitness Club or a Real Estate Agent. People have expectations and they know your skills but I am pretty sure that most people in the professional world don’t really know you as a person. With how many people did you have a drink or went out for dinner and talked about things outside your job?
Outside your closest circles of friends and family people know you in the first place by your reputation and personality. In a way they know your Personal Brand.
Does a small business need personal branding?
How can you create your own job security? You have to develop a Personal Brand and take influence how potential customers perceive you. Once you have done this, your Personal Brand will have a big influence on your marketing and growth of your business.
A lot of small businesses are missing out on personal branding because they see themselves as a business and not a brand. Branding is important for any business and companies of all sizes because it increases your value and makes clients come easier into your door.
Branding applies to businesses and people alike. If you’re a small business owner, creating your personal brand is very important on the way to secure your long-term success. A personal brand makes a small business visible and accessible. It puts a face to a name and provides completely different promotional opportunities. A person can be interviewed, invited as a speaker on events, write articles … things a business can’t do.
Personal Branding helps entrepreneurs to become an authority in their field. This can be totally separate from what their company is offering. By becoming a public figure, business owners of small companies can develop relationships and create and develop their new business much faster.
A Personal Brand is built around your personality, knowledge and skills. It normally means that you brand your business with your name.
When do you start building your Personal Brand?
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