When you are an entrepreneur who does not have a physical product to offer, but your experience and knowledge are the service you offer, it is important to create your personal brand, which will be what differentiates you from others.
In general there is a lot of talk about entrepreneurship of physical products but little is said about undertaking offering your services.
The concept of personal branding not only serves for entrepreneurs, but also if you are looking for work. This concept was created by Tom Peters in 1999 and was born as a technique to get a job.
Nowadays with the equality of possibilities and where your competence is in any part of the world, it becomes relevant to be able to differentiate yourself from others.
In the world there are many people with your same studies or experiences, and even better qualified, but how can you differentiate yourself?
The keys to forming your personal brand, are to answer the following questions:
Who I am?
You should reflect on what differentiates you from others, and it will also help you to ask family members, co-workers, friends, how they see you. Many times the perception we have of ourselves is not the same as what others have. It will be your job that those two perceptions are the same.
At this point you will have to evaluate your strengths, your personal resources, what defines you as a professional, since these points will shape your competitive advantage.
How is my relationship with other people?
Interpersonal relationships are fundamental, since people are faithful to a brand when they feel identified with it, when they feel they share the same values.
Evaluate how your current relationships are and if you should work on improving them, or if you should create new relationships. Study where you can find new people who might be interested in your brand.
Where do I want to go?
This is the starting point, if you do not know where you want to go, you can not advance in the creation of your personal brand.
This question can be related to the first question, who am I? Because your goal can be to modify what your image is like today and turn it into what you want, of course, without ceasing to be yourself.
Having a clear goal is the first step of your personal branding strategy.
What message do I want to convey?
For me this question is very transcendental, since you should think about how you want to contribute to this world and how you want to be reminded.
The tone of the message is also important. It will be in a formal or colloquial tone, situating you as an expert or sharing your experiences.
Physical appearance is also important when transmitting your message, as it must be consistent with your brand. If you want to position yourself as an expert and your tone is formal, your wardrobe can not be informal. Of course this seems obvious, but there are people who think that as they sell a service and the important thing is the service, they do not care about their personal image, but remember that the packaging of your service is you.
Also think about whether you are going to use your own name or a professional name, if you create a logo.
What channels will I use to convey this message?
I am currently in the process of creating my personal brand, that’s why I tell it from my experience.
This concept can be linked to the digital identity, since in digital environments like the current one, surely your clients or your work proposals will get them on the networks.
Do you know that people talk about you in networks? Surely you have a profile on facebook, twitter or linkedin. Keep in mind that what you show on those networks is what your customers or recruiters will see.
Companies no longer only investigate the CV that you sent to Human Resources or the presentation of your company, but they will also search you on the Internet, so it is very important that you have clear what you want to be seen from you in the networks
I propose a simple exercise, google your name (look for it with the option of incognito window), and see what appears of you, surely one of the first things that appear are your profiles on social networks. I recommend you check the privacy of this if there are photos that you are not interested to see your potential customers or recruiters.
You can also see what position you appear in google, because if there are other people with your name, it is possible that they appear before you.
In my opinion, creating a digital identity consistent with your brand is paramount.
Remember that if you are an entrepreneur, you are looking for a job or you have a job, your chances increase if people find you online. It is better that you speak of yourself to let others do it for you, since what others talk about you in the networks also constitutes your digital identity.
But I do not want to talk about the virtual channel alone, the face-to-face channels are also important. As I said before, the interpersonal relationships that you can create are also an asset of your brand, for which I recommend you to have relationships with people, attending events, doing courses, etc; where you can find people who are your target audience.
I invite you to dare to venture into this theme of personal branding.