There are so many reasons why personal branding is essential for your professional and personal development. If you’re looking to stand out in your industry or profession for the issues that matter to you, making amazing connections and increase your following, you need to know how to create the X-Factor with your personal branding.
Having a personal brand doesn’t mean you need to be famous and it doesn’t mean that you necessarily have to copy what other people are doing either. It’s about focusing on how you can take ownership of who you are and showcase your values to your audience, clients and peers.
Here are my 7 tips for creating the X-Factor with your personal brand:
1. Be Authentic
There are a lot of people out there who are trying to fit into different moulds and trying to please everyone. The fact is, not everyone has to love or even like who you are and what you do. The key point of your personal brand development is that you can be yourself and you don’t have to make excuses for being true to the very best of who you are. You have your own unique perspective, journey and experience to share, so step into your role confidently and embrace your self-value.
2. Know Why People Are Attracted to You
We are all naturally attracted to people who motivate us and make us feel good, those people who have a magnetic energy and character. Many of my clients, friends and family members tell me, “you’ll be really proud of me” for something that they have achieved or worked on to improve themselves. I take pride in the fact that I always do my best to motivate and empower those around me to want to do better and that they see me as someone they can rely on to keep them focused on their goals.
You have an attraction factor that allows you to be someone of value to others, when you know what that is, and you share your gift with them, that’s when you make a difference to someone’s life.
3. Focus on Your Strengths
We are not all brilliant at everything and we aren’t supposed to be otherwise how could we help and support each other? I was never really academic when I was at school, I was much more creative, but I never really understood how to develop my creativity and focus on that as a strength until much later in life. Nowadays, we are more attuned to accepting that we all have different strengths. We excel when we pay more attention to developing them as assets, than when we try to fit into a perceived expectation.
Be the best of who you are doing what you are good at and find support from people who have strengths in those areas that you don’t.
4. Focus on Your Goals by Developing a Plan and Taking Action
Fulfilment comes from achieving your goals and ambitions and your goals and ambitions are achieved by having a plan and taking action. Your intentions for your professional and personal development can only be realised when you make the commitment to doing what you need to do to everyday to get there. Having the mindset and focus to go all out for what you want, showcases your determination and motivation to your leadership and peers.
You deserve to have the very best that life has to offer, show the world that you have the power and strength within you to get through any challenges that you may face and see your goals materialise.
5. Share Your Passion for What Matters to You
One of the main reasons why people will follow you is by sharing your passion for what you love and care about. Emotion plays a key role in personal brand attraction and gaining affiliations based on a shared compassion for topics and issues that matter to you, it creates a different level of relationship with your audience.
Your personal brand should define who you are and who you are isn’t just about your work, it’s about all of you. Give your audience a more rounded view of your brand by sharing what you are passionate about.
6. Collaborate with Other Personal Brands
Working with other professionals with whom you can share knowledge and experiences to enhance what you do, or offer is a great way of widening your network and teaming up with another professional so that you can support each other’s development and success.
You can open up more opportunities for yourself and your collaborators when you all work together for the greater good of your respective audiences.
7. Always Give Value
Most of your audience will be on one or multiple social media channels and if you want to raise your profile, you need to be there too as often as possible. Increasing your visibility and communicating regularly with your audience will help to keep you front of mind. Share varying content that helps to reinforce your value, views and thought leadership.
You can create credibility and influence with your personal branding by being a visible and reliable resource for information, ideas and innovation within your area of expertise.
Conclusion
Your personal brand when developed correctly should help you to stand out, but it’s also about being true to who you are and sharing the knowledge, skills and experience you have gained to help others.
You are unique, and you are a valuable asset, not only for yourself but for those whose lives you have the potential to make an impact on. Keep learning and striving to be your best and you’ll soon realise your X-Factor!