A Comprehensive Guide To Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs

Kumar Gauraw

Personal Branding is not a term most probably you are unaware of anymore. Chances are, you are already working hard to build your brand identity in the marketplace.

Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs - Businessman Designing Brand Strategy

I thought of writing about this again today because I see a lot of people doing too many things going in all directions in an effort to build a personal brand probably because they still don’t understand what it really means.

So, let’s talk about it!

What Is A Personal Brand?

When you think of Steve Jobs, what comes to your mind? Most probably, the logo of Apple? Probably iPhone, iPad and Mac?

When you hear the word “Starbucks” what comes to your mind? Undoubtedly, coffee?

When you hear Warren Buffet’s name anywhere, what comes to your mind? I would think the thought of Stock Market, investment etc.?

Now, that is what a personal branding’s goal is. These brand names have associated themselves strongly with one particular thing of value, right?

So, what is the one thing you want to be known for? What is the goal of your branding efforts? Have you identified that for yourself and your business? What do people think of when they hear your brand name?

Why Build A Personal Brand Online?

Everybody wants to be remembered for something and that is a good reason for personal branding.  But why do we talk about brand building online?

Well, the reasons are pretty straight forward.

Most of us spend most of our time online these days. We do shopping online, banking online, customer service online, talking to friends, blogging, relationship building, finding jobs and the list goes on.

We review products, check people’s background, reputation of a company and research to find answers for all our problems online often.

If so much is going on online, doesn’t it make sense for you and me as entrepreneurs to be out there and build our brand identity? Doesn’t it make sense to build your personal brand in such a way that when I come across your name anywhere on the web, I can immediately associate you with something that you are good at and known for?

You Need To Know Your Strengths

A strong personal brand is a result of your reputation, trustworthiness, and your ability to execute precisely what you promise.

For example, imagine some of the areas where you might want to build your personal brand around:

  • You might want to build your personal brand around being a helpful person.
  • You may want to build your personal brand around being a great networker. 
  • You may want to build your personal brand around being a person with great sales skills.
  • You may want to build your personal brand  around being a life coach.
  • You may want to build your personal brand around being a techie.

…and so on.

These are just a few tips to get your creative juices flowing. You may want to evaluate if you really have identified what you want to be known for, and that begins with you knowing your strengths.

Once you know your strengths, the personal branding efforts you put will be in the direction of making your brand name stand out from other similar products and services. The goal of personal branding is to make you stand out, isn’t it?

Important Things About Personal Branding

First of all you need to know that you can’t fake your personal brand. Your brand needs to be genuine and that means you need to be yourself.

If you try to be someone you are really not, it will quickly  become apparent and then it will hurt you more than it will benefit you. You want to be careful. People who have built big brand names such as Robert Kiyosaki, Neil Patel, Derek Halpern, Robin Sharma or Michael Hyatt are same people offline as they are online. They have integrity in their brand name and so their brand identities flourish day after day.

If you choose to create a brand identity or an entity rather than your own name, it’s okay. Just make sure that you know why you are doing that and what are your long term plans behind such a strategy.

Many people choose to build a big brand image online as a company name while keeping themselves hidden underneath. And there is nothing wrong with that approach because they have their reasons for doing it that way. You make your decision based on your strategy.

How To Go About Personal Branding

There is not one thing that you can do to build a strong personal brand for yourself and your enterprise. It is a mix of various simple things along with an excellent delivery of what you promise to deliver as a brand name.

To give you an idea on some of the simple things you can do consistently to start strengthening your brand identity, here are a list of activities I am going to suggest you should pay close attention to:

Are You Actively Listening?

  • Are you monitoring any mention of your name on Google, Digg, Twitter, Technorati (if you are a blogger) etc.?

  • If you get a notification that you were mentioned somewhere, are you responding appropriately? Are you engaging with the people who are talking about you?

  • Are you listening to what thought leaders in your niche are doing? If you are, then you may pick up a few ideas from them and apply in your business. I repeat, go by what they do, not what they say. That means you need to listen with eyes open.

How Impressive Is Your Home On The Internet?

  • Your home on the internet is your blog/website. Do you have one? Especially as an entrepreneur, you definitely need one. Visit this page for more information on this topic.

  • Does your website/blog give a positive impression about yourself and your business?

  • Do you have your “About” page that talks about who you are, what you do in a way that you would like to be seen?

  • Have you integrated your social media profiles with your website for people to connect with you and interact with you on social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Google+ etc.?

  • Have you enabled commenting on your blog and do you encourage people to share their thoughts with you about the topics you talk about?

  • Are you paying attention to the fonts and colors on you website/blog? Is it easily readable and eye friendly?

  • Does your website load appropriately? What it tells your visitor is, you value their time. Remember, nobody is going to wait for minutes for your website to load. For example, check your website's loading speed at pingdom tools.

  • Is your website/blog searchable with Google/Bing? That means, have you done the basic SEO work for your website pages? This is how you are going to get visitors to your website, isn’t it?

Have Strong Presence On Social Media

I touched on this a bit in the section above already. People need a way to get to know you, to connect with you in a less informal environment. Social media networks are a great way to facilitate that.

As an entrepreneur, it is almost a need that you have accounts on social networks and other social media platforms. If you think it’s only for college kids, you are missing out big time. In fact, if you don’t have a presence on some of these social networks, you almost give the impression that you don’t know how to market your business.

Here are a few handful of social networks and other social media platforms where I recommend that you create accounts and stay active at a few that you find the most appealing for you and your business:

  • Have an active and impressive presence on Twitter no matter what your business is. Connect with thought leaders in your niche and engage with them. Build your Twitter audience.

  • Facebook is another most important social network with more than a billion active users. You definitely want to have a professional presence on Facebook. The good news is, you don’t have a 140 character limitation on Facebook.

  • Get a Gmail account and with it, sign up for YouTube so you can build your audience there through videos.

  • Since you already have Gmail account, do not forget to sign up for a Google Plus account. This is the most important social network where you want to be there especially if you are interested in getting your business to be ranked well by Google. Build a strong Google+ profile and stay active there.

  • Get a StumbleUpon.com account for sharing your content and discovering awesome content by others.

  • Get a WordPress.com account for the obvious benefits of your gravatar showing up  everywhere on the web you comment on a WordPress powered website. Plus there are other benefits too.

  • How about a LinkedIn account for yourself to represent yourself in a professional way to other professionals? If you don’t have it already, get there at LinkedIn and reserve your spot there.

  • Get online on Pinterest.com – another popular image based social networking site. You may or may not have a strong audience there. But you need to have your profile created because you never know where people will search for you or find you to connect with you. Plus, if it’s free, why won’t you get it?

  • Get your account at Tumblr.com, another free blogging platform where you can syndicate your content and connect with other influential bloggers out of over 170 million blogs on this platform.

  • Get your about.me profile page created in synchronization with your website’s theme. Your about.me page is almost like an online business card. Make it professional.

Use Every Opportunity To Promote Your Blog

I already suggested that you link your social profiles with your blog. But it is equally critical that all your social media profiles also point back to your blog/website.

Your blog/website is your home on the internet and no matter where else you go on the internet, people who meet you there, should know where your home is. For that, here is what I recommend:

  • Make sure your Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/Pinterest/Google+ etc. all of the profiles have a link to your blog/website promptly displayed.

  • Make sure your blog posts (if you blog) are syndicated on your social media profiles regularly (do not over promote but definitely syndicate).

  • Make sure your emails have an email signature and that contains the URL of your blog/website listed.

  • Have your business cards professionally designed and get your website/blog URLs listed there promptly.

  • Get an email address with your domain name (if you don't have it yet) and use it in every business communication.

Participate In Online Conversations

Branding is also an aspect where third party credibility goes a long way. That means, you need to have other bloggers, other entrepreneurs engaging with you on social media and on your websites and wherever appropriate. For that to happen, you need to put some efforts in that direction and here are a few tips:

  • Identify 30 to 40 influential bloggers and online entrepreneurs in your niche and start to comment regularly at their blogs. The more valuable your comments, the more it reflects on your ability and your character and the more they will be willing to engage with you eventually.

  • Listen to conversations those people are engaging on social media and participate in the conversations appropriately, be very constructive and helpful.

  • When you are engaging in discussions, conversations, answering questions in forums and commenting on other people’s blogs, remember it’s not about you. Be humble, be helpful and don’t be in the habit of promoting yourself in such situations. Just participate to add value selflessly.

  • To engage others with you on your blog posts, ask questions towards the end of your blog posts. This gives your readers an opportunity to answer your questions and connect with you easily.

  • If you are using a quote, an image you have taken from somewhere, give due credit to the person. It helps build your brand as a person of integrity and you know how important that is, right?

Build A Strong Community

When you are in business for yourself, you are obviously looking for customers and you want to be in the marketplace for that purpose.

However, the purpose of your personal brand is to build third-party credibility for yourself and that happens when you build a strong community which helps you market yourself in the marketplace.

Where I am going with this is, your community is not the marketplace (although you may get a few community members who love to become your customers  and when that happens, you should count it a blessing.) The goal of your community is to create buzz around your brand name.

So, how do you establish a strong and buzzing community? Here are a few tips:

  • Building your community begins with your focus being on being helpful towards other people without any selfish motive. That means, your website, your mission statement, your social profiles should indicate clearly that you are about others and not just about self.

  • Be reachable, be responsive and be helpful in your response if somebody asks a question or even complains about something.

  • Be an active member of other people’s communities and engage through your helpful contributions.

  • If somebody takes time to leave a comment on your blog, thank them because they would have very well consumed your content and walked away without saying anything. But they didn’t do that.

  • Being part of any community doesn’t mean you only have to answer for others. Feel free to ask questions to your community because you will have people who know the answers for your questions. They will be glad to answer them for you.

  • If you make a mistake, apologize promptly and sincerely. It only helps you shine as a genuine human willing to take responsibility for a mistake.

Master The Art Of Active Promotion

Promotion of your own website/blog on social media is important. You need to create awareness about your brand name consistently. That is why blogging is such a great way to gracefully promote your brand identity regularly.

But then, bragging isn’t promotion and bragging is not healthy. Self-promotion all the time is not healthy either. You need to take your promotion as creating awareness in a sensible manner while getting your community to help promote your brand even in a more effective manner.

So, here are a few tips on promotion online:

  • Share your blog posts on Facebook/Twitter/Google+/Pinterest/Digg/StumbleUpon/LinkedIn and drive traffic every time you create a new blog post. You can also re-share your most popular posts once in a while and it, sometimes, helps drive traffic to your blog.

  • Share other people’s posts on social media more than you share yours. Promote others more than you promote yourself. I would say that you promote other people’s great content 80% of the time and promote your content only 20%.

  • When you are blogging, building your community, linking out to others and promoting their resourceful posts is a nice way to show you care about people and you value quality.

  • When you go to comment on other people’s blogs, leave thoughtful , insightful comments that add value to the original post because remember, your comments represent you and your comment lives there as long as that website lives.

  • Create original and creative resources and share them so others want to share it and promote your content. That is one of the best ways to get others to promote your content and thus your brand in turn.

Consistency Is A Big Deal

When you are serious about building your brand identity, it is important to understand that consistency is more important than anything else.

I have seen people getting all fired up about blogging, social media, online marketing and then fizzle out after a while because they didn’t see quick results or they didn’t find it worth continuing for their own personal reasons.

But consistency is the name of the game. If you can stay consistent and stay the course, you will eventually see your brand name making some amazing impact. So, I would highly encourage you to make a commitment to stay committed to your branding goals.

Over To You – Share Your Thoughts/Experiences

What are some of your favorite activities to increase your brand awareness? What techniques of personal branding have you found to be the most effective?

Please share any additional tips or success stories you might have that will help people looking to increase their brand awareness will help.

You can share your thoughts in the comments by clicking here. Thank you kindly!

Kumar Gauraw

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Kumar Gauraw is a Personal Branding & Social Media strategist helping entrepreneurs and skilled professionals achieve personal and professional success by developing leadership and leveraging the power of the Internet, Blogging and Social Media.

50 Awesome Thoughts So Far, Add Yours Now...

  1. Greetings Kumar,
    Wow! You’ve really covered it all here. I think something that continues to be the biggest challenge for me is social media. I’m so busy behind the scenes with projects I’m working on, that I sometimes need to sacrifice being as active as I’d like to. I did consider outsourcing Twitter, for example, but replies would not be authentic,

    I agree with you, and probably the biggest point is consistency… which communicates your dependability.
    Excellent post Kumar! Thanks!

    Bill

    • Yes Bill, outsourcing your replies couldn’t be automated although it could be outsourced, something that Michael Hyatt has been doing very effectively.

      If you haven’t read, I would highly recommend read because it’s such a fun book to read anyway. The book I am talking about “The 4-Hour-Workweek” 🙂

      However, I wouldn’t sacrifice my productivity for social media activity because my brand depends on my ability to deliver excellent products and services. Those things are more important than just being active on social media.

      But, if you can find a way to get both done correctly and effectively, that’s the way to do it 🙂

      Regards,
      Kumar

  2. Hi Kumar,

    I think that almost each and every tip you shared here is fine if it is considered separately. However, if you consider the whole “package”, there’s something missing though… It’s impossible to be done unless you outsource the work. Each day has only 24 hrs 😉

    Here’s my tip for everyone who doesn’t want or cannot afford to outsource some of the activities described here: test what works better for you and focus on the “winning” tactics and strategies.

    For example, having “an active and impressive presence on Twitter” is a time consuming activity. It is fine as long as you get results, otherwise it’s a wrong strategy. You can’t get back your time, can you? The more time you waste by doing something that isn’t profitable, the less time you spend by doing something that works fine for you. That’s a losing strategy.

    So… don’t try to do everything (you can’t do it anyway) and don’t focus on what other people suggest. Test everything and then… Focus on things you noticed that work for you, not on things that work for other people – no matter who they are and how successful they are!

    I hope this helps your readers 🙂

    • Hi Adrian,

      Yes, it does help and in fact, it should be a disclaimer in the beginning 🙂

      Thank you for adding tremendous value through your comment and clarifying a very important thing for my readers.

      Trying to do everything without a strategy or without having a focus on what is working and what is not, is a losing strategy, indeed.

      Regards,
      Kumar

  3. It has been aptly described by the author that personal branding needs to be given a lot of attention and to above given names; I will add a few more like the name of Nancy Cleary’s business or Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing makes it clear to a potential customer that she is a publisher.

  4. I think personal branding is most effective through Social Media.

    You can really engage with your audience (and ask questions to find out what they specifically want to learn).

    Its the personal touch, that can add authority to your web-voice.

  5. Hi Kumar,
    Wow…you certainly covered just about everything here! As to your call to action: I find Social Media important!

    Getting out there on Social Media is important these days. Now there are so many different kinds of social media platforms and if we try to be on the all, we would be spending all day doing this. I like to pick 2 where most of the people are that are interested in me. They are Facebook and Google+ Twitter too, but I’m not so strong at it.

    I did have to let go of a few because it was getting overwhelming. Consistency is the key on the social networks. It’s all about time management. I like to schedule posts on Facebook for the week from my FB Page. I can do it all in one sitting and that clears my mind. Of course it has to be strategic! I check FB 2 or 3 times a day for ten minute intervals. So 30 minutes there each day goes a long way!

    I do the same thing on Google+ and it works efficiently.
    I will also take a minute or two and scroll down a bit on those two platforms and hit a like and comment when I see something of interest.

    That’s my time management that I use so I can have a good presence on SM.

    Cheers!

    -Donna

    • Hi Donna,

      Pretty much I also use same networks you mentioned as my main social media networks. However, I do keep myself active on others such as Pinterest, Tumblr, StumbleUpon etc. in addition to social bookmarking and other community websites.

      It is hard. But then, nothing worth having is easy anyway? If managing social media and being significantly successful at it would have been easy, we wouldn’t have had some people extremely successful while others, struggling 🙂 I guess it’s a choice we have to make and make it happen. Don’t you think?

      I am not active everywhere as much as I would like to be so far. But I want to get there and that’s one of my goals going forward into the future. Let’s see how far I succeed this year in that area…

      Have a great weekend and I am looking forward to sharing a few things with your readers next week 🙂
      Regards,
      Kumar

  6. Hey Kumar,

    Excellent post and very thorough indeed. I have to agree with Adrian though on this one, we can’t do it all.

    As you know I recently had one of the associates from Brand.com write a guest post for me last month on why branding is so important. I was also interviewed on their site and another who asked me what were the three most important things I thought we should do when it came to branding. It’s like you said, what do we want to be known for.

    We can’t be everywhere and although they do recommend you grabbing your name or business name on as many sites as possible because that does brand you, I can’t be active on them all and my target audience isn’t on them all either.

    We have to spend our time on the sites that will benefit us the most but we also have to be consistent with what we’re putting out there and how we’re presenting ourselves.

    Really great post, thanks for sharing this and this is just one area we cannot ignore.

    ~Adrienne

    • Hi Adrienne,

      Yes, I see his point and yours as well and I don’t disagree at all. We can’t do it all at the same time. Dream big, start small and stay consistent – is the key.

      Eventually, as we start to build momentum we may have more resources to expand further and then we can. However, like Brand.com guys say, it’s a good idea to reserve your name everywhere as much as possible. Why? because you may not be able to get it when you are ready because there is a lot of competition going on when it comes to blocking your name on famous sites.

      Thank you for dropping by and adding value through your comments. Appreciate you for taking time to do that.

      Regards,
      Kumar

  7. Hi Kumar, What a comprehensive explanation of how to brand yourself! Well done.

    While i agree with the commenters who say that you can’t be everywhere at once, I also think it’s important to have accounts and be active in places that are a good fit for you. I was fortunate when I started The Wonder of Tech to have advice from an app developer who suggested that I grab the name The Wonder of Tech everywhere I could so that no one else could get it. That advice came in very handy so that three years later I feel well grounded on social media and branding.

    I don’t have an about.me page because that’s not where I want people going if they want to find out about me. They can go to my About page on my blog and find out all they need to know. If they want anything else, they can check out my LinkedIn profile. If I didn’t have a website, I would use about.me but I’d rather drive traffic to The Wonder of Tech than to about.me.

    Thanks for this excellent branding guide, Kumar!

    • Hello Carolyn,

      Speaking of About.me page, just like the recommendation of the app developer who suggested you to block your ID everywhere, if you haven’t already, it is a good idea to block your ID here as well.

      Having an about.me page doesn’t mean we are creating another home on the internet. Instead, it’s like creating another booth in another busy mall where visitors are handed over your business card which has your actual address and contact information. I mean why would you not have an about.me page which refers people to your main website? Not only those visitors will have a way to come to your website and get to know you but also it gives you one more back link pointing to your website from a well ranked website (even though it’s nofollowt).

      Think abou it 🙂

      Regards,
      Kumar

  8. Loved your article on branding…I just went through or really still going through a re-branding of myself and business!!! Loved it and thanks for sharing!!! Please let me know how I can be the best resource for you!

    Barb

    • Hello Barb,

      Glad to meet you. Thank you for the offer to be the best resource. Appreciate you for that.
      I think I will definitely look forward to your inputs and suggestions going forward so I can improve my blog, content and strategy to serve better. That is the best way you can help me at this point.

      Have a great weekend Barb!

      Regards,
      Kumar

  9. Hello Kumar! Wow what an amazing article! You have covered a lot of information on branding here today! I have heard of Digg a StumbleUpon before but really never checked into them, There is so much to learn HUH? Thanks for sharing. Chery :))

    • Yes Chery, there is always so much to learn and good thing is, we are all learning and growing every day.
      Have a great Sunday!

      -Kumar

  10. It is really a helpful article for people like me who want to become entrepreneur. It is full of knowledge. I myself is doing web entrepreneurship. I own 4 blogs on different and making money from it.

    • That’s awesome Aman! Congratulations and wish you even more success!

  11. Wow, Kumar!! Lots of great info here.. I have not done a lot of what you suggest here, well maybe dabbled in getting some of this done.. Thanks so much for the great strategies, now for me to buckle down and actually do them.. Interesting i’ve been hedging on being more specific about my brand, but I just haven’t got there!!

    • Hi Holly,

      We are all learning every day. I am making improvements in my own brand strategies every day and moving on. Isn’t this such an amazing blessing of being part of an active online community? We learn from each other, help each other and grow together 🙂

      Have a great rest of this weekend!

      Regards,
      -Kumar

  12. Kumar what a great post. So much to ponder upon in the personal branding area.
    I like about.me, I’m not quite sure what I’m meant to be doing with it but I have one and it’s up to date 🙂

    • Hi Sarah,

      Good to hear from you.
      I think about.me is like an online business card. It is a trend these days that people check you out on about.me when they want to find out about you. The way I use it is, I have a page (probably just like you) and I let people read just my introduction and direct them to come to my website if they want to know more about me or connect with me or talk to me.

      So basically, about.me is like a landing page from where people can come to my main site as far as I am concerned.

      Regards,
      Kumar

  13. Hi Kumar,

    Excellent post with good advice. I talked with a lady the other day who is fairly new starting and she did not realize the importance of branding. Branding yourself and your name means that you take your reputation with you, no matter where you go. Say if a company you are with for some reason is no longer online, if you have worked hard to brand yourself through them, you have to basically start over. No one knows you personally.

    Thanks for the great information. Monna

    • Absolutely. That’s a great way to explain why branding is important Monna. Thank you for your insight.

      Personal branding is not a new concept but doing it online is fairly new and we must take control of it.

      I am glad to know you are helping some people take charge of their online brand identity. Thank you for doing that.

      Regards,
      Kumar

  14. Comprehensivepost that people who have not yet branded themselves should read. Started branding myself online in 2005 and for me it really has worked out very well. Just wish to point out that branding alone doesn’t make anyone an entrepreneur. It merely coveys the image a person/company feels is most beneficial.

    • True words Catrina. Branding is not the reason for becoming an entrepreneur. Actually it should be the other way around.

      Branding is a process to use the tools at hand effectively to market one in a way they desire and succeed as an entrepreneur.

      Thanks for sharing your insights.

      Regards,
      Kumar

  15. Very comprehensive post. As an author, personal branding is key in todays market…publishing option changing by the minute, audience for your work shrinking yet growing in whole different ways. I’m finding that my blog is my key to branding me as an author and consistency with the blog is major!
    The information that you have provided is so valuable…thanks 🙂

    • Hi Jacqueline,

      Thank you for dropping by and sharing your testimonial along with how you are using your personal branding strategy to build your audience as an author.

      That is such a brilliant idea. Brand yourself, use your own platform to build your audience, make joint ventures and succeed. Isn’t it exactly what all major authors, speakers and entrepreneurs are doing anyway?

      Have a wonderful week.

      Regards,
      Kumar

  16. Welcome Kumar. I also joined the group recently and have found it very useful. You have covered all the bases on personal branding and hopefully no-one will rustle your herd ! Good luck in all that you do

    • Thank you for the welcome Paul. Look forward to learning from you going forward.
      Regards,
      Kumar

  17. Hi Kumar, Welcome to Bloggers helping Bloggers – You chose the best group going – lots of support. Anyway, thanks for this information – its stuff I need to know and I'm bookmarking this page.

  18. Welcome! This is a great group. Thank you for a comprehensive article on branding. I will pass it on to people who are puzzled about branding.

    • Thank you Beth. I am glad you found it informative. Have a great week!
      Regards,
      Kumar

  19. I do love how you’ve covered all that needs to be considered when your developing a brand online or otherwise. It’s something that requires diligence and constant attention to the ever-changing landscape. When it comes to SM, I do try to connect, listen and engage with my readers and followers whenever and wherever possible. My ranking is climbing, I believe, because of the work that I do and content I write about. Thanks for such an in depth and comprehensive outline of this very important part of our online life and image 🙂

    • Hi Susan,

      Thank you for your kind feedback. I can see why your rank is climbing. It is the function of your activities online through your blog and your social media engagement.

      Thank you for sharing your story and words of appreciation. Have a successful new week!

      Regards,
      Kumar

  20. This is a really comprehensive article on Personal Branding Kumar. Excellent! I like the fact that you mentioned “something that you are good at and known for”, “consistency”, “strategy”, and “credibility”. Each of these play an exceptionally important role is developing your Personal Brand. Even though Personal Branding has the words “Personal”, and is thought to be something related ONLY to YOU, I’m a strong believer that a SUCCESSFUL Personal Brand is a two way street – YOU and a RECEPTIVE AUDIENCE. Without a doubt, you need to be consistent, speak with authority in an area that have the expertise, enjoy what you do, and leave a positive impression with your audience. The most impactful personal branding activity for me tends to be the consistent social media presence, and topical blog posts promotions. Once again, awesome article Kumar.

    • Thank you Gary! Appreciate your thoughtful response.

      Coming from same space, I know your inputs make a lot of sense here. Our brand image is definitely a two-way street. Who we are is reflected through our audience and who we engage with.

      And social media is definitely the cornerstone for all that we can do today online. You are spot on!

      Thank you for taking time to respond. Have a great day!
      Regards,
      Kumar

  21. That was a great guide. You covered a lot of important information concerning personal branding.

  22. Hello; This is an important post. People need to pick an identity and focus on it. And that may sometimes mean saying no to certain opportunities because they don’t fit into who you are or who you are planning to be. I have been referred to online as Mr. Midway which is good because my primary focus is the sale of amusement concessions and confections equipment. as an extension of this i recently filed for a second domain name mr-midway.com and had it forwarded to my existing site. It will make it easier to give out my url and will fit into new business cards and other promotional products. Thanks for sharing these lessons with us. Take care, Max

    • Hello Max,

      Wow! Mr. Midway is a nice name and congratulations on your new domain!

      You are right about saying NO which is so important for undistracted focus on things that matter. Very important point. Thank you for bringing it up!

      Regards,
      Kumar

  23. This was a great post about personal branding. This is something I am working on all of the time. I don’t necessarily have something that is associated with my name just yet but I continue to blog and try to be as consistent as I can. I really want to build my brand and this is a great guide to make sure I am doing what is needed to build constantly.

    • Hello Niekka,

      I am glad to know you are working on your branding already and also you are consistent at it. This is very important thing you mentioned because consistency plays a major role.

      Thank you for sharing your story.

      Have a terrific week!

  24. Lots of great tips here. I’m still finding my way in the branding arena, but I’m learning more all the time. It can be hard to figure out how to stand out in a sea of similar choices.

  25. Brilliant article and excellent advice and doing it right can take a lot of time, energy and consistency. As you say think of Your Personal Brand as your online business card then it doesn’t seem so daunting, our site offers people the opportunity of creating their own personal Brand Name Website for those who want to own their future.

    I believe Personal Branding and Employee Branding offers huge opportunities both for both entrepreneurs and business organisations.

    Again thank you so much for the article

  26. I think sharing your knowledge by answering questions on Q&A sites is also one of the best ways to build credibility around your name.But you need to be sure you have the correct answer to the question though as not to hurt your reputation. There are many sites for this also that you can find by searching.

  27. Kumar,

    Great basic information on branding and the right way not to get overwhelmed. That is a problem most come to me with is branding and each time it is exciting. Now, I have an additional source to have them learn various views which is always healthy.

    Your insight on the importance of having a professional address is without question going to make them stand out. I bring people first to create an Operation Budget and then a solid foundation which is their launching point. They get their 10 pre-established departments. Then will have their own address and ready to start to gather a few sources of revenue in the beginning. Then when they have branded themselves and reached a comfort level. They are ready to create their first company and be in business as they visioned.

    I continue to advise people to keep their minds focus and be consistent which is the trap most can not stop falling into. They get streamed lined and loose their way which causes them to believe less in their self and vision for their future. That is when they will just give up and fail. I always keep them focus on never giving up and continue the right way without blame. Be accountable and get it done right.

    You have put allot of time and energy in giving all readers a taste of how it should be in a perfect world. It is never like that. Yet, can have the end results desired, if you do not give up.

    Kumar, one day I am going to invite you to allow me an investigative interview so I can learn more on you views. That will be an article worth while. Thank you for making a difference in our industry and bringing hope back to so many out here.

  28. Very informative post! Personal branding is indeed very important I agree that being consistent and bulding a strong community of followers contribute to the strenth of your personal brand. Thanks for sharing, lots of information that are very useful.

  29. Thank you so much for this article, you provide an exceptional guideline for all of us. I would go one step further and suggest people claim their own name domain and create a Personal Brand Website that acts as the hub of their enterprise.

    I feel independent ownership of your domain name and site is concrete, it is yours to control and grow without limits or boundaries and is not subject to 3rd party change.

    Careers are no longer played on one company field, but instead across many and often stretching a number of disciplines, it is wise to maintain your own brand, you are the CEO of the business called you. This Brand of Yours is your differentiate and the reason for companies and people to engage with you. control it and own it it is yours and very valuable.

  30. that’s a lot of information Kumar…it’s also a lot to consider if you’re a small business owner

  31. Very informative post! Personal branding is indeed very important I agree that being consistent and bulding a strong community of followers contribute to the strenth of your personal brand. Thanks for sharing, lots of information that are very useful.

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