Can Personal Branding Really Save You Time?
Do you ever feel like you are too busy to work on your personal branding, even though in the back of your mind, you know it is important? This is one of the most common challenges entrepreneurs face.
Between the urgent meetings and surprise deadlines, personal branding always seems to be taking a backseat in terms of priorities. But do you know that investing time to build your personal brand can, in fact, save you time in the long run?
Based on the article posted on the Office of the National Statistics website, it was disclosed that the number of self-employment in the UK for 2015 reached 4.6 million while the part-time self-employment rose 88% between the years 2001 and 2015. From a marketing perspective, this means that and explains why branding is no longer limited to companies. Marry this information with the boom of the digital age, you will understand why personal branding online is now becoming a necessity rather than an option.
Image Credit: Office for the National Statistics UK
However, some may still be uncertain dabbling into this and might opt to just let the natural circumstances take its course. Whatever shows up on Google about you will just naturally show up. Any wise marketer will tell you that it’s always best to take control of your personal branding online. This way you will have more control of your message and your content. There are a lot of other reasons why personal branding is a must and if time is your concern, let’s zoom into how a great personal branding online can actually save you time.
Make it easier for people to contact you
People might have heard about you or someone could have recommended you. Potential client goes online and tried to search for your contact details. If you’re able to set up a personal website or public social media profiles, it can be assured that your potential client can secure your contact details as easy as 1-2-3. Otherwise, if they can’t find you, it’s like saying goodbye to possible opportunities. You can also streamline your communication by specifying the way you want to be contacted. For example, some busy executives don’t reply to direct messages on social media but instead only focus on emails.
Answer questions about yourself in anticipation
If you’re a CEO or a busy executive, one can only imagine how hectic your schedule is. Thus, a well-written biography about you or a completed Linkedin profile can help cover the basics – your educational background, professional experience, industry accomplishments, etc. The more questions you can answer in anticipation; the more time you save. A strong biography of a CEO or senior executives is essential to their company’s image as well. After all, a company is nothing without the people working there.
For example, prior to any meeting, there’s a great chance that your prospective client would have googled you. If you have a notable personal brand online, the first step of “introducing” yourself is, in a way, being addressed. What they read online can help with those conversation starters for your discussion or finding connections in case they need icebreakers. In addition, a clear brand – who you are and what you stand for – will also lead to a more effective communication. You are saved from the hassle of repeat explanations or creating a confusion that might lead potential clients away because you will seem complicated for them.
Streamline decision making with clear brand values
You’re starting to build your personal brand, you need to determine your brand positioning and brand values. To simplify, brand positioning is about understanding and determining who you are, what you believe in, and what you can offer. If you have these pinned down, you would have the right mindset when you accept or even decline opportunities for you and your brand. You can streamline any decision-making process. If it matches your brand’s mission, vision, and values, then it’s the right course of action. If not, then you can easily discard them. Therefore, having a clear personal brand can help you save time making difficult decisions as well as save emotional and mental energy too.
Know your market and industry
A part of developing a great brand is knowing your competitors. Any time spent researching about them is never wasted. Marketers see this as a wise way to spend time. Why? You can learn best practices, see opportunities, know where your market is heading, etc. In the process, you might also want to update your brand and correct your course, thus saving time from unprofitable detours.1
Image Credit: The Brains Bunch 2016
Establish yourself as an expert Sometimes many people seek advice on the same topics. One of the best ways to save time is to have a blog and direct people to well-written answers you have already spent time preparing. Create content aligned to your personal brand. Maybe you have one of those how-to articles where people can learn from. You might also use it as a reference on what you have accomplished. If you’re a writer and would like to share your past work with others, you can just direct them to your page for reference.
Opportunities will come knocking
Building an impressive personal brand is like creating opportunities for yourself. This is one way for you to tell potential employers of what you can do and offer. A great track record saves you time from looking for work or attracting new opportunities.
In an article posted in Stylist titled ‘The 21st Century CV. How personal branding can help you nail your dream job’, personal branding expert and author of Personal Branding for BritsJennifer Holloway, identified that “anyone using their personal brand alongside their CV to appeal to employers is adding their ‘who’ into the mix” (Pocha 2016).
An example given was Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer who branded herself as the ‘Google’s 20th employee and first woman engineer’ (Pocha 2016).
Image Credit: Henwood 2016
Credibility brings increased revenue and more investors
In marketing, being present online adds credibility to your brand; more so if you have received amazing feedback from previous or current clients. This is what a great brand online can do for you: improved credibility and brand that results to increased.
Furthermore, having a good credibility online will allow you to reach out to possible investors should your business needs funding. Investors are always interested in your credentials because they want to know if you have what it takes a run a successful business or project.
Conclusion
Building your personal brand might be tedious and may take some time, but it is something worth investing your time on. Wouldn’t it be great to not have to chase after sales, leads, or clients and let the opportunities come and find you? Wouldn’t it be amazing to build something that will benefit you in the long-term years from now?
When you are ready, here are a few articles to get you started:
Sources:
Arruda, William. “Personal Branding Saves you Time and Energy in your Job Search.” The Personal Branding Blog. N.p., 12 Aug. 2008. http://www.thepersonalbrandingblog.com/personal-brandi‑3/. 28 Dec. 2016.
“Article: Trends in self-employment in the UK: 2001 to 2015.” Trends in self-employment in the UK — Office for National Statistics. N.p., 13 July 2016. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/trendsinselfemploymentintheuk/2001to2015. 28 Dec. 2016.
Henwood, Annaliese. “10 Ways to Maintain a Strong Personal Brand.” Http://www.mktginnovator.com/. N.p., 20 Apr. 2015. http://www.mktginnovator.com/personal-branding-maintenance/. 28 Dec. 2016.
Hyder, Shama. “7 Things You Can Do To Build An Awesome Personal Brand.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 18 Aug. 2014. http://www.forbes.com/sites/shamahyder/2014/08/18/7‑things-you-can-do-to-build-an-awesome-personal-brand/#608c7ad31274. 28 Dec. 2016.
“It´s time to start with your personal branding management.” The Brains Bunch. N.p., 24 Mar. 2015. http://thebrainsbunch.com/social-network/it-is-time-to-start-with-your-personal-branding-management/. 28 December 2016.
Krautzel, John. “Promoting Your Personal Brand.” Promoting Your Personal Brand | News | Beyond.com. N.p., 12 Jan. 2016. https://www.beyond.com/articles/promoting-your-personal-brand-18343-article.html. 28 Dec. 2016.
Lynn, Matthew. “The self-employed will overtake the public sector with the ‘gig economy’.” The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 18 Jan. 2016. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/12106318/The-self-employed-will-overtake-the-public-sector-with-the-gig-economy.html. 28 Dec. 2016.
Pixel.la. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/137643065@N06/24217032812/in/photolist-CTYC9u-D4yACV-CTZTgw 16 Jan. 2017.
Pocha, Sejal Kapadia. “The 21st Century CV. How personal branding can help you nail your dream job.” Stylist Magazine. N.p., 04 Feb. 2015. http://www.stylist.co.uk/life/the-21st-century-cv-how-personal-branding-can-help-you-nail-your-dream-job. 28 Dec. 2016. <http://www.stylist.co.uk/life/the-21st-century-cv-how-personal-branding-can-help-you-nail-your-dream-job>.
“The self-employment boom: Key issues for the 2015 Parliament.” UK Parliament. N.p., n.d. https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/key-issues-parliament-2015/work/self-employment/. 28 Dec. 2016.
Zondler, Mark. “Why You Need to Offer Online Training to Your Freelancers.” Mikogo. N.p., 25 Sept. 2014. https://www.mikogo.com/2014/09/25/benefits-of-freelancing-why-online-training/. 28 Dec. 2016.
