In the modern sense of the word, personal branding was born with social media. Why? At that time, many people gained the opportunity to speak out in public and express their opinions on virtually any topic. Naturally, this made it possible for individuals to target a broad audience easily. The entire media concern, such as newspapers or television, was no longer needed for this. What was necessary was a reliable personal brand, thanks to which the recipients trusted what was communicated to them.

When many users started using the possibility of almost unlimited publishing of content on profiles, another fact about social media quickly became apparent. They allowed for a great insight of other people into our private life. Also those with whom we have been working only on a professional level, such as employers. How did this affect our work and business relationships? As recruiters in many companies began to study the private profiles of job applicants more and more carefully - discarding those they deemed inappropriate - it quickly became clear that we couldn't publish everything we could think of online. The image we built on the web became crucial.

At the same time, more and more internet creators began to appear on the web. Those who knew how to build their personal brand began to earn a lot of money from it over time. That means influencers who are followed by millions of users worldwide are gaining more and more influence on the consumer choices of their recipients. People even treat influencers' recommendations similar to recommendations from friends, they also  trust them much more. This is because, for example, influencer fans often identify with them, creating a very close relationship. In addition, influencers are often considered by their followers to be experts in specific areas.

Why is personal branding so important now? Because a solid personal brand is a key to earning money on the Internet! Your image directly influences the trust that recipients who follow your channels or listen to your recommendations place in you. Otherwise, it doesn't work - it's impossible to build your brand and grow your online business without inspiring trust.

Your image instantly evokes specific associations among recipients. If you approach building your brand comprehensively, the associations you evoke will be positive and desired by you, which will strengthen your brand. A strong brand automatically translates into greater trust - in you, your offer, and your business! And remember that only when your recipients trust you will they be able to become your customers.

No matter where you come from, who you are, or what you do. Personal branding is something you should be interested in. It applies to everyone who wants to be active on the Internet, develop their business there and earn money. And even if you don't tie your earnings directly to the Internet, thanks to a strong personal brand, you will surely strengthen your position in the local market, in the company, or even among friends ... or you will gain a lot of new followers on Instagram!

Before you start creating a personal brand, think about your goal. What do you need a solid personal brand for? What do you want to achieve with it? The answer "I want to live better thanks to it" is not enough. You need to be more specific. Is it meant to present your job search better? Or is it supposed to support the promotion of your company and its offer? By having a clear goal in mind, you'll be better able to create a personal brand that aims to achieve what you want.

You always need to know who you want to reach. It is based on the type of audience that you create your communication for. This way, it is easier for you to determine what kind of messages you should start and deliver them. When creating a personal brand, you need to know who to address. The best way to do this is to create a persona. By making it, you will learn what age your recipients are, what industry they work in, what stage of life they are in, what their day is like, and much more. Based on the obtained personas, you can only proceed to the following stages of creating a personal brand.

Now that you know who your recipients are, it's time to find out what they need. Thanks to this, you will get ideas for content that will be valuable and helpful for them. But how do you find out what your audience's needs are? It's best to do research. You can search the internet for platforms where your audience gathers (e.g. for writers/copywriters, it will be Medium, while graphic designers can be found on Behance or Dribbble). Social media are very knowledgeable about all types of recipients, so it is worth observing them regularly to know your recipients' needs. Thanks to this research, you will find out, for example, whether blog articles or videos will work better in your industry. In addition, you will know exactly what topic you should deal with and what threads to raise in it. Remember that valuable, engaging content is an absolute must-have for any personal brand.

Decide where you will contact your audience from. You should definitely consider the place with the most of them. At the same time, however, there are some basic communication channels, such as a website or a Facebook profile. Choosing a place that will become a shared space (for you and your recipients) also answers the question, "Is it suitable for the distribution of content that I publish?". 

Let's say you want to create 15 minutes video reviews and consider choosing Instagram to distribute them. Is it a good idea? No! While Instagram relies on visual content, it prefers relatively short forms of content. YouTube is, of course, the better choice for you, which in turn is made for posting longer videos. However, does that mean you shouldn't post on Instagram? Not necessarily. Instead, consider it an additional promotion channel, while YouTube will be the main one. Remember that quality is more important than quantity. Choose your promotion platforms wisely, and don't try to focus on as many social media profiles as possible. 

This is the guiding principle on which most effective personal brands are based. Of course, it is connected with the recipients' want of valuable content. But what does this mean? Valuable content is one from which the recipient can get something for themselves. It could be some practical knowledge that he was looking for or just entertainment. However, you mustn't give your audience "junk" content. The content may be clickable, but it will not result in the recipient's trust and loyalty to you. These two factors are part of a solid personal brand that brings tangible and long-lasting results.

It is best if you base the created content on the acquired industry knowledge. You can try to create industry articles or organize webinars with the possibility of asking questions in real-time. There are plenty of possibilities, and you only have to choose the most effective ones for you. In this way, the audience will see you as a mentor, thanks to which your brand will also gain more and more popularity.      

When a person behind the brand willingly shares his expert knowledge and valuable experiences with the world, the recipients become attached to the brand and even identify with it. Why is it so important? Because a personal brand builds a loyal customer base. It makes it much easier for you to develop. Creating a dedicated and committed community around you and your brand will also allow you to receive quick and constructive feedback on your projects. Having an audience that trusts you is key to your brand's success!

Whisper marketing is a form of promotion that strongly influences the decisions made by consumers. People trust the recommendation of a person from their close environment much more than the opinion of an unknown internet user. However, obtaining satisfactory results in this form of marketing is not easy and requires building a solid trust of recipients in the brand. Only in this way does whisper marketing make sense.

If you are a person who is looking for a job or new ways of brand development, personal branding is the perfect solution. Creating a strong personal brand will make you get new recipients and a variety of cooperation opportunities. Effective personal branding will make you notice more often by potential employers and by professionals from other industries. 

If people see that a particular person is behind a given brand, they trust it more. Show that you are close to people, that you represent your brand with pride, and that you place your trust in it. To show all of this, however, you need to be visible. Therefore, willingly and often interact with your audience. Sometimes even a short comment on their profile or website is enough. Organize meetings, give interviews, and much more. Remember that regularity and authenticity are also important here.

Currently, there are many exciting platforms on the Internet that allow for a wide variety of promotions. However, before you start registering for each of them, ask yourself how the platform will help your brand, how you will promote it there, whether it fits your content, and (most importantly) whether your audience is there. In this way, you will quickly eliminate the useless promotion channels. You will focus only on those that will actually bring you the expected results (e.g., potential recipients). Suppose you don't know where to start this selection. In that case, you can try to group the media you are keeping an eye on into categories first, e.g., video content promotion platforms or developer platforms, and then start eliminating specific types along with their channels. You will be able to find the best channels by selecting based on the final results of your activities. 

If you have any doubts about what platforms to enter and how to participate in them, start with your competition research. See on what channels they communicate and how. Don't copy everything blindly. Consider their communication style, forms of contact, and popularity. It's better to start with small steps, understanding your competition and highlighting the features that set you apart from them.

Contrary to appearances, researching the competition does not have to be a difficult task, but it must be done carefully - only then can you draw valuable conclusions from it. Research can do in many ways. Ideally, you will combine several techniques, thanks to which you will gain a broader perspective and a greater amount of valuable data. Watch your competitors' websites, check their social media, see the content they disseminate. It should also benefit from special SEO tools to access even more data. 

Omnichannel means maintaining communication consistency on all platforms. Your recipients then gets the same messages on all media you are on. In this way, you gain their trust and make your brand perceived as professional and credible.

But how to get this effect? Ideally, if you will develop a strategy in which you include your style and way of communication and build content that will be created based on this policy. Omnichannel marketing shouldn't cause you any significant problems through planning and a clearly defined brand image.

You mustn't get confused about these terms, which mean something completely different. Unlike the omnichannel strategy, which focuses on quality, the multichannel strategy focuses on quantity. This means that by using it, you will try to be available on as many channels as possible. Multichannel marketing is not a wrong solution, but when using it, you have to be careful not to lose the quality of content and communication with recipients due to the need to support multiple channels.

Leverage existing content smoothly and regularly post valuable content across all the platforms you are on. For example, if you have a blog with articles, create graphics for each piece and share it on social media. Use infographics, diagrams, and other exciting and eye-catching materials. You can also go a step further and create videos or podcasts based on existing articles. 

Thanks to having content in many forms, you gain more opportunities for promotion on various platforms. You adapt to the needs of modern recipients who want to choose the format in which they are consuming information.

When you contact a potential audience, you need to present yourself at your best. For this purpose, it is worth creating a professional online portfolio to show your most important projects and their results. Moreover, you will also be able to include important links, statistics, and other noteworthy material in it. The online portfolio will allow you to present yourself and your achievements quickly.

To break the uncomfortable limitation imposed by social media (e.g. the limit of adding links), it is enough to create a Micro Page - a simple micro page to which you can easily and quickly connect an unlimited number of links leading to all important places on the Internet. If you want to link to all of these BIO sites, you need to link to your microsite. Then the recipients of your content will be able to easily visit all the websites of interest to them and your profiles, such as social media accounts, blogs, websites, sales accounts on various websites, and much more! 

Since personal branding helps create a personal brand, one of the most important things to remember will be the steps of making it, discussed earlier. And they looked like this:

How to create a personal brand? 

1. Become the face of your brand 

2. Choose a platform for your niche

3. Research the competition

4. Lead promotion omnichannel

5. Use existing content

6. Create online portfolio

7. Create a Micro Page/microsite/link tree

It is worth remembering that personal branding is essential for building a solid brand. It allows you to quickly gain loyal recipients who are really interested in your brand and its offer. They constitute a great database of contacts that transform into essential conversions for you. Start your adventure with personal branding and develop your brand at an accelerated pace!  

Read also: 

How To Fill in The BIO and About Section on LinkedIn? [+ EXAMPLES]

Easy Ways To Make Money Online With Portfolio!

Micro Page - Skyrocket Social Media Traffic with One Trick!