Stacy Kinney

By now you have probably heard about the importance of personal branding and how creating a compelling personal brand can give your business the boost it needs to compete effectively in the crowded internet marketplace. However, you may be struggling with figuring out just how to develop your personal brand so that it supports, rather than hinders, your marketing efforts.

photo courtesy of robalicious @ Flickr

While developing your personal brand does take time and effort, it is not a difficult process. In fact, I’ve broken it down into three simple steps you can take that will put you on track towards developing a personal brand that gets the results you want.

Step One – Determine what your personal brand is

In order to successfully develop your personal brand, you need to first establish what it is. Take some time to figure out what your core beliefs and values are, what makes you different from other people in your field and exactly how you want to be perceived by your peers and customers.

Use this information to decide on the image you want to project to the world at large. Write this information down in a notebook and refer to it often when working on the next steps.

Step Two – Create your brand’s physical presence

Once you’ve determined what your personal brand is, you’ll need to cultivate your brand’s physical presence. You need to decide on the name, image and tagline you want to have associated with your personal brand. Since you are developing your personal brand, this would mean using your own name, a picture of yourself and a personal motto.

Your brand’s physical presence should communicate the ideology behind it. So someone who wants to come across as a serious entrepreneur should probably use a picture of themselves wearing professional business attire. On the other hand, someone wanting to communicate an easy going and laid back attitude could get away with using a picture of themselves in casual clothes.

Step Three – Wherever you go, take your personal brand with you

People have to be exposed to your personal brand several times before it will make a lasting impression on them. Start promoting your personal brand by creating a blog and using it to share your expertise. Branch out from there into social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook and connect with others who can help you spread your brand around. Guest post on blogs that focus on the same topics you write about.

Your name should show up in every place your topic of expertise is being discussed so that eventually whenever someone thinks of that topic, they’ll think of you. Consistency is a key factor in your success, so be sure to always use the same name, image and biographical information on every site you participate in.

Your personal brand is the most powerful weapon you have in your arsenal of marketing tools. Take the time to develop and promote your personal brand and you will be rewarded with the prosperity and authority you deserve.

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4. Generate an Endless Supply of Customers by Using Social Media to Market Your Brand