So, now that you know why building a personal brand is important, let’s talk about how you do that.
Building a personal brand is, in essence, pretty straight-forward. All you need to do is follow these three steps:
1. Decide what you want to be known for
Brainstorm and clarify:
- Who you are
- What you do
- Who you do it for
- How you do it
- What value you add
- The feeling/s you evoke
2. Make that clear everywhere
It takes 5–7 impressions for someone to recognise your brand, so you’ve gotta get your brand applied across all of your touchpoints. Apply messaging and visuals that represent your answers from step one on all of your brand touchpoints such as your:
- Website
- Social media profiles
- Email signature
- Printed materials (flyers, business cards, posters, etc)
- Documents (Pricing guides, invoices, proposals, contracts, etc)
3. Communicate consistently
Being consistent with your branding makes you 3–4 times more likely to experience brand visibility (a.k.a more people will know who you are) and that can result in 33% more income, so it’s actually true when people say that consistency is key. So whenever you are updating your website, creating content, communicating with a potential client, or representing your brand in any way, be consistent in how you do that, both visually and through your copywriting.
What to communicate in your personal brand
Your personal brand is all about communicating to your audience and potential clients who you are, what you do, why you do it, what you’re about, and what it’s like to work with you. There are four main aspects of your brand that are key to communicating these.
1. Vision, mission, values
At the heart of every good idea or great business is a clear sense of purpose and a vision for the future its creator wants to see.
These three branding basics are all about clarifying and communicating the essence of what you do. Here’s how you can think about them:
- Vision: Why (The big picture, deeper reason why you do what you do)
- Mission: What (What it is that you do, for who, and the value you provide)
- Values: How (How you conduct business while working on your mission & vision)
Get clear on all three, and you’ll have the foundations of a strong brand strategy.
2. Your story
If you don’t give the market the story to talk about, they’ll define your brand’s story for you.
Every single person’s story is SO unique, and everything that has happened in your life has made you the person and the freelancer that you are today. That’s why it’s so important to know and share your story.
You could start with these questions:
- Were you creative as a child?
- What got you into the industry you’re in now?
- What made you fall in love with your passion?
- What made you start freelancing? What drives you?
- What education/jobs did you have beforehand if any?
- Are you trained or self-taught? What did you learn from that process & how has it influenced how you freelance?
Use these as a starting place to uncover the magic of your story - delve deeper and ask your own questions along the way too!
Answering questions like these gives your audience insight into who you are, why you do what you do, and what sets you apart from others.
3. Your unique selling point
Distinctiveness often requires boldness, innovation, surprise, and clarity, not to mention courage.
– Marty Neumeier
Branding is all about standing out and differentiating yourself from the others in your industry. Think about what it is that sets you apart from the crowd. Is it your:
- Skills
- Clients
- Background
- Experience
- Personality
- Strengths
- Philosophy
- Framework/methods
- Beliefs
- Process
Really think about this and get specific. Don’t just say, “my experience.” What exactly is it about your experience that makes you different from all the other freelancers in your industry? And maybe it’s a combination of a few things!
4. Your personality
Last but not least, as a freelancer who works directly with clients, your brand is about you, so make it yours! People connect with people, so don’t be afraid to open yourself up to your clients. YOU are the defining part of your personal brand, so be yourself, tell personal stories, embrace your personality, and go all in on you.
Being authentically yourself will make freelancing and building a personal brand so much more fun and enjoyable for you, and will make the experience even better for your clients.
If you’re always trying to be normal you’ll never know how amazing you can be.
Where to start when it comes to building your brand
All of this might seem like a lot, especially if you’re a first time freelancer who is also trying to figure out how to run your business, so let’s start off small.
I always say that branding isn’t a one-and-done thing that you do all at once and then forget about for three years. It’s an iterative process that starts with clarifying and communicating one thing at a time to get you closer and closer to the personal brand that truly reflects who you are.
That means that no, you don’t have to figure everything out right now, but if you’re going to start anywhere, start by answering these three questions:
- What do you do?
- Who do you do it for?
- What value do you add?
Answering these three questions and putting them into a sentence you can pop in your social media bio, on your website, in your email footer, and talk about in your content, will do wonders for your brand.
For example:
- Hollie Arnett is a brand coach and strategist helping creatives like you get more eyes on your work, more dollars in your pocket, and more creativity in your life.
- Meg Lewis is a designer, comedian, performer, and educator working to make the world a happier place.
- Kaleigh Moore is a subject matter expert that creates long-form, top-ranking blog content for eCommerce platforms and the SaaS tools that integrate with them.
See how these single sentences make it SO clear what each of us does and what we’re all about? That’s what you need!
Want to know more about personal branding as a freelancer? Read the full guide here.
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