Welcome to TBD with Sam Stoner. In this podcast, we talk about all things Tech, Business, and Design. Along the way, we attempt to innovate indeterminacy and reduce the stress of the unknown. Come join us!
3 Reminders When Building Your Personal Brand
Episode 1
Be Clear.
To have a good brand means that you have to have a good understanding of what it is you are trying to accomplish. Getting a clear understanding of what it is you are trying to accomplish will help you narrow down the important talking points you have about your brand.
For personal brands, this means you have to have a good sense of self. This means understanding who you are, what do you have to offer, and why should people pay attention to you?
Understand your audience and the specific platform you are using. Understand how your audience will be interacting with you by interacting with others on the same platform.
Once you get a clear understanding of what it is you are trying to accomplish, you can create language around that goal. Now you can use that language on your website and social media. These become the talking points for you to talk about yourself and clearly articulate your goals to your audience.
Be Honest.
I will not deny that there is still an element of performance that comes with social media, content creation, and personal branding. Performing and creating entertainment for an audience is not a bad thing; portraying yourself as someone you are not in order to get attention is.
Honesty helps with confidence. If you are being yourself, that can help you be confident in what you are talking about because you don’t have to act any different. For example, I naturally have a positive disposition and am usually wearing a smile or laughing at corny jokes because I genuinely find them funny. Of course, I am not always this way and when I do get pessimistic and grouchy, I get a pit in my stomach and I don’t quite feel like myself. In my interactions with clients and in the presentation of this podcast, I want to be my happy, smiling, and laughing self because why would I want to be anything different?
Be Consistent.
Branding. Pick out colors, fonts, and logos and stick to them. Of course you can always update these at any point, just know that the more you look like you are testing things out to see how they look, the less people will be convinced you are confident in your branding.
Content. If you are serious about gaining traction with an audience, making consistent content is key. It doesn’t have to be daily, but create an attainable schedule, taking into consideration your specific constraints, and work hard to stick with it. The more you can make it easy for your audience to find your content, the more they will be willing to view it.
How You Talk About Yourself. Figure out what makes you, you and what you are trying to accomplish with your brand. Narrow it down to three to five clear and concise points. Use the points to guide your branding and how you talk about yourself.
For example, I have narrowed it down to four things for me. 1) Provide value, 2) Help people, 3) Make connections, and 4) Have fun! These are not the only things I want to get out of my personal brand, but they each encompass a majority of my vision for what I can offer to my audience. Now what are yours?