alaahassan

Do you remember when you used to press the fast forward button on your VCR and speed through your favorite movie?

Do you feel like everyone around you is actually going through life just as if someone was pressing FAST FORWARD and for some reason you are stuck on PAUSE? 

You’ve probably heard this so many times before but trust me when I say:

You need to take the time to work on your personal brand because the benefits are endless.

Here is the most complete list of benefits of personal branding:

 

Helps you maintain focus

Your personal brand is the filter that will encourage you to maintain focus. Once you know who you are and what you would like to be known for, you can really narrow your focus and manage your time much more effectively.

Stand out from the crowd 

Like I’ve said, it is very difficult to stand out from the crowd in a very competitive market.

Personal branding allows you to distinguish yourself from everyone else and become more visible. It works like spotlights on a stage that follow your every action and make everything else seem so dim in comparison! So in case you are wondering, yes its makes THE star in a one-man show!

Make more money (who doesn’t want that, right?)

When you gain recognition and stand out from the competition, you can simply charge more for a service.

Your personal brand will increase your earning potential without having to put more effort. Once your brand is set, people will come to you. For example, Sara is a fun outgoing person who is passionate about makeup.  She started by posting videos and pictures on Facebook and Instagram of her work. She also started doing makeup presentations at bridal conventions and created her own site. Her fun outgoing attitude along with her passion and talent for cosmetics made her a thought out expert in this field. She became one of the highest paid make up artists. All that to say that a personal brand will actually pay up (if you even care about money).

Increase Credibility

Your personal brand is a promise. If you work hard, it shows and you will gain credibility.

Think of a promise you make to a five year old: “if you eat all your veggies I will give you some ice cream” (don’t judge, bribes work excellently with kids!) So if you validate your promise, your five year old will take your words very seriously and you will earn credibility. Now no offence to anyone, but your brand followers are not very different from children. If you gain peoples trust by fulfilling your promises, you will be empowered by your brand.

Build Your Brand Loyalty

Carving your brand and constantly updating your followers about your work creates a sense of trust between you and your audience.

Think for instance of loyal Coca Cola fans. No matter what new soft drinks enter the market, loyal fans will not budge because of their emotional attachment to this brand. To them it is not just a drink. The brand focuses on the experience of opening a bottle of Coca Cola and the sense of comfort and nostalgia as you hear its’ sizzling sound (Coca Cola should pay me for this paragraph).

Limit Possible Distractions & Become More Productive

Your brand allows you focus on a narrow area and really excel at it. This sense of direction limits the distractions in your life. Knowing who you are online and offline gives you direction and allows you to put forth all your energy in developing your brand.

Increases Your Confidence

Remember that the first step in personal branding is to look deeply at yourself and discover your greatest qualities and passion. This approach also allows you to downplay your weaknesses. One approach to this is to ask people around you about your best assets (but definitely not your mother, they tend to over exaggerate). So building a personal brand focuses on what people praise you for. This is a real confidence boost for anyone and a much needed one at times.

Be Comfortable in Your Own Skin

Personal branding allows you to incorporate your personality in your brand. It is essential to reflect who you are as a person as well as your area of expertise. This really allows you to be at ease with yourself. It is ok to be unique and different. In fact your unique qualities are what make your personal brand an effective one.

Outshine the Competition

Here is a secret that large companies have been keeping from you.  You have to keep a close eye on your competition and do what ever they do that much better.

Audit your competitors’ pages and add a little personal touch that will make you outshine them. Your brand will allow you stand out because there is no other person just like you. There are many people with similar credentials and work experience, but there will never be another YOU!!!

Showcase Your Expertise

You personal brand is a platform to showcase your experience and expertise in a certain field.

Think about you what do better than anyone else and focus your energy on that. Becoming an expert and using your personal brand to market yourself will really speed track you towards success!

Be More Connected with Your Audience

Not everyone has to like you. But really knowing who you are will actually get the right people connected to you.

For example, Linda the creative and passionate baker will have more customers and other bakers following her due to her personal brand. 

Showcase your awesomeness!

You are different and unique. A personal brand allows you to use your awesome unique self to gain reputation and success.

It is ok to be that adventurous fearless writer. Although that office job might not be right for you, your brand as an adventurous and fearless travel writer better suits that distinctive personality.

You Will Not Just Have a Rise in Income but PRESTIGE as Well!

Developing your personal brand will leave a marked impression on people. You will be established as a go to person in a specific area. Gaining that type of reputation and being invited to speak at seminars because of your expertise is a prestigious accomplishment (hmmmm try to maintain humility when you make it to the top though, because arrogance will bring you right back down).

Become a Leader In Your Field

Establishing yourself as an expert who is different from the competition will position you as leader in your field. Once you gain the confidence and credibility, your name will spread like fire. People will recommend you to others and possibly endorse you on social media outlets and the cycle will keep on repeating and widening. Success creates more success!

A Map Towards Success

Think of your personal brand as a map that will guide and keep you going on the right route. It is easy to get lost and take unnecessary detours but knowing your aim will keep you on the right track.

Become a Star

Well not a Hollywood star but a shining star in your field. Personal branding enables you to become a popular, talked about, followed and well known person in your field. While it may not make the next Brad Pit or Angelina Jolie, it will make you the thought out and distinguished person in real estate for example.

 Attract the Right People. 

While your personal brand will not attract everyone, it will attract the right people. Think of a magnet. It will not attract everything. In fact it will repulse some objects yet have a very strong hold on some metals. Your personal brand will transform you into a magnet (not a chick magnet that is). Someone who will attract people in your field and allow you to make more money out of it.

Creates Consistency

Your brand is a guideline for all future action. It will head you in the right direction and enable you to filter the right opportunities from the ‘not so right’ ones. It will answer your question, “is this opportunity, post, blog or photo consistent with my brand?” This really allows be consistent in your online and offline activities.

Increases Commitment

When you take the time to build a personal brand you become more committed to your work.

The time and effort put into your brand will not only make others committed to you but will also make you more attached to your niche. Your brand is similar to a plant that you nurture from a seed to a beautiful blossoming flower. The process of nurturing the plant and watching it develop creates an attachment and commitment to its well-being. What is better than being committed to your OWN growth and success for a change? Yes I said it. It is a commitment to your self and it is not as bad as it sounds. In fact this commitment will really make you prosper, both on a professional level and a personal one. 

Now friends let’s get talking. The advantages of personal branding are really remarkable. Has your personal brand achieved any of these promises I mentioned? How has your personal brand impacted your life or career? 

 

A friend was telling me that her father called her the other day asking her what a selfie was. He was always hearing about this concept and was worried about seeming behind on the latest trends.

Ellen Degeneres’ selfie with other stars at the Oscars got more media attention than major international issues. Even though Oxford gave the selfie the honor of being the word of the year in 2013 it is nevertheless just a trend. The selfie is similar to a fashion accessory, and right now it is clearly a hot one. Regardless, just like you have to be cautious about trying new fashion trends without harming your image, selfies must be used with the same caution.

So listen up people… before taking that next selfie making the infamous duck face, you really have to slow down and consider how this can harm your personal brand.

Think before you CLICK

Have you really thought this through?  A selfie is taken during the heat of the moment and most often it is not an action that is properly thought through. Taking a selfie does not give you adequate time to reflect and evaluate your actions. It is very likely that the impulsive moment can cause you regret later.

Too close for comfort

When you take that selfie your face is literally an arms length away from the lens. Are you really that comfortable having people “up in your face?” Do you want everyone to have that intimacy with you or is this level of closeness best reserved for more private encounters? Remember that your posts form an impression that everyone will have of you. Your next boss will see that selfie you posted. If you do not find it appropriate for your boss to conduct an interview standing only a couple of inches away from your FACE then face it, it is also inappropriate to post that selfie.

Borderline between humility and vanity

Although presenting your personal characteristics is crucial to developing a brand, there is a line that can be crossed when it simply becomes too personal. We do not need to see your selfies as you go about your daily routine. Occasional photos of yourself will make your audience feel closer and connected to you. However, posting a selfie of you at the gym, having lunch, watching a movie, in your car (or worse, driving your car) is going overboard. You would have a very big ego to believe that your followers are interested in every little tedious task you do. People generally don’t feel connected with vain individuals. Most often the reaction towards conceited people is distaste, so if your aim is to develop a personal brand that will get others interested in you, then cut back on the flow of selfies. Trust me, we have seen enough already.

That selfie will define and limit you

People once used fashion to represent their unique personalities, but selfies have now replaced that bohemian shirt or rocker jacket. Think about what type of individual a selfie defines you as. Is it consistent with the personal brand you wish to portray? For instance just like certain dress codes are banned from the work place, think of your photos as a type of dress code and try to be consistent in how you portray yourself.  Are you that conceited person who only cares about their fit body or that caring and passionate one who wants to protect the environment? Seems dramatic, but your selfie will have a major impact on what type of individual people will perceive you as. Think about everyone that will have access to these photos and how they will evaluate your identity. Although it might be very luring to post a selfie of your ripped abs right after a work out, just take a minute to think about what qualities you wish to be known for, that hot body or your creative mind.

No DELETE button

Once you post something, there is no going back. Everyone is prone to making mistakes but the selfie trend makes the world aware of all your mistakes. For instance if you post a selfie of you partying, driving, or engaging in any other destructive behavior you are not the only one who will have to live with that knowledge. Everyone got a very intimate glimpse of what you’ve done. People can change and learn from their mistakes but once that selfie is public there is no going back. You only have one chance to make an impression on people, and no matter how much you have grown and changed people will always perceive you as that “bad” misguided person.

 

Before pressing “share” on that next selfie photo imagine a million judgmental eyes hovering over you and attacking you. Sounds like a scene from a horror movie right? Well it is a scary world out there. You can either use social media to elevate your social brand and success or you can allow it to DESTROY you. Strong language… right? Well perhaps it is, but getting fired from a job that you love so much because of that selfie you took yesterday while driving evokes some strong emotions.