Growing up, did you have popular people in your town that everyone knew? Even if you didn’t know them personally, you knew their face and a little about them.
Without realizing it, those people were creating the foundation for their personal brands. We all have personal brands. It’s essentially the skills, knowledge, experiences, and characteristics that make you who you are. A good personal brand can increase your sphere of influence and boost your credibility in any industry.
One of my favorite Jay-Z lyrics is: “I'm not a businessman; I'm a business, man!” He understands that you, yourself are a business.
Since social media plays a huge role in our society, it’s easy for your brand to get overlooked or misrepresented unless you take control of it and change the narrative. At the same time, the internet can be used to leverage social media and get your message to the masses.
In the age of the “influencer,” your social media presence can be the difference between you getting a client versus your competition. Some of the biggest social media influencers today are people who used their personal brand to create a platform for themselves.
In high school, I was always joking and fooling around so people knew me as the class clown who cracked jokes. That’s what my personal brand said about me back then and because of that people didn’t take me seriously.
I didn’t really know what direction I was headed in but instead of settling for that, I began working towards bettering myself physically, mentally, and financially. I started going to the gym regularly, reading books, and planning out my vision.
Now my personal brand revolves around entrepreneurship, travel, and living a life without limits. See how the narrative has shifted? I took control of my brand and started building a platform where I could inspire regular kids like me.
Here are 5 key reasons why personal branding is crucial to survive as an entrepreneur in today’s landscape:
Having a personal brand gives you more credibility
There’s a lot of smart, talented people in the world that aren’t as successful as they could be . Separate yourself from the average person by giving your name more influence.
A personal brand will attract higher quality clients to you
When companies hear your name brought up by multiple people, it makes them curious to who you are and more likely to reach out or accept your services. Successful people want to do business with other successful people. I was able to partner with one of my biggest idols’ all through the power of my personal brand.
You are able to get paid more
It’s the simple principle of supply and demand. As your credibility increases, the demand for your time and skills increases which shortens the supply of time you’re able to spend working. The more people demand your time, the higher you can charge. Instead of charging $25-$50/hour, you can now charge $100-$400/hour depending on your industry and expertise. So working 4-5 hours a day is making you the same amount of money as a 12 hour day.
Get more free time with a personal brand
When your personal brand is bringing in high quality clients, you’re able to choose how much you work. You’re a business that gets to choose when and where you work. Having the choice to work less, but make more money is the type of freedom some people dream of.
Strong personal brands expand your network and get you access to bigger deals
A strong personal brand can be the difference between you partnering with a client or not. Your brand allows you to build up your network, which opens more doors for you. It’s not even about your brand being successful financially, but if you’re able to impact people and build a following, that’s a valuable asset that companies are always looking for in partners.