A lot of creatives make mistakes when it comes to branding. This happens because creatives sometimes have limited knowledge of what branding is about.
Branding has been widely misunderstood as most business owners and creatives believe that creating an amusing logo, choosing theme colours and probably a memorable business card is all there is to branding.
However, branding is so much more than the physical aspect. Seth Godin defines branding as a set of expectations, memories and relationships you have developed and how it influences a customer or prospect to make decisions about the business.
Personal branding is the set of expectations and relationships that individuals have about your public persona as a creative or a business owner.
The focus of this post is on small businesses and how personal branding is important for them.
Below are three reasons why personal branding is essential for your small business.
1. Personal Branding Builds Authority and Credibility
You probably look up to some leaders in your respective industry as a creative, have you ever wondered why you look up to them as leaders?
Branding is critical to building a presence, especially on the internet. You probably never thought about it but as a creative online, people have a perception of what you do and how they think about your work.
Personal branding for your business lies in emphasizing what you do differently to your audience.
Depending on the customers, they usually encounter a part of the brand they find authentic and establish a connection, in the long run, they remain loyal if the brand appeals to them.
Whenever there is a need for your product or service, your business comes to the mind of your target audience as they understand you are qualified to offer your services.
2. Personal Branding Increases Your Network Reach
How often do you get asked by friends or colleagues about recommendations for certain products or services?
As a creative or small business owner, the experience you offer a prospect or a customer can be valuable to your business as you can get referrals and recommendations if it was a memorable experience.
Customers will always prefer a business that is consistent with its products, tone, values and experience over a business that is inconsistent.
3. Personal Branding Makes Your Business Relatable
Personal brands are more humanized than corporate brands so people tend to connect with personal brands distinctively.
An emotional connection with your target audience allows them to build trust and this can lead to an improved relationship that can promote sales and referrals as they sometimes share the same values as you do.
Relatable businesses easily get more potential clients as people are drawn to other people with similarities.
Relatability isn’t a talent, it happens when you strive to remain authentic and bring value to your target audience.
Conclusion
Building a personal brand takes a good amount of effort, but over time results in a strong identity that distinguishes you and allows people to understand who you are and what your business stands for.
You also make it easier to attract people who relate to your values and you can leverage that to become more visible as a business.
Key Takeaways
- Branding is not just the logo and theme colours, it’s a perception or expectation of what people think about your public persona or business.
- Personal branding should emphasize what you do differently from others.
- Branding shouldn’t focus on new customers, existing customers should also be included.
