Personal Brand Truth Bombs!

People do business with people they know, like and trust

And never has a truer word been spoken!

The most important thing to remember is that people want to buy from other people, not a business. A lot of business-to-business purchasing decisions have more to do with the relationships the buyers have with the salesperson and much less to do with the actual product or service.

Here are just 10 personal brand truths that I have learnt in over 15 years of creating and managing brands in the health and wellness space. I’d like to share them with you.

TRUTH BOMBS!!

1. Have a crystal clear focus! Too many people are unfocused, unsure or chameleon-like when it comes to social media, press and coverage, trying to be ‘everything to everyone. Decide what your brand values and your key message is and stick with it.

2. Be genuine! There’s an easy way to have an original personal brand—and that is to be genuine and authentic

3. Tell a story - Create a genuine story around your brand that your audience can engage with you and relate to you.

4. Be consistent - You should demonstrate consistency across your communication platforms, gravitas, and appearance. Don’t underestimate how tiny inconsistencies can derail personal brand effectiveness.

1. Be prepared to fail sometimes - perfection is boring!. You’ll never achieve the best brand persona until you fail a couple of times while pushing past your comfort zone. The very best brands always come from repeated trial and error, mistakes and failures and not from instant perfection. Failure is part of human nature and we can all relate to it plus, your tenacity and willingness to share how you grow, is inspirational (well done you)!

2. Create a positive impact - Kindness really is king. Remember you are your brand, no matter what your current job or role is, what project you happen to be working on at any one time or whatever the priority happens to be today. Always keep in mind the impact you have and leave on others and remember all we have is our own reputation and that's our personal brand.

3. Have a successful role model - Business owners and soulful entrepreneurs interested in personal branding need to start marketing themselves like the industry leaders, influential people and successful legends that they look up to every day.

4. Live your brand! One of the ways you can make building a personal brand difficult for yourself is to separate your personal brand from your personal life. While certainly do-able, it’s easier when initially creating a personal brand to have your actual lifestyle and brand be one and the same thing. You don’t need to invite your audience into the most private aspects of your life but your personal brand should follow you where you go and be an authentic manifestation of who you are and amplify what you believe (your values).

5. Strive to Let other people tell your story! Word of mouth recommendations about you and your business are GOLDEN! One of my favorite personal brand sayings is ‘Personal branding is the story people tell about you when you're not in the room’. Nail that, and success will truly follow as all you have in this life is your name and the reputation you create.

6. What’s your legacy going to be? Once you’ve built your personal brand with a positive reputation and a loyal community behind it, the next step is to think about the legacy that you’ll leave behind. What are the keywords and actions that you want to be known for? Creating the right personal brand will not only help you be known in your field and consistently land work but it could be the difference between ‘Who are you?’ and ‘Thank you so much for being here!"

I’d love to know what you thought about those enormous personal branding truth bombs! Drop me a line or share to spread the word. I’d love to help you take the next step in elevating your brand and getting you some valuable online visibility that you’re proud to share.