In a crowded market, sellers who’ve developed strong personal branding will stand out. If you haven’t considered how prospects see you, it’s time. Creating and maintaining a personal brand can help boost your professional image and raise awareness. 

What is Personal Branding?

According to HubSpot’s Jay Fuchs, personal branding is basically your online persona. It’s how you’re represented across the digital world. 

"It‘s a chance for you to project your individuality in a professional context," he explains.

Even if you haven’t paid attention to your personal branding, it’s already been created. Everything about you online shapes branding, for better or worse. But sellers have the opportunity to guide the narrative of their online identity. 

With some effort, you can craft and refine your personal branding. And there are many benefits to doing so, including:

• Differentiating yourself from competitors
• Demonstrating authenticity
• Supporting credibility
• Inspiring interest

How to Discover Your Brand

There are several elements that help create a winning brand. And according to William Arruda, you must begin with self-​reflection. Writing for Forbes, Arruda notes that there are six “drivers” of a personal brand:

• Values — what matters to you and how it influences your behavior
• Passions — the things that bring you joy
• Differentiator — how you are different from competitors
• Superpowers — what you do better than others
• Purpose — the why behind what you do
• Goals — what you want to achieve (short- and/​or long-term)

Sit with these and ask yourself questions to reveal your personal brand. If you’re struggling, Arruda recommends asking a coach, mentors and colleagues. Their unique perspective can help round out each driver.

Next, write a value proposition. This is a line or two that succinctly summarizes who you are and what value you deliver. And remember, as Fuchs reminds sellers, it’s not really about you; it’s for those reading it.

“Express to your target audience what makes you different from others in your industry, profession or role." 

Share Your Brand

Once you’ve developed your personal brand, it’s time to show it. Fuchs notes that in today’s business world, having a LinkedIn profile is a must. 

“LinkedIn is generally the center of your personal brand — especially …in a space like sales." 

The key areas to optimize first are your:

• Profile picture — make sure it’s clear, professional and up-to-date.
• Headline — along with your name and title, include your value proposition.
• Summary — use a compelling hook and concise language
• Visuals — include visual content to capture attention and stand out

When working on your profile, avoid too much jargon or formality. Let your words create a connection with readers, Arruda advises.

“In addition to positioning you as a credible expert, your profile must establish an emotional connection with prospects.”

Be Searchable

It’s important that the right people discover your personal brand. So you must be SEO-​friendly. This means using specific keywords that best reflect you and your brand, in everything you post. These may be industry‑, job- and/​or results-related.

When adding them to content like social media posts, blogs and bios, make it natural. Sprinkle in the keywords so that they flow naturally in the text. Don’t stuff keywords nonsensically; this won’t resonate with readers or get picked up by Google.

Post Consistently 

To make your personal branding successful, you must nurture and grow it. This means adding to it through content. If needed, come up with a basic communication plan to keep content creation ongoing. Social media posts, blog entries, videos, and online comments are all great ways to support your brand. 

And avoid making it all about self-​promotion. Seek to educate and inform your target audience about relevant topics other than just your own solution, Fuchs writes. 

“Make sure each post adds to the larger conversation while differentiating your point of view from others." 

Taking these steps to discover, share and grow your personal brand will help connect with prospects and establish your credibility. And for even more guidance on the topic, check out these tips shared by SalesFuel. 

Photo by Swello