What Is Personal Branding, why personal branding is important

What is Personal Branding and 3 Reasons why it’s important for your career?

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Have you ever asked yourself this question, “What is my brand identity” and “how I wanted to be known for”?

If you really want to make an impact in this competitive world, creating a branding strategy is definitely the place to begin. Personal branding can show the skills and qualities that someone has, making them important and different from others. Be a business or an individual employee or a CEO of a company, everyone needs personal branding.

What Is Personal Branding

Go to Google and search your name, what comes up? If the answer is “nothing”, you probably haven’t spent much time developing your personal brand.

When I Google my name “Debasis Nayak”, most of the first page of the Google SERPs is devoted to my online presence and my business listings. You’ll see my social media, business pages, and various websites where I’ve published articles.

What is Personal Branding & Why Personal Branding is Important

This is only because I’ve spent time developing my personal branding through my digital presence. I’ve created social media profiles on all the relevant sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook. I have written several articles and also managing few business listings online. Before I tell you how I did it, let’s start learning what personal branding is.

Personal branding is a relationship with you, an individual whose identity also exists separately from any company or any institution. The process of personal branding involves finding your uniqueness, building a reputation on the things you want to be known for, and then allowing yourself to be known for them. Ultimately, the goal is to create something that conveys a message, creates an impact and can be monetized. In layman terms, Personal branding is what separates you from the rest of the people in your niche surrounding.

“Your personal brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” – Jeff Bezos

Focusing and investing in your personal brand will add deep-rooted benefits into your personal and professional life as well as help open doors for you in the future. It will also encourage and help you to make decisions that are in line with your values. You don’t have to waste effort on activities that do not oscillate with your brand identity and deeper benefits.

If you want to stand out from the crowd and gain attention from potential employers, clients, customers, investors and collaborators then Personal Branding is the thing you need. Personal Branding indeed takes effort and time but its importance and benefits are monumental.

Why Personal Branding is Important

Whether you’re an employee or entrepreneur, it doesn’t matter. Cultivating a personal brand has become vital than ever. According to a CareerBuilder survey in 2018, 70% of employers use social media to screen candidates during the hiring process, and 43% of employers use social media to check on current employees. There are numerous reasons why personal branding is important than ever, but let’s see the top 5 reasons.

As of 2020, 43% of the US workforce is made up of freelancers and contract workers. If this applies to you, a personal brand can help you to attract high-class clients and bring in a larger paycheck. It helps establish your credibility and trustworthiness, and it also enables clients to find you.

With all the above in mind let’s explore the top 3 Amazing Benefits Of Personal Branding:

Personal Branding gives Name & Recognition

How you will feel when people know your name without you ever having to introduce yourself. This is why personal branding is important.

why personal branding is important, what is personal branding
Tej Lalvani from BBC’s Dragons Den

The above snapshot is from Tej Lalvani’s LinkedIn profile. He is recognised from BBC’s one of the most popular shows Dragons Den. His personal branding on LinkedIn is outstanding, this is why people recognise him and his work.

Personal branding is a great way to demonstrate about you, your skills and knowledge about a particular subject or field. It enables you to establish your name as a leader or subject matter expert in your field. You will be recognised in your speciality area, and people will recognise your work both online and offline.

Personal Branding Attract more opportunities

Personal branding helps a person build a connection with you. It also allows you to become very specific to people in your field. There is no limit to personal branding. It can go beyond the digital world.

As your reputation builds, you will get more exposure, leading to a positive influence and great referrals. After all, you’re the best at what you do, right? Build a network of people that you value and care about and build relationships. When they realise you care about them they will start to care about you.

One of the most amazing benefits of personal branding is that it can help you achieve any number of personal and professional goals. Strong Personal Branding will help to attract multiple opportunities for your career including:

  • Partnership
  • Followers
  • Promotions
  • Collaborations
  • Invitations
  • Public speaking engagements
  • Internship
  • Job opportunities
  • And Many More

Personal Branding Builds Trust And Confidence

The two main pillars of Personal Branding definition are transparency and authenticity. Your personal brand reflects why, what and how you do things, transparently and credibly. Building a personal brand makes people feel more comfortable as if they know you and your work! It establishes trust in your audience, employees, clients, potential prospects or anyone else with who you come into contact. Having a personal brand also clearly defines what your genuine intentions are, which is the key when building trust and confidence.

How to build your personal branding

Building your personal brand is a continuous process, as you grow your Personal Brand also needs to be reinvented. Building a personal brand never comes easy. While you can jump around and guess at the most effective strategy, we have defined 5 step-by-step processes on how to build your personal branding in 2021.

 

How to build your Personal Brand

A step by step guide on How to build your Personal Brand in 2021

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Personal branding is a relationship with you, an individual whose identity also exists separately from any company or any institution. You can explore more about Personal Branding and the reasons why it’s important for your career.

Let’s know how to build your personal brand in 2021:

How to build your Personal Brand in 5 steps

Here are the top five step by step guides to build an attractive personal brand in 2021:

1. Know who you are

To develop a personal brand that reflects your personal and professional identity, you first need to know who you are. You need to self examine yourself and create a list of your personal strengths and weaknesses.

Let’s start by asking 5 questions to yourself:

  • What are my specialities?
  • What motivates me?
  • How I can motivate others?
  • What are the things I get often complemented by others?
  • Which roles seem to drain my energy?

In case you are having difficulties finding answers to these questions, ask colleagues, friends and family how they would describe you. Once you’re more aware of the different facets of your personality, you can decide how best to brand them.

Keep in mind that many people struggle to choose a specific niche because they don’t want to limit themselves. Realize that your personal brand, like many corporate brands, will change as your career grows. The best strategy is to choose a particular area you’d like to focus on and let it evolve over time.

2. Find your niche, how you wanted to be known as

Personal branding is what separates you from the rest of the people trying to excel in your niche or field. Your personal brand is more than a reflection of who you are today; it’s a roadmap of where you to go. Pick something specific that you can do better than 90% of the world, it might be a special skill, talent or anything niche.

In addition to understanding your existing skills and competencies, assessing your strengths and weaknesses as they relate to whichever industry or career you want to break into next. By doing this, you’ll uncover the skills and traits that make you distinct, as well as the areas where you need to improve or gain new knowledge in order to advance.

3. Define your audience and Craft your story

Before you start crafting your personal brand story, you need to find out your target audience to whom you’re trying to reach. Are they recruiters or head hunters? Are they industry thought leaders? An individual at a particular company? The sooner you define the audience, the easier it will be to craft your story, because you’ll better understand the type of story you need to tell and where you need to tell it.

For example, if your goal is to reach hiring managers and recruiters, you might start by creating or updating your LinkedIn profile. Why? Because 92% of recruiters leverage social media to find high-quality candidates and, of those, 87% use LinkedIn.

On the other hand, if you are a graphic designer trying to impress the existing clients and attract new customers, you might choose to tell your story via a personal website or portfolio, where you can better express your wide range of talents.

4. Optimise and grow your digital presence

Below are the 5 most important statistics why you need to optimise and grow your online presence for building your personal branding.

  1. As of January 2021, there were 4.66 billion active internet users worldwide which makes it 59.5% of the global population.
  2. Employees at companies that invest in personal branding initiatives are 27% more likely to feel optimistic about their company’s future.
  3. 95% of recruiters believe that the job market will remain or become more competitive. If you don’t stand out online, your competition will fail.
  4. 90% of recruiters say they conduct online research of potential candidates.
  5. Of all Internet users, 65% see online search as the most trusted source of information about people and companies

How to build your Personal Brand

Make sure your online presence over social media platforms and other online mediums are engaging to your audience, colleagues, potential clients, head hunters, hiring managers, and others.

Here are some platform-specific tips to help you effectively craft your personal brand online.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn serves as the best professional social media tool and ultimate online tool defining your brand. Below are how LinkedIn can help you for building your Personal Brand.

  • Be authentic: On Linkedin, the best and only way to grow and win an audience is to be real, honest, and focus on what makes you unique and what you can offer. Personal branding is not about sales or spin.
  • Create a distinctive profile headline: Your LinkedIn headline is the first description that people will see. Make it count. Good headlines are clear, confident, and use terms people search for.
building your personal brand
Satya Nadella’s LinkedIn Profile
  • Use a professional photo: LinkedIn users with a professional headshot receive 14 times more profile views than those without. Upload a current photo that’s closely cropped to your face. Remember, you should be the focal point, so avoid any busy backgrounds—and smile. The more welcoming you look, the more likely recruiters are to contact you.
  • Avoid clichés: Words like “creative,” “extensive experience,” and “team player” appear on so many profiles that they’re almost meaningless. Find unique ways to describe your skills.
  • Be visible: Stand out by updating your status with projects you’re working on, stuff you’re reading and your opinions on them, and events you’re attending. Your brand is not just who you are; it’s what you do.
  • Build brand associations: You’re judged by the company you keep. By building your LinkedIn network, you’re building your personal brand. Connect with colleagues, classmates, and others.
  • Add to your knowledge: Differentiate yourself by knowing your industry deeply. Read up on topics you care about (as a start, check out LinkedIn Today, Channels, and Influencers).
  • Share in LinkedIn Groups: Every Group post you make and question you answer is an opportunity to market yourself and to build your credibility. Groups are also a great way to learn industry lingo.
  • Be personal: Customize connection requests or any other message on LinkedIn to your recipient. People will appreciate personal attention.
  • Be consistent: Make sure all the pieces of your professional footprint are consistent and send the same message – from your LinkedIn profile to your resume to other social networks.
  • Give generously: Helping others is a crucial way to build your own personal brand. Give advice, share job leads, provide endorsements, recommendations and congratulate people on their successes.
  • Ask for recommendations: Recommendations are highly noticeable on LinkedIn, always ask for recommendations from your managers, clients, business partners & former colleagues.

Twitter

Leverage this platform to highlight and build upon your industry expertise. Try to incorporate your personal brand into your Twitter bio by using hashtags to focus on your niche, following leaders in your field, and retweeting top industry stories. Don’t forget: what you tweet is still a part of your online image.

Personal website or portfolio

In this digital world, one of the best ways to stand out is by having a website that reflects your personal brand. Not only to build your brand but to add value to your audience. This is your platform to showcase your skills and experience, and also to share valuable advice with your audience.

Imagine what impact it will make when you share your digital CV or portfolio available on your own website with recruiters or potential customers.

ImproBrand - Best Branding Agency in India, building your personal brand
Niel Patel’s Website

Even if you are in the modelling, marketing or design field, it’s especially important to have a personal website or portfolio that provides essential information about who you are and helps visually highlight your work.

You can create your own site using WordPress, Wix, or Blogspot, among others. Small brands and business owners can also take advantage of helpful design resources like Canva for creating brand-specific content.

5. Follow the experts

The most important step in building your personal brand is to follow and learn from industry experts and leaders. In building a personal brand, your goal is to stand out but you can’t rise to the top without taking inventory of who’s already there.

Conclusion

Your brand is more than just an online persona; it’s how you carry yourself at home, in the office, and even on your daily commute.

As the digital ecosystem changes and your career evolves, so will your personal brand. Adjust your persona accordingly as you meet different people, find new networking opportunities, and grow in your career. As long as it reflects your professional life, don’t hesitate to create a brand that lets you shine.

Last but not the least, building your personal brand is not an overnight process, but once you have started working, it gets easy and results are worth it.

What is Sonic Branding and 7 Reasons Why is Sonic Branding Important

What is Sonic Branding and 7 Reasons Why is Sonic Branding Important than ever

by with No Comment Branding

We all know that how sound plays a vital part in our lives. Its importance in the modern-day world and digital society is increasing. Today’s competitive marketplace is loaded with modern ideas, innovative products, and exciting companies, which is why branding is more important than ever. So it’s no surprise that Sound is also playing an important part in modern branding. This is where Sonic Branding or Audio Branding comes into the picture.

What is Sonic Branding?

When sound is used as a trademark to identify a particular brand, i.e people identify a brand by a particular sound, for example, you recognize intel, Apple, Netflix from their respective sounds, this is what we call sonic branding.

If you’re a ’90s kid, you’d take it to MGM i.e, the lion roars before the Tom and Jerry show. This era is known as the audible era, intelligent speakers like Alexa, Siri, and many such will do in the future. The sonic branding or sound trademark would be one of the most intelligent choices in the current scenario.

In short, sonic branding is the voice of a brand. Whether it’s the default ringtone on the Apple iPhone, Airtel India’s iconic tune, The McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It” or It’s the “Intel Inside” jingle, all of them are the best of Audio Branding or Sonic Branding or Sound Trademark ever created.

Why Sonic Branding?

Sonic branding gets attention and creates strong brand recognition. In an environment filled with information, attention may be your brand’s rarest asset. Adding sound to your brand identity may help you get the attention you’re looking for. 

Don’t you think about how small audio has that impact? As compared to visual advertising audio branding is more influential, as a unique and catchy jingle can make people recognize your brand. Let’s discuss 7 reasons why is Sonic Branding Important:

7 Reasons why is Sonic Branding Important

Sonic branding can be more influential than visual advertising because a distinctive, catchy tune will make people recall your brand. Many studies have shown that music and sound affect the limbic part of the human brain, which deals with memory and emotions. This is how brand jingles can stick with you.

Do you know in 2019, Mastercard spent $15 million on its new sonic branding. That is how important Sonic Branding is today. Below are the 7 important factors why is Sonic Branding Important than ever:

Sonic Branding gives you Credibility

Sonic branding attracts customers’ attention and hence makes them rely on the brand. And as we already know a customer is the best source of advertisement. When a customer gives credibility to a brand it makes others rely on it too. Hence, audio branding attracts sales and helps your brand get a credible position in the market.

Sonic Branding Enhances the Brand Experience

When your customers experience your brand through a specific sound or music, they learn to associate those distinctive sounds with your company, product, or service. If done well, your customers will immediately think of the music or sound when they think of your brand or think of your brand when they hear the song or sound.

The sounds you choose to use as Audio Branding for your company should provide a quick glimpse of your brand story and DNA. You can convey so much through sound and music that you may not be able to say through words. If you want to help potential customers feel certain about your brand, you can get there faster through sonic branding.

Smart Speaker ImpactSonic Branding, Audio Branding, Sound Trademark - ImproBrand, What is sonic a logo

 

One of the big transformations which are happening today is the rise of smart speakers like Amazon Alexa (Echo Smart Speaker) and Google Nest. This makes developing a sonic brand far more important than in the past.

According to Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard CMO and author of Quantum Marketing, 25% of U.S. households already use smart speakers. And, these devices are increasingly used for shopping. One forecast predicts smart speaker shipments will total 400 million in 2025, about four times the 2019 estimate.

Sonic Branding helps you stand out in the market

Out of all the old traditional branding methods, Sonic branding makes you stand different. It is a new and much-advanced branding strategy and even the hardly exploited one. According to some studies, the next decade would be dominated by audio. With the evolution of smart speakers and personal assistants, you can easily understand that. Focusing on a futuristic approach and keeping in mind that many brands have still not invested in this field is the right time to switch.

Financial Success

A study shows that for low involvement products such as soap, beards, etc. Sonic branding has encouraged customers to invest, this has increased the sales for brands. So, if we are smart with our audio branding, it will drive a company’s healthy ( both short-term and long-term ) financial success. 

Impacts Customer’s Mood

What is Sonic Branding and 7 Reasons Why is Sonic Branding Important, Audio Branding

Today’s world has a lot of stress for the people, so while choosing an audio/sound for our brand we should consider that it should be soothing to the ears, this will give a calming effect to customers and hence, drive purchase. A study shows that slow and soothing music has higher customer retention.

Makes the Brand Omnipresent

Don’t you want your brand to be omnipresent? We already have other mediums to advertise and even invested in them, but have you ever thought of seeing where your brand stands when there is no medium?

This is when sonic branding comes to play. It makes your brand omnipresent. 

Conclusion

We can say, audio branding gives a voice to your brand, Yes a voice. Your brand can speak uniquely and get recognized by the customer. Of course, it is somewhat a futuristic approach but, but the future isn’t.

So far, the COVID19 has enhanced the audio sector let it be the quality or quantity. People are much into the audible era, online streaming platforms have built a unique opportunity for SONIC BRANDING to come into play.