Creating and establishing a personal brand comes with its unique challenges. I’ve heard time and time again; the hardest part is starting. As someone also at the beginning stages of self-branding with the launch of a new website and development of a content strategy, I thought it would be helpful to map out the beginning process for those readers interested in starting their own website, portfolio or brand.
So, what is self-branding or personal branding? It might mean something different to others but for me it’s more than a beautifully made personal logo or a creative business card. It’s the idea of you and your personality trademark. From how you present yourself in a room of your peers or total strangers, to your presence online and even down to your resume. Your personal brand revolves around you as an individual.
There has been a culture shift in the ever-evolving job market and it’s not only targeting creatives. A personal brand is literally for just about everyone. If you're an entrepreneur, small business owner, sales person, etc, you and your brand or business can benefit from you having a personal brand. If you have a marketing background like me, you might not be new to the branding game. But branding yourself vs. branding a company is a lot more personal in the development strategy. (At least in my opinion.)
Here is how to get started:
So, who are you?
I told you this was going to be a personal process. So here is a personal question. If you’re anything like me, I like to market brands and other people. Not necessarily myself. This might be the worst part; getting focused and realistic about yourself.
First things first, take inventory of your existing brand assets. This becomes the foundation of your brand. What are qualities or accomplishments you already have as an individual? From skills and credentials or passions and interests, core values and beliefs.
Example: My resume and portfolio lean towards creative marketing; I tend to travel a lot and feel like many of friends and family ask me for advice on those two subjects often. I’m also confident in speaking to those two areas.
How do others perceive you?
I began by asking my very close network a question, “When you think of me, what do you think of?” I remember doing this at a trade-show a year or so ago, my friends were a little caught off guard, but the feedback was great. I received key words and phrases that became personal themes, “Marketing, creative, experienced, knowledgeable, wine drinker, libra, sassy, deep, spiritual, encouraging…” I must have texted 5+ people to find some type of consistent pattern that was in my personality perceived by others.
Using those keywords and phrases, I developed them. Which ones was I the most comfortable with? What am I confident with? If I were to be asked what I bring to the table, what would I own, what would I say? Which ones were unique to me?
Bonus, things they said aligned with how I viewed myself one way or another. Thus creating a branding foundation, and a great starting point.
Piece it together
Now you have settled in your foundation and identified existing brand assets you need to narrow down the elements that speak to you the most and which ones are the most important. Identifying these will help guide your decisions as you build your brand.
Brand Vision: What do you want to be known for? I.e., knowledge in social media marketing, traveling photography or city fashion. If you were to be an expert on any topic, what would it be?
Brand Mission: Why are you building a personal brand? What is your overall purpose? Who do you want to influence? I.e. I want a strong portfolio to show off creative work, I want to share marketing knowledge with entrepreneurs and or small companies, etc.
Brand Personality: What personal characteristics do you want to share with your audience? Are you more professionally polished? Are you sassy, adventures, sarcastic? This is woven into your creative assets. From blog posts, website copy, business cards. (Probably another blog post worth of notes here, TBA.)
Define your brand image
Okay, you’ve made it this far. So, you must be serious. This is where people tend to want to begin. Mainly because it’s the fun part. I don’t blame them. It is the fun part. But start with the above steps first. It will make the process a whole lost easier.
Once you define who you are and what is important to you, find photos, images, colors, and/or graphics to build out a brand style guide. A brand style guide is a rulebook containing specifications on everything that plays a role in the look and feel of your brand–everything from typography and color to logos and imagery. It’s a reference on how the world will see your brand.
Here is a draft of my personal brand styling guide:
Having an online and offline image that reflects the core of your values and allows the imagery to begin to tell a story about your brand. Then, it is up to you to be consistent with that image across all platforms. For example, I keep my format for blog images relatively the same, I pull images and edit them very similarly, developing a consistent look and feel.
Authenticity
This is really important. You should be able to live your brand. Though you could separate brand from personal life, it’s a whole lot easier if you marry the two. This not only allows content to flow more naturally, but it will resonate with your target market. For example, I can write about hikes in the PNW, I’ve done plenty of them and can relate to the area. I shouldn’t write about luxury travel in Canada, because I’ve never done that and my audience knows or will know that. Branding isn’t positioning yourself as something you’re not. It’s about purposefully and strategically showcasing your authentic self to your audience and your customers.
I broke up my topic themes into five categories:
Work – Nine-Five: All things marketing / social media related.
Travel – Take-off: All things travel / getaway related.
Lifestyle – Semi-Charmed: Safe haven for anything else I might want to write about. I.e., recipes, experiences, reviews , etc.
Samples of Work – Side Hustle: A place for portfolio worthy pieces. Where I might send a potential client or employer.
Contact – About Me: Contact information and a little bio.
The above categories helped me vision what my website would look like as well as the content needed to make it happen.
Website Creation
Finally, you’re organized, you have a brand voice, branding guideline, idea of a content flow. You’re ready for a website. I personally use squarespace.com to host my site. They give you a two week free trial. Enough time to get your website started and organized if you have all the pieces I mentioned previously.
Personal Brand Website: $17.44 a month
Domain: $20.00 annual
Using categories, I build out pages and go from there.
Though building your brand can take a good amount of time, you really find your flow after your website is up and running and content is being produced. Remember, nothing is permanent. If you don’t like a topic, don’t feel like you must keep that topic alive. You can edit and you should edit your website frequently. Though you want your brand image to stay consistent, revisit your branding vision, mission, style guide to keep it up to date with you who are.
I know getting started is the hardest part, but I hope my advice can help pave the way for the creation of your own brand. Two things to keep in-mind during the process of self-branding is authenticity: live your brand, and nothing is permanent: edit as you go, pieces will fall together.
Working on your personal brand now? I’d love to see. Comment your personal website URL in the comments below!
As always, thanks for reading.