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What is Personal Branding?

Personal Branding, in the broad sense of the word, includes literally everything. A brand is simply something that separates one thing from another, wether that be a symbol, an emotion, or a name. Creating a personal brand is an ongoing process of establishing a prescribed impression of yourself, or your business, in the mind of others. Much like symbols, an effective personal brand is recognizable, and unique. Business branding has, for long, been a common practice, involving massive marketing and advertisement budgets; nowadays personal branding has become just as important, especially for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Brands are built from interactions between people. They are an extension of one’s personality and reflect his, or her, vision for what they wish to represent. This involves more than simply a trademark; it is how you present yourself online and offline to potential clients and customers. Your personal brand is the building block of your business, the central message you wish to get behind; however, it still centers around you as an individual.

Why do I need to develop a Personal Brand?

In today’s job market and entrepreneurial landscape, you cannot afford being another face in the crowd. One must separate themselves from their competition by becoming more appealing to the expansive target audience. You can achieve this, individually or professionally, by building a strong, memorable personal brand.

Personal branding is the means by which people remember you. Years ago, personal branding included nothing more than just a business card, a symbol that represented the outreach of your business and professional character. The only brand names anyone knew of were those of large corporations who allocated massive budgets to marketing. Meanwhile, it was almost impossible for small businesses to afford, or even find a communication forum, to grow their personal brand. This was generally the case throughout, until the advent of the internet fundamentally changed the rules of the game.

With social media, Google, and countless other online forums, people and small businesses everywhere are now granted an opportunity to succeed in building their brand. In the interconnected world we now live in, the brand you build around yourself is perhaps the single most important way to stand out. Solid personal branding opens professional opportunities, while defining a vision for your future and choosing to pursue it can lead to:

• -> A better job
• -> Better contacts and clients for your company
• -> Industry recognition
• -> Mutual trust with consumers
• -> Greater understanding of the market
• -> And much more

In maintaining a strong personal brand, your business will appear more human to customers, and it will insure their trust while portraying you as a devoted professional. There are infinite ways to build your brand; the trick is to choose something simple and consistent, so that it can stick to the minds of others.

Where can I find Personal Branding Tips?

In looking to define one’s personal brand, it is imperative that they first consider the exact impression that they want to build, as well as the market they wish to target. Developing a repertoire of current market standings, such as how is the competition not satisfying customer needs can provide one with clear insight as to how they must interact with clients to build a personal reputation for caring.

Here are a few personal branding tips you can use to increase your brand's impact:

• -> Have a clear image of what you wish to project upon others
• -> Make your brand consistent across all platforms
• ->Back up your statements with objective proof (dates, numbers, etc.)
• -> Keep it concise, you do not want to be forgettable

In summary, your personal brand is an extension of your personality. Therefore, when presenting to potential clients, those two variables must be in sync for you to come off as trustworthy, professional, and caring.

You will find below quite a number of personal branding tips to work on your personal branding from Eloquens authors. You are also welcome to publish your own personal branding tips for the user community to work with: Learn more

Some other interesting links to look out for on Personal Branding with a few tips are:

• ->Harvard Business Review - The Return of Personal Branding
• ->The Guardian - Investing in Personal Branding
• ->The Rise to The Top - For Entrepreneurs