Want to build a great personal brand? Here are three steps to making that happen by entrepreneur.com. Note the second step, some might think that a good looking website isn’t important but it might be one of the most important things you can make happen to help your brand.
1. A powerful physical presence. This includes anything a potential customer can actually lay eyes on from how you dress to your marketing collateral — business cards, brochures and your website.
For example, I had a dentist who specialized in a particular cosmetic procedure call me for a marketing consultation. He was perplexed as to why another dentist out of the area was getting a larger share of his local market.
“I’m just as qualified and experienced, and 90 minutes closer,” he complained to me. “I don’t get it.” After one look at his website, I understood. His online presence was, in a word, shabby. His website was dated and hard to navigate. When I pointed this out to him, his reply was telling: “No one really cares about that. It’s not worth spending the money to make it fancy.”
Of all the branding and marketing mistakes I see entrepreneurs make, not having an up-to-date, modern, well-branded, easy-to-navigate website is one of the biggest.
Does the physical aspect of your personal brand — your website in particular — match the quality of who you are and the work you do?
2. A strong intellectual appeal. Beyond looking sharp, clear messaging is a key starting point to building your personal brand. Most entrepreneurs settle for a simple elevator speech when it comes to messaging. While this is an important element of your brand, it’s not the whole story. Think through the following:
What are the services or proprietary processes you offer that set you apart from your competitors?
What is your unique branding proposition, not in terms of what you do, but how you do what you do?
What unique opinions, points of view and even language do you use that sets you apart?
3. A lasting impact. In essence, this is where you speak to your clients’ hearts. In my experience working with entrepreneurs, it’s also the most overlooked aspect of personal brand.
When you think back on what your past and current clients say about you, what is their experience of how you have affected them? What words and phrases have they used?
Read more: entrepreneur.com