Yesterday, I spoke at Unisa SBL’s SME Hub launch. Although my topic was “Self-promotion 101, using AI ethically,” I realized I had first to show the audience why their brand is vital before we moved to the third step: self-promotion.
- It impacts attracting talent, keeping talent, and increasing sales, trust, and loyalty.
Research conducted by Brand Builders in 2022 in America found that companies whose founders or directors were recognisable and whose clients could relate to them on a core-value level had more sales and increased trust with their clients. The clients were likelier to recommend their products and services or follow them on social media. Employees were also more keen to apply for jobs at these companies, and clients were more loyal.
So yes, Personal branding impacts your staff attraction, retention and bottom line.
2. It’s not only online. It is also your in-person behaviour
Another aha moment that the audience had was that your Personal Brand is your online reputation and your in-person reputation—your patterns of behaviour, what you often do, and what people say about you when you’re not in the room.
It’s been interesting to see the response from the session; I’ve been getting messages with “homework” done. One of the exercises I often use in my Leadership and Team transformation is asking everyone to message five colleagues and five friends to see their responses.
Then, critically examine that list and identify which words you are unhappy with to determine what changes you need to make.
3. Start looking looking in the mirror
- What are your core values
- your goals
- your strengths, talents and personality type?
- How do you share this with the world?
4. Now communicate in person and off-line
- How often do you share stories of your identity when you meet potential clients?
- Do you share case studies?
- When we go for a job interview, we get asked: “What are your five strengths and weaknesses”?;
- People want to know your strengths when you offer them products or services.
- They want to know if you are the type of company and person they want to support.
5. Share your story, the message, and the narrative you are sharing.
It is crucial to ensure that you are speaking to the right audience from their view of the world. They don’t care what you are selling, and they have specific goals or pain points themselves.
Nothing will change if you don’t point those out and show that your product or service is a vehicle for achieving their goals.
The Third section of the keynote looked at ways of Self-promoting your brand. And demos of various AI tools that you can use to repurpose your content.
If you are keen to delve deeper into marketing your Personal brand, have YouTube videos and podcasts, or really struggle with content creation, reach out to purchase our masterclass or get on our waiting list for our next event.