How to build personal branding for work
Everyone has a personal brand, even if they don’t intentionally create one. A personal brand is how people perceive you – it’s your image and reputation. Good personal branding can open up new doors and professional pathways, with access to more and better work opportunities.
But how do you start building a strong personal brand? In this article, we provide personal branding tips and strategies to help you build and refine your professional image.
What is personal branding?
The personal branding definition is how people see you – a reflection of how you present yourself, your skills, experience, values and unique traits. It’s your professional reputation, what people say about you when you’re not there. Personal online branding means curating your social media channels to project an image you want people to see.
Why is having a personal brand important?
Having a personal branding strategy is important if you want to set yourself apart in your industry or field. It's also good for building credibility in your area of expertise – building trust in potential employers and clients and opening up more opportunities for work. Whatever your professional goals, building a personal brand can help establish an image of you as a competent and trustworthy employee.
How to build a personal brand
Looking to build your personal brand to benefit your career? These personal branding tips will show you how to curate a professional image.
Get to know yourself
Before you can build your personal brand, you need to establish what you want it to be. Start by figuring out the traits and skills you wish to be known for: your values, what makes you unique, what you offer, and your strengths.
Also consider what your goals are for creating a personal brand in the short, medium, and long term. Are you looking to break into a certain industry? Do you want to work for a particular company or get a scholarship? The motivation behind building a personal brand will shape what it looks like.
Have a focus
When figuring out a direction for your personal branding, focus on one main message. Your 'message' is the main thing you want to tell people about yourself through your personal brand.
Let’s say you want personal branding to help you get a job as a private-school teacher. Your message might be “I am a qualified and accomplished teacher with a dependable character and trustworthy reputation.” Your audience would be private-school recruiters, teachers and hiring managers. Define your message and audience to help you build your personal brand.
Write an elevator pitch
An elevator pitch is a brief introduction of yourself and what you offer – a quick, attention-grabbing summary of your skills and objectives. An elevator pitch, or personal brand statement, can form the basis of your social media bios, your introductions at networking events, and your objective summary.
Here’s an example of a basic elevator pitch:
Hi, my name is Joe and I’m a builder of more than 15 years. I specialise in creating homes with smart automation technology to help simplify your life. I’m passionate about making home technology accessible for everyone.
Tell a story
Storytelling helps you connect with your audience, providing them insight into your personal experiences and motivations. It can also give you a way to showcase your experience, skills, values and passions in a way that’s memorable and authentic. Through storytelling you create a multi-dimensional personal brand, which helps build trust and credibility.
Storytelling means sharing experiences with a beginning, middle and end, the end being a lesson or 'takeaway' for your audience. It might be how you overcame a challenge or an experience that shaped your professional persona. You can use any format you like to share stories, social media posts and blogs are the most common ways.
Have an authentic personality
One of the top tips for personal branding is: be genuine. While you can get ideas from other creators or leaders to inspire your brand, your identity should be true to who you are (based on the traits in the 'Get to know yourself' step).
The best way to do this is by creating content (posts, blogs, podcasts, or whichever medium you enjoy using) that’s true to your values and your message. Over time your online persona and authentic 'voice' will emerge. Through posting content, you’ll also learn which online platform gets the most engagement from your audience.
Be consistent
Building a personal brand takes persistence and consistent effort. Post content regularly, stay true to your values and messaging and stay focused on your niche. For example, if your focus is on health and wellness, all your content should connect with this focus, you should avoid switching to unrelated topics, like engineering or AI marketing.
Staying consistent also helps with social media algorithms too. Social media platforms, like Instagram and Facebook, are more likely to push your content to more people if you post regularly and within the same themes. This includes posting on stories, on your feed and engaging with comments on other peoples’ posts. Setting aside 10 to 15 minutes a day to post content or comments can help you grow your personal brand online.
Be prepared to change direction
If you’re new to personal branding, you might not feel your first attempt is quite right. Or you might not be able to engage with your intended audience straight away. Like any marketing exercise, your first attempts may not be as successful as you’d like. If this is the case, consider tweaking your personal brand or the content you’re sharing. Factor your engagement data into any iterations of your brand and try to see every experience as a learning opportunity.
Personal branding be fun as well as worthwhile for building your career. No matter your profession, a well-crafted online personal brand can help open up more work opportunities for you, and it can be done using the same social media platforms you scroll in your spare time. Building a personal brand online requires consistency and a regular time commitment, but you can treat it as an investment in your reputation and credibility.
FAQs
What are the 7 pillars of a personal brand?
According to leadership consultant Jill Hauwiller, the seven pillars of a personal brand are:
Purpose
Values
Clarity
Strengths
Energy
Legacy
Ownership
What’s an example of personal branding?
Elon Musk, Cristiano Ronaldo and all of the Kardashians are examples of strong personal branding. They all built a reputation independent of what they do for work, and get business opportunities outside of their main professions.
How do I identify my personal brand?
To identify your personal brand, start by identifying your values and defining your reasons for building a brand. Look at your strengths, skills and qualifications and come up with a core message that you want to communicate through your personal brand.
What makes a strong personal brand?
A strong personal brand is built from your authentic values, traits, passions and abilities. To build and strengthen your online brand, post and share content regularly, engage with others, and reply to comments on your social media accounts.
How do I use social media to build my personal brand?
Social media is a great way to build your personal brand and connect with your audience. Post and share relevant content regularly, network through online platforms, and be open to tweaking your content strategy depending on engagement.
How can I maintain consistency in my personal brand across different channels?
You can maintain consistency in your personal brand across different channels by only posting and sharing content that is true to your core messaging. You can also create a posting schedule to ensure you’re maintaining an up-to-date online presence, and even create a content strategy for each platform outlining what to post and when.
Is personal branding only relevant for entrepreneurs, or does it benefit employees too?
A personal brand can benefit both entrepreneurs and employees. For employees, having a personal brand can help you stand out to potential employers, showing your expertise and giving you professional growth opportunities.
How can introverts effectively build their personal brand?
Introverts can build their personal brand by staying true to themselves and using social media to connect with people and build their reputation. Focus on what strengths you bring to the table and use your ability to connect with people on a one-on-one level to build relationships.
What are some common mistakes to avoid when developing a personal brand?
Some common mistakes you should avoid when developing a personal brand include:
Trying to appeal to everyone
Focusing on quantity of content over quality
Not being true to yourself
Putting other brands or people down to try and build up yourself
How long does it take to see results from personal branding efforts?
Personal branding efforts can take anywhere from a months to years to start seeing results. It depends on the effort you put in, the industry you’re in, the people you’re trying to reach and how well people connect with you. Staying consistent and persistent will help you get results.
Can personal branding help me transition to a different career field?
Yes, personal branding can help you transition to a different career if your skills can be applied to different industries. The network and reputation you’ve built can help confirm your abilities, giving hiring managers or clients confidence in your skills.