Mark Zuckerberg, J.K Rowling, Richard Branson.

If you’re active online, you must have heard of, or probably even follow these thought leaders. Interestingly, these big names belong to different industries and genres.

• Mark Zuckerberg is the co-founder and CEO of the popular social media platform Facebook.
• J.K. Rowling is the author of the extremely well-received Harry Potter series.
• Richard Branson is the co-founder of the Virgin Group, with core business areas like travel, lifestyle, and entertainment.

However, there is one thing they have in common.

Besides being highly successful entrepreneurs, they also maintain an active online presence. Their online presence gives them a platform to share their thoughts and expertise, and it is a way for people to engage and connect with them.

Personal branding allows you to create your online identity. Anyone looking to make a mark in their industry, be it entertainment, business, or philanthropy, needs to showcase the ‘face’ of their brand. Believe it or not, building a personal brand can create your identity in the eyes of the new-age consumer.

The Importance of Building a Personal Brand Today

The advent of the digital age has drastically changed the business landscape. This shift can be attributed to the increasing number of internet users. As of July 2022, over 5 billion people use the internet currently, which constitutes 63.1% of the world’s population. The pandemic, which increased people’s dependence on the internet, can also be considered a factor contributing to this change.

Some time ago, using social media at work was frowned upon. Now, companies encourage employees to create and maintain social media profiles that reveal a ‘human’ side of the person behind the computer screen.

In light of these changes, the ‘online identity’ has started to impact brand identity heavily. Now, building your personal brand on social media has become essential for being a mover and shaker in your industry. After all, when most of your users exist online, any offline efforts, so to say, will be largely redundant.

You may have a well-designed business card, but your potential contacts can easily misplace it. Your online presence is there to stay and is bound to provide potential networking opportunities. It can act as a way for others to find out more about you and your personal brand.

1. Communicate Your Values

The recent pandemic affected the consumer market in more ways than one. One of the most obvious ramifications was the change in the average user’s perspective.

Consumers started to inspect a business’s core values. In the eyes of today’s audiences, the values of the person who runs the business reflect the business’s values. This factor has started to influence buyers’ purchase decisions.

Do you see?

Where aggressive marketing methods worked for businesses a decade ago, they are no longer as effective as bringing the entrepreneur to the forefront. Personal brand building allows users to see what you’re all about. They get to see what you’re passionate about, including the things and causes you stand for. This way, you can connect with your user at a deeper level, warming them up to the idea of buying from you.

2. Highlight Your USP

With thousands of people in the same industry as yours, why would a stakeholder choose to work with you? Making claims is not enough. It needs to be backed with proof.

A business looking to enter into a partnership with you or a customer considering purchasing from your brand can find out about you with one search online. 76% of potential buyers look for a brand’s online presence before they invest the time to visit the store in person. By extension, they might even look into the people running the business.

If they fail to see your online presence, it will raise red flags for them, and they might doubt your legitimacy.

Building personal brand awareness online will allow you to market yourself and put forth what you offer, aka your unique selling points, i.e., precisely what sets you apart from others.

3. Expand Your Network

E-commerce sales of over 6.3 billion U.S. dollars are expected in 2023, and this number is set to rise in the coming years. This paves the way for entrepreneurs to expand into e-commerce.

Building a personal brand online will help you reach your target market and expand your network by connecting with like-minded people. Once people get to know you, they will likely approach you to work on more lucrative business opportunities.

4. Boost Credibility

People tend to trust other people, not companies. Thus, companies are encouraging employees to consider building their personal brand at work. Besides highlighting your skills, like your designation and area of expertise at work, you can also mention your interests to resonate with the audience.

People naturally develop familiarity when they start following you on social media handles. They get to see moments from your life, hear your opinions, and get a glimpse of your humor. All these aspects allow audiences to form a perception of you. The more they get to know you, the more they’re bound to trust you.

Don’t know how to go about creating a personal brand? Hire personal brand building services that will help you create a plan tailored to expand your network, earn their trust, and pave the way for further opportunities for doing business.

Most Effective Personal Brand Building Blocks in 2023

If you want to succeed as an individual, you must invest time and give serious thought to building a personal brand via your online presence.

But now we come to the most important part of the blog post. How do you build an effective personal brand?

There are many ways to curate an online brand identity. We have shortlisted the most effective personal brand building blocks proven to work in 2023, so without further ado, let’s see what you can do to make yourself seen and heard.

1. Create and Update a One-Page Website

Creating a hassle-free, one-page website is the stepping stone to establishing your online identity. It is accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime, removing any hurdles the average person might experience when approaching you for business or recruitment opportunities.

In today’s internet age, not having any digital footprint can raise suspicion.

Your website is a platform to create and communicate your personal identity to the relevant people-business partners, investors, and like-minded individuals.

Mention who you are, your area of expertise, your experience, and what you do with a welcoming, friendly picture of you. A simple, comprehensive introduction will allow users to discover your vision for your work or brand. It is especially important for musicians, influencers, real estate agents, interior designers, and other entrepreneurs just starting out.

A well-written and engaging one-page website will allow you to penetrate the market through a unique strategy of putting a face to the brand or your work.

A musician mentioning how their passion for music started is bound to resonate with a larger audience. An entrepreneur mentioning how her struggle with acne led to the inception of her skincare line will automatically win the target market’s trust.

However, creating a website isn’t enough. You must also research and incorporate industry-relevant keywords to direct your niche toward your website.

2. Create and Share Engaging Content

We cannot stress enough that while direct marketing is important, it is not the only thing to sustain your image in any field or industry. To build and maintain an online identity, you need to ensure users don’t forget you.

Telling people you’re good at something isn’t enough. They need proof. They want to see how invested you are. After communicating this through your website, the next step is to create content that is evidence of your commitment to the cause or work. For this reason, we believe in the power of blogging.

Well-written blog posts can establish your online identity, garner backlinks, attract new customers and earn credibility. You can start by creating a strategic blog management strategy. As blogging has become so common, you must make an effort to stand out.

For example, if you are a dermatologist, you can create a mixture of on-site and guest blog posts on various skincare-related trending topics. These posts can end with a call to action that directs readers to your brand page or website. However, you must ensure the content is unique, SEO-optimized, and engaging enough to attract and hold the reader’s attention.

A potential customer who sees your blog as a reliable source of information will automatically see you as a voice of authority on the subject. However, you should take care to blog regularly and not treat it as a one-off thing, as it will show a lack of commitment and reflect badly on you.

Anything on the internet has a fleeting lifespan. So, post blogs regularly and add options for sharing on social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to get more than 15 minutes of fame. Social sharing options will help with increasing the reach of your blog posts and building your personal brand on social media.

3. Create Social Media Profiles and Posts

In 2022, the average user spent 147 minutes a day on social media, which is a marked increase from the preceding year. People once used social media to pass the time and create and maintain social connections. Now, they use social media to follow content creators, personalities, and news sources to stay updated and entertained.

If you’re a beginner with a limited online presence, you must create a social profile on relevant platforms where your audience is present. This will require some research and consideration.

For example, if you’re a musician or entertainer, you can consider creating a public profile on Instagram that is most popular among Gen Z. Create hashtags of your name or your work to help with personal branding and will also attract your target market.

Regularly post and add stories about your upcoming events or concerts to leverage the power of free marketing! Potential customers can engage with you in the comments, tag their friends and effectively let your online presence be known.

If you’re an entrepreneur looking for business opportunities or recruiting promising employees, make a LinkedIn profile. Expand your network and following on LinkedIn by creating posts about topics of your interest.

We also suggest leveraging the power of Twitter and creating your profile. Regularly tweet your take on relevant events or highlight your commitment to important causes like climate change to appeal to the audience. Twitter is the new social media trend, so make sure you don’t skip out on it when setting up your online identity.

4. Test and Analyze Results

If your ultimate goal is to create an online identity, you must also track how well you’re doing. Whether you’re building your personal brand to promote yourself or your work, there is no one-size-fits-all approach.

The digital world is fast-paced. Users will not see your post or profile on their timeline after pressing ‘refresh’ as it is replaced by a slew of more recent posts. Therefore, you can never get too complacent, no matter how established you are in the industry. You should not only create an online identity but work towards maintaining it to keep up with the changing game.

You must use any metrics available to analyze your progress. For example, if you’re using Instagram posts, you can check the level of engagement you get as an influencer. If you’re using SEO blogging, you can check where your posts rank on organic search engines like Google.

However, you must also remember that some online efforts are long-term strategies. They don’t generate results overnight.

Once you have the reports of your progression, you can decide which platforms to dedicate your efforts to and ways to solidify your online identity.

Personal Brand Building Services

A professional company can help you create a personal brand building package tailored to your work or industry, your target market, goals, and values.

Content Development Pros have the experience and expertise to enhance your digital footprint, whether you’re a beginner, novice, or industry expert. We have the experience and expertise to understand your goals and create a unique, personal voice that increases visibility and boosts credibility and engagement.