Personal Branding: How to Set Up an Effective Strategy

Creating and managing one’s own personal and professional image on the Web, to make it a real brand, means setting up a Personal Branding strategy: “the art of selling oneself in a manner similar to what happens with commercial products”.

According to the most common definition of the term, it is a question of identifying or defining one’s strengths and communicating effectively what one is able to do, how one knows how to do it and why others should choose us.

10 THINGS TO KNOW TO SET UP AN EFFECTIVE PERSONAL BRANDING STRATEGY.

1. The right role for each channel.

We have at our disposal a wide variety of channels through which we can communicate ourselves or our business on the Web, but each of these has features that make it different from others. A good Personal Branding strategy must take this factor into account. Such as? Use each channel for what”does best”!

2. Never do cross-posting.

Our image is conveyed on different channels but is perceived as unique.  But this should not make us believe that when we share a content we must do it the same way on all the platforms where we are present. Each channel has its own language, its character and, above all, its target. To think that it is enough to send a post multiple in order to keep your profile active on a certain channel, it is an error. We therefore learn to know well the “character” of the medium with which we communicate and adapt our message to the channel. “The medium is the message”, McLuhan taught us.

3. Being ambassadors of knowledge is the best way to make yourself known and arouse interest.

Promoting yourself intelligently means being able to promote skills, passions, ideologies. Becoming a real guide for those who decide to follow us is a way to make us interesting and almost indispensable in the eyes of others.

4. Monitored.

Being experts in a particular field is the starting point but the real work is to keep the interests of our interlocutors alive, to constantly update and monitor user conversations. Because true promotion does not happen only through what we decide to publish, but also and above all from the opinions expressed by users.

5. Loyalty to your followers.

Once a user decides to become your follower, it is essential to feed the relationship through a careful process of loyalty. Respond to comments and interact with them when they show interest in the content you share.

6. Remember that you are what you say and how you say it.

Pay attention to the tone and the language you use, giving in to the flamer’s provocations is the worst trap in which you could fall, jeopardizing your reputation!

7. Aim for quality, not quantity.

Each content must be calibrated and in line with your branding strategy. Posting uninteresting or off-target material just to comply with a publication frequency is counter productive.

8. Create your virtual business card.

Services such as About.me or Visualize.me are useful together all the information about you on one page, creating a real hub on you.

About.me is a web application that allows you to create a customizable web page with all the contact information, a short bio, your interests and links to social media on which you are present.

Visualize.me is the free service that through your LinkedIn profile translates your CV into a lively and comprehensive infographics, customizable with themes, colors and fonts of your choice. The result? A colorful and different curriculum to share on social media, by email or as you prefer.

9. Do not underestimate the power of LinkedIn.

If you have chosen to open an account on this social network, be aware that it is a very powerful tool that highlights your professional profile in the world of work. A neglected profile, with the wrong photo or the inaccurate information, could seriously damage your online reputation.

Take care of your profile in detail without forgetting to include the skills that distinguish you, an image appropriate to the context and a summary of your information or those of your company.

10. Your image affects your company.

You will find that Personal Branding can be extremely effective in terms of visibility for your business.  If you have built a very strong image on the Net, this may also indirectly affect the perceived effect of your business or video company for which you are working (both positive and negative).

Setting a parallel strategy on multiple channels can, therefore, prove to be a winning (but also very expensive) tactic for you and your Brand. Choose appropriately and carefully which channels to supervise (better but few) according to your objectives. If you feel overwhelmed by the amount of work waiting for you, starting with one channel at a time might be a good idea.