Now that we have established what exactly is a personal brand, it’s time to go over the three important components of your personal brand. As one of my favorite brand strategists, Jonathan Tilley, so graciously puts it, “Your personal brand is a combination of your name, your face, and how you make people feel.”
It’s that simple! However, as we think through the components of a personal brand, we need to work through some of the elements that make up your name, your face, and how you make people feel. Why is it important to your business?
I. Your Name
Your name can be something as simple as that, but it also comprises other elements that surround your name, including your logo, brand colors, fonts, and all of the visual content that goes into the recognition of your brand. I like to think of it as all of the visual elements of your brand outside of your brand photography.
II. Your Face
Your face is a huge component of your personal brand and will help people get to know you and connect with you emotionally. It is important in this highly visual world that we live in to have a professional headshot done once a year at a minimum. I also recommend investing in branded photography to really get the attention of the audience and build that know, like, and trust factor.
III. How You Make People Feel
This is a very important component of your personal brand because you are defining yourself as a leader and how this will shape the manner in which you can serve your audience (ideal client). In my experience, there are three key ingredients to learning how to talk to your audience.
#1 Your Niche.
To start with you need to have a well defined niche. A well defined niche allows you to speak directly to YOUR ideal client and show them how you can solve their problems. I will be doing a future blog post about defining your niche but for now let’s think of it as researching your brand and learning about your ideal client.
#2 Your Brand Positioning Statement.
The second component of showing up for your audience is having a well-written and highly visible brand positioning statement. A good brand positioning statement will immediately tell clients who you are, what problems you can help them solve, and the unique factors that make you different from other competitors in your field. It will also share your promise of how their lives will be different after they come to you for help.
#3 Your Content.
Another component of Personal Brand is where you can really differentiate yourself and stand out in a saturated market. Once you have researched your brand, written your branding positioning statement, it is time to show up and serve your audience. In order to do this, you must hear your audience first and discover what their pain points are and how you can help them.
Now it’s time for you to show up and serve them by providing value. The best way to provide value is consistent and quality content. Taking the time to grow your personal brand includes showing up and providing content and something of value to your audience. Your content is one of the essentials in the Components of a Personal Brand and will hopefully engage them to continue reading and follow your work. It will help you serve your clients by positioning you as the expert, as well as building that know, like, and trust factor with your audience.
That’s a wrap for this week! I am so grateful that you have stopped by my little corner of the internet to learn more about personal branding. Have we connected on social media yet? If not, what are you waiting for? You can find me on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. I would love to connect with you and know more about you as well! I hope you will send me a DM so we can continue the conversion offline!
Shelly Niehaus Photography is a Boise, ID-based branding and headshot photographer. Shelly specializes in professional headshot photography, personal branding photography and lifestyle photography. Shelly serves the greater Treasure Valley area including Boise, Meridian, Eagle, and Nampa.
[…] A strong, personal brand allows you to infuse your personality into your brand and establish an emotional connection with your audience. Personal branding for businesses is a way for you to differentiate yourself by communicating your vision, your values, and your passions to the world. As discussed in a preview blog, these are the three components that make you unique and will help you establish an authentic connect… […]