What Are Some Examples Of Personal Branding?
Personal branding is becoming more and more prominent in this digital age, bringing a large increase in entrepreneurs and freelancers that have become famous all around the world. To give you a fast idea, we have some great examples of personal branding coming from Elon Musk, Neil Patel, Lewis Howes, or Tony Robbins, just to name a few.
With everyone trying to stand out and be different in some way, the trend of personal brands is expected to continue, if not increase more in the near future. But why are people so fascinated by creating a brand statement?. And what does a good reputation score do for you exactly?
To answer your questions, we’ll take a look at some of the best personal branding examples and campaigns, and show you how you can implement these brand reputation strategies in your own story as well. At the end of this article, we will dive into the branding strategy of Gary Vaynerchuk. A wine enthusiast turned millionaire, who owes a large part of his success to his self branding efforts. After you are done reading this article leave us a comment below! We would love to hear your thoughts, ideas and personal brand examples
Why Personal Branding Matters
If you work as a freelancer or entrepreneur, you must probably know from the many examples of personal branding around you, that consumer influence and reviews can make or break you. This goes for individuals as well, how you act and what you post on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have everlasting effects on your reputation.
For example, when applying to college or a new job, the individual reviewing your application will most likely browse the internet before reading your resume. Having the best personal brand may be enough to grant your admission to your dream college! Just make sure your background check is in good standings. Also, when it comes to job hunting, we all know well that companies are not eager to hire an individual with a poor online reputation. It is not a good look for them.
Let us walk you through from start to finish on some of the best personal branding examples. You can use these tips and characteristics to promote yourself or your business online, and improve your reputation on the internet.
The Significance of Your Online Dating Privacy
PERSONAL BRANDING… WHAT IS IT?
Personal branding is the perception others have about you. It is those intangible attributes that help shape how others see you in the digital environment.
In other words, when someone says your name, what do people think? For example, maybe you have great networking expertise, or you have great communication skills, it could be as simple as being a great person to work with.
Whatever the case may be, perfecting the way you market yourself both on and offline will be the difference between having a few clients and having thousands.
The art of branding was initially created to help consumers trust the seller or other party involved. This quickly changed as individuals started to brand themselves. Whether you are seeking employment, applying to a school, or just want to build a name for yourself, personal branding is a powerful tool.
The concept of personal branding (formerly known as “self-positioning”) was introduced to the world by a man named Napoleon Hill. Author of the award-winning book “Think and Grow Rich” Hill coined the term “personal branding” in 1937. Even to this day, everyone is (or should be) concerned about their personal reputation. With the internet being a double-edged sword, you should always make sure that what appears is always positive.
** WATCH – How To Think & Grow Rich (This Will Change Your Life!)
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD PERSONAL BRAND
When brainstorming ideas on how you can better your online reputation and media coverage, think of examples of personal branding from influencers or personalities you hold to a higher standard, and mimic their actions. Don’t copy but get ideas. Post content similar to them, but with your own twist. Get creative but only publish content you can be sure will generate a lot of engagement. Nothing is more discouraging than spending hours designing something, posting it online and received no interest.
Now back to the topic of influencers. What about them is so interesting that thousands and even millions of people follow their every move or word?
If you want to learn what makes them special, here are some of the best characteristics of a good brand, in our professional opinion.
Brand Transparency
Searching for good examples of personal branding? Brand examples can even come from some of your favorite brands. Nowadays consumers want to be included in everything. A great trait many well-known individuals have is that they are an “open book.” Meaning they disclose everything about themselves to their followers or potential clients. This may seem like you are leaving yourself vulnerable but being relatable and personable is very appealing to nearly every consumer.
Creating loyalty and relationships is the key to being successful. People like it when you talk about your flaws in addition to what you can provide them; it shows you are human. Everyone makes mistakes, but it is those who embrace the negativity that excels.
We see this happen almost every day with serial entrepreneurs like Gary Vaynerchuk. For example, by releasing daily Youtube videos, he is able to keep his audience engaged for the long term. His personal branding goal is to stay relevant in his industry and he does this by giving away a lot of advice and tips for free. This also includes responding to backlash and negativity, in addition to promoting yourself in a positive light.
At the end of the day, as long as you remain open with your followers, you will build a great foundation for success. Responding to both the good and the bad will reflect positively regardless of the situation. By ignoring these issues, your target market may get the impression you do not care about what they think.
Social Proof
So you want to grow your personal brand but you do not know where to start? Embarking on the journey of branding yourself can be troublesome when you have little to no engagement currently. Have you ever wondered why other individuals succeed when their content is subpar?
This is all thanks to what we like to call “social proof.” This characteristic or idea is when individuals are more inclined to read an article or buy a product that has 100 reviews and dozens of comments and social shares compared to the same product from a different account with zero reviews/comments/share/etc. Social proof is the phenomenon that helps others make purchasing decisions; after all, if a lot of people are talking about you, doesn’t that help shape a positive perception of what you’re offering?
Everyone is guilty of this from time to time. For example, think of shopping online. This is a great way to understand personal branding built on social proof. Personally, I skip past articles or products on Amazon or Facebook that have less than a dozen likes or comments. Why? Because if nobody else likes this product, why would anyone want to buy it?
This will be the longest part of your personal brand-building experience.
It is going to take some time to establish yourself online if you are starting from scratch. Start to reach out and create relationships with established people in your field or area of study. Many social media influencers will accept a small payment for them to feature your account as a post or on their timeline, and this in return will be an excellent way to quickly scale yourself online.
Furthermore, ask for feedback. People love it when others acknowledge them online. This could be as simple as replying to a comment or sending a personal message directly to them. It sounds ironic that you need followers to gain followers but the idea of social proof has been around since the start of social media when sites like Myspace and Xanga were created long ago.
Honesty & Integrity
This one should go without saying, but we wanted to include this into the examples mix of what makes successful personal branding, well… successful. When it comes to creating new relationships and putting yourself out there in the world you want to make sure people trust what you are saying.
Those deemed trustworthy do not have to work as hard to sell a product/service or to establish new relationships.
Be Active in Community
Another great way to get your name out there is by attending events in your local area. Networking is a powerful tool and if done correctly can scale your reputation rapidly in a positive sense. References, testimonials, and collaborations are excellent ways to engage with your target market or simply grow your personal brand online in general.
This touches back on the notion of “social proof”. For example, individuals are more likely to interact with a post online if they see others have liked and commented on it. This may be a tough concept to get down at first and this is what many individuals struggle with personal branding on the internet.
Your goal is to gain as much exposure as possible. The best way to do this in our professional opinion is to work with an influencer or lifestyle entrepreneur who has similar interests and ideas that would benefit your viewers as well. Sending direct messages is a sure-fire way of obtaining assistance or acceptance from an influencer. If you are unfamiliar with “influencers” they can be a celebrity or a person just like us, who has created a massive following online.
These individuals can post one photo/video online referencing you and have thousands (if not millions) of users seeing it. If you are just starting out and have not built a relationship, your desired influencer might accept a small payment in exchange for a feature. Creating a good name for yourself is one thing, you need others to see it or it’s pointless!
Publish Quality Content
When it comes down to the best examples of personal branding out there, one thing you should know is that they all have amazing content. If you are not providing quality content that is creative and appealing, you are going to have a hard time building your audience. Do not repost or reuse information from other accounts or individuals. You are creating YOUR OWN BRAND, not copying someone else. Therefore, it is imperative that you take the time to sit down and create your content marketing strategy, and think of the posts you could write specifically catered to your target audience.
Be patient and do not rush yourself when posting photos and videos online, however, keep it simple and to the point both on your website and social media. One staggering statistic is that 70% of Instagram posts are never seen by their followers! Instagram does this in order to weed out accounts that excessively post content (10+ times per day) and flood your feed. That is why posting often, but not too often is important.
Want some examples of how you can fix this? By focusing purely on your engagement (likes and comments). Ask your followers to comment! It works. Ask for their opinion on your post, or if you post a video ask your followers to “tag a friend”. As many times people may disagree there are tons of people on social media still utilizing this method to grow. All you need is 1000 loyal followers to make your personal branding stand out.
The most important factor of publishing content online is the timing. Research the most optimal posting times for each social platform that way you can schedule your posts ahead of time, instead of randomly picking a time and hoping a higher volume of followers will see it. Here are the most optimal times to post online, we have broken each major social platform down to further assist.
An Example Of The Best Personal Branding Of This Era
Gary Vaynerchuk
Over the past few years, you have probably heard this name a lot! Gary Vaynerchuk (Vay-ner-chuk) is an entrepreneurial guru who stops at nothing to accomplish his goals, and he is one of the best examples of personal branding we might offer you
He has been building his personal brand since the release of Google Adwords! Yup, that’s right, decades of practice and promoting himself online at a straight shooter who loves to curse, yet he is wildly successful. Partnered with his brother, they both operate VaynerMedia who represent large corporations like Budweiser, Stainmaster, Swedish Fish, Halls, General Electric and many more!
Gary Vee has consistently released content about himself EVERY SINGLE DAY for the past 2 decades. Admittedly he opened up and said it was a tough journey and many lonesome nights but now he is one of the best, if not the best entrepreneurs of this era.
Gary Vee stands behind one belief when creating content for his viewers: document, do not create. This may differ depending on the type of branding you desire but as a whole, he believes in filming yourself over and over again. Like this, not only will your viewers appreciate it but you will become more comfortable and less nervous over time. After almost failing out of school, Gary Vee is now worth over $160 Million by teaching the company why they are failing and how they can fix it, alongside growing as a whole.
Please watch the video below if you want a good example of how eye-opening the world of personal branding can be. As Gary Vee says “jab, jab, jab, jab, jab” because one of those will connect with your audience and once you find that window of opportunity your life will change for the better, forever.
What Are The Next Steps?
In this digital era, having and maintaining a strong web presence and personal brand is more important than ever. Personal branding allows you to stand out from your competition, and working on digital marketing is somewhat of a requirement for most.
In conclusion, the examples of personal branding listed above should get you on your feet on where to start. This will be a learning experience, do not give up when you don’t receive instant gratification. Hang in there, if you are providing quality content people will find you.
Now that you have a good understanding of how personal branding works, give us a call, we would love to hear about what you can offer and how we can make your life easier along the way. Whether we assist you with your personal branding campaign or not, make sure you choose a reputable company to assist. You are more likely to gain faster results if you have our brand management teamwork on this for you. 5 sets of eyes instead of 1 will only quicken the process. You tell us how you want to look online and with our online reputation services we will make it happen. What are you waiting for? A year from now, you will wish you started today; think of where you’ll be.
Click here to submit a form, and one of our knowledgeable reputation specialists will reach out to you shortly. Let’s get started in supercharging your personal brand.
Updated 7/2022
The Significance of Your Online Dating Privacy
by Net Reputation