Q&A: How to create a successful personal brand online and offline
A few weeks ago we hosted a webinar on “How to create a successful personal brand online and offline” co-hosted with Camilla Collins, a Self-Image Specialist and Entrepreneur and Petra Smith, Founder of Squirrels&Bears. Unfortunately, due to time limitations we were unable to answer all the questions, so we are addressing them now with answers from both Camilla and Petra. If you have any other questions that you would like to ask either of them, feel free to pop them in the comments and we will come back to you.
Q1. When focusing on your offline personal brand, what types of questions should you ask yourself to help get to the root of who you are?
Sit down for an hour and question all aspects of your current and past lifestyle. Write your answers down with a pen and paper and look for patterns of similar activities, feelings or general things. Ask yourself questions such as what did I enjoy doing as a child? What do I enjoy doing now? What people make me feel good when I am are around them and which people don’t make me feel great? Why do I think that is? What things do I look forward to and why? What things do I dread and why? What is my space at home filled with (Books? Gadgets? Pictures? Nice furniture? etc.) How do I spend my spare time? Why do I spend my spare time this way and how does it make me feel? And keep asking “why?” to get the root causes of your emotions and feelings towards things in your life to uncover your true values and what is important to you. (Camilla)
Q2. How do you talk about your successes without coming across arrogant?
Tell emotive stories along with them. Engage with whoever is listening and tell your story in a way that they can relate to but build rapport first, do not just launch into talking all about you, ask them questions and then work your experience story and successes into your responses. Always sympathise and keep perspective, putting yourself in the other person’s shoes as to how you are coming across but remember - If a surgeon was about to perform surgery on you and he or she didn’t reassure you that they were qualified for the job and they had lots of successful surgeries under their belt then you wouldn’t feel secure so remember you are providing reassurance and security to someone. Thinking of it this way should stop you coming across boastful or arrogant. (Camilla)
Q3. What advice do you have for someone who is building a personal brand in a saturated market? And how can you stop comparing yourself to similar brands?
Stop looking at them and focus on you. You have something that they never will and that is your unique set of skills and abilities combined with your personality. Think about the package that you have to offer and not just the skill and focus on that and share that with your marketing messages and through your conversation and demeanour with others. In business I say it’s far better to focus on what businesses in other industries are doing and seeing how you can apply it to you. if you focus on what your industry is doing you will subconsciously start to copy them. (Camilla)
I would also like to add that the fact there is competition means that there is demand, so don’t lose focus just because there is more noise. (Petra)
Q4. For someone who is not tech savvy, what practical steps can you take to improve your digital brand building?
It depends on your target audience, but as the first step I would recommend setting up a simple website if you have a business. Use the website to explain about your brand purpose and your products and services. You can then set up your social media profiles and link them to your website. If you are focusing on your personal brand only, you might not need a website, but instead build your presence on social media. Setting up your profile, connecting and engaging with your social networks are the first steps that you can gradually build on. (Petra)
Q5. How important is social media in brand building and which ones are most important?
Social media is a key element in brand building as it allows to reach new audiences and continuously engage with them. Again, it comes back to the nature of your business, your target audience and products and services. You need to be where you potential clients are, so before you invest time and energy into social media, research the demographics and pick the social media platforms that they are most likely to use. (Petra)
Q6. Is Instagram important for professional services? Which platforms are best suited to this industry?
I would recommend LinkedIn for professional services as it’s a great place to network and maintain relationships with your peers. The professional services industry is all about connections and knowledge share so LinkedIn is better suited than Instagram, however if you can turn your service offering and knowledge into a visual demonstration, it can also be very effective. (Petra)
Learn the key elements of a successful personal brand and how to improve your brand visibility. Co-created with self-image specialist Camilla Collins, our half-day digital workshop will teach you how to look and feel great online and offline. Contact us at hello@squirrelsandbears.com to book.