Building a personal brand requires the right strategies. Otherwise, you will end up making a lot of noise on the social media without any results. Do not rush through this guide. It’s like a mini course or masterclass.

We have gotten massive results for our clients using the same tips you are about to learn here. First, let’s define personal branding.

What is a personal brand?

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, once said, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

Your personal brand should be so powerful that people talk about you constantly with their peers and friends.

A powerful brand does not happen by chance. You can’t just read some personal branding books and think you have the full recipe. Let’s get to the point without wasting your time.

Here Are 5 Secrets To Building A Personal Brand

They are all critical. Do not skip any of them. At the end of each segment, you will find an assignment. Please follow through.

Whether you are building a personal brand on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or TikTok, the strategies are the same. In fact, they are the foundation. So, let’s start.

Now, let’s unpack every one of the four secrets, so you can start implementing right away.

Secret #1: Choosing Your Perfect Avatar

As you might know, an avatar is a representation of your ideal client. Some people refer to it as a buyer’s persona or customer profile. 

It’s the one person who happily buys from you and thank you for solving his or her problem. There are millions of that one person out there ready to give you money.

Those ideal clients don’t give you any trouble. They sing your praises. They don’t ask for refunds. And they refer their friends and family members to you. 

Let’s take a wild guess.

If you are like most entrepreneurs, you probably spend very little time, if any, thinking about who you serve. When in reality that should be your obsession. 

In today’s hyper competitive marketplace, the only way to build a million-dollar personal brand is to fall in love with your ideal client. Needless to say you cannot fall in love with a person you don’t know. 

Today more than ever, if you are not obsessed with your avatar, you are doomed to struggle in business. You will continue to watch the other guys building wealth in your market while you are barely getting by.

This may sound harsh. But, it might be the one thing you need right now to achieve real financial freedom in your business. 

It’s crucial to intimately know the person who is going to make you rich. Later, we will say more about this. For now, you need answer the following questions:

Do you know who is your ideal client or customer avatar? Who are you talking to in the marketplace? Ninety nine percent of business owners have no clue who they serve. We want you to be part of the one percent who do.

We don’t want you to keep throwing rice on the wall hoping some would stick. That’s a terrible business strategy. 

Imagine you are at a packed stadium before a game. You want to get a specific person’s attention. You start yelling, “Excuses me! Excuse me!” How many from the crowd do you think would stop to talk to you? The answer is NOBODY! 

One of the unbreakable rules of public speaking is this: When you are speaking in front of an audience, speak to one person. People see themselves as individuals.  

They ignore what is not addressed to them personally. The best part is, when you speak to one person, each person in the audience feels like you are speaking to him or her.

The crowded stadium we are referring to is the social media platforms. Everyone is screaming at your ideal client. But nobody is calling his or her name. Astonishing, isn’t it?

No wonder why most entrepreneurs complain about the unfair treatment they receive from social media platforms. They blame them for not showing their content to the intended buyers.

How would Facebook know who you are really targeting when you don’t even know yourself? Better yet, how would anyone stop to pay attention to your content when you are speaking to everybody?

What if you were the one person or business calling the exact name of your avatar in that stadium? Your avatar would feel like you are the person who can solve his or her problems. 

Here’s a marketing truism you probably are not aware of about building a personal brand:

“If you can describe the customer’s problem better than they can, they will assume you are the solution.” 

Please read that again. Let it sync in for a moment. All this boils down to this:

The decisions you make in your business are not about you. They are about the one person you are obsessed about… the client!

Surprisingly enough, we would ask some clients why they chose a certain color. They would answer, “it’s because we love it.” We know they don’t understand what building a personal brand is all about. We know they are not building a million-dollar personal brand.

Your decisions in business are NEVER about you. It’s about them. It’s about their wishes, desires, fears, and aspirations. You are in business to satisfy your avatar. 

You don’t choose your color scheme because you love it. You choose it because your ideal client loves it. Consider this:

If you cannot describe them, you cannot attract them. That is why you need to have a crystal clear picture of who you serve. 

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

First, decide on who is your ideal client avatar. Then develop an obsession to know their deep desires, wishes, worries, fears, and aspirations. 

The crazy thing is, the vast majority of business owners think if they choose a specific avatar, they are going to lose out. That is far from the truth. As the saying goes, there are riches in niches. 

Here are a few things you must know about your avatar:

• Age
• Gender
• Profession
• Income
• Marital status
• Location
• Worries
• Desires
• Fears
• Hobbies
• TV shows
• Magazines
• Facebook groups
• Etc.

Chances are, if you’ve been in business for a couple of years, you already have an avatar. There is a specific person who is the perfect fit. Start describing that person.

As you can tell, this is not something you do on a whim. It takes time. Be like a secret agent. Thoroughly investigate your avatar. 

By the way, personal brands like Oprah Winfrey, Elon Musk, or Mark Zuckerberg know their customer avatar to perfection. They always know who they are connecting with.

The more you know about your avatar, the faster you can blow away the competition to dominate your market. The more you can have  heart-to-heart conversations that make them fall in love with your personal brand. 

Why you or why your company? If you cannot answer this question with absolute certainty, you cannot build a million-dollar brand. You can also see how I share my story here.

Secret #2: Building A Personal Brand Requires A Compelling Why

The “why” is your competitive advantage. Without it, you will never lead the pack and be the obvious choice in the marketplace. You will be fighting an uphill battle. The competition will destroy you.

Most entrepreneurs skip this crucial step. That’s a fatal mistake. They invest enormous time and money in everything else. But they totally neglect to give their prospects a persuasive reason to do business with them. 

Can you, right now, tell us why you instead of your competition? What is so unique about your business that would compel your target market to want to buy from you?

When prospective clients come to us to learn about building a personal branding. We know they need a total brand makeover. We always start with the why.

We don’t just design and create award-winning logos, websites, and branding assets. We are the personal brand strategists and consultants. We engineer and develop million-dollar brand blueprints for our technical and design team to implement.

We know the psychological and emotional triggers that make people pull out their credit cards to buy. Simply put, we understand buying behaviors. That is why our clients choose us instead of the competition.

By the way, that’s our unique advantage. That’s WHY companies choose us. That’s why we are expensive. We get results.

Your why should drive all key decisions in your business. It’s your power positioning statement.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Now, it’s your turn. Why should your prospects choose you over your competitors? What makes you so special?

Gather your team members to brainstorm your unique advantage. Create a list of all your competitive advantages. 

If you are having a hard time coming up with your why, ask your existing customers or clients why they chose you. Send them a survey with some kind of bribe to motivate them to fill it out.

Next, you want to review all your marketing collateral to determine if you are communicating those advantages. Don’t assume the market knows what makes you unique. Tell them in plain language why they should care.

Secret #3: Be Intentionally Consistent

For some reason, the mind tends to believe and trust whatever is consistent. Even if you tell yourself a lie consistently, your mind will eventually believe it. In fact, everything we believe as true is because for thousands of years, people consistently told us it is so.

Million-dollar brands do not allow the market to form their opinions about what they stand for. They influence and manufacture public opinions. And they do so consistently.

Your personal brand must influence and guide opinions. If you make the mistake of leaving it to the market, they might form negative opinions about you or your business. Simply put, your reputation is up to you.

The consistency of your color, logo, tagline, messaging, value proposition and service must be intentionally consistent with how you want the market to perceive you.

If something does not reflect your personal brand, get rid of it as soon as possible. Your prospective and existing clients should identify your personal brand everywhere.

The consistency of your personal brand is one of the key factors that boosts your authority and credibility. It’s what sets you apart. Here’s a clear example of consistency in building a personal brand:

Let’s say you are a lover of art. You have some favorite painters. Do you think it would be difficult to recognize their paintings in an art museum? The next question is, what causes you to identify those paintings? 

That’s right! The consistency of colors, creative imagination, and brush strokes. It doesn’t matter if those paintings are buried into a sea of other paintings, you would know them.

The same level of consistency and recognition should apply to building a personal brand, including your website, your marketing materials, and your social media shares.

Your narrative, mission, and vision should consistently communicate your uniqueness as well.

By the way, EVERYTHING you do or say is branding. Even what you wear is branding. EVERYTHING! People are always watching you.

Every email, ad, video, photo, and post you share should reflect your personal brand. Your Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube feeds should align with your uniqueness. Leave NOTHING to chance. 

We are talking about the success of your business. Consistency is how you prevent your current clients from switching to your competitors.

Your tribe needs your assistance to guide them on how to relate to your personal brand. Here’s something else to consider:

People always buy based on emotions, and then they use logic to justify the purchase later. The consistency of your brand is what will trigger those emotions. It’s all about repetition.

When your brand is consistent, your customers cannot help but feel you are indispensable and reliable. As a result, they trust you more.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Pretend you are your prospective client. Look at your website, catalogs, email marketing campaign, text messaging, advertising, blog, and direct mail. 

Look for things that are inconsistent or what does not represent your brand. Get rid of them ASAP. Chances are, they are hurting your brand.

Seriously, don’t wait for later. If you have a service or product you offer that is not consistent with your brand, either change it or get rid of it.

Secret #4: Inject A Wow Factor In All You Do

We know it’s kind of unusual for a branding company to talk about the wow factor. After all, building a personal brand should be about the look and feel of a business, right? No really.

The way you delight, romance, and sweep your clients off their feet has a lot to do with creating a million-dollar brand. Here’s what we mean:

Disney World is one of the most powerful brands in the world. It’s relatively expensive to take a family there. However, when people come back from having an amazing vacation at Disney World, they NEVER call their friends and family members to talk about how expensive it was.

Do you know what they call to brag about? You got it right. They call to rave about the experience. Do you think it’s by accident? No. 

The experience was orchestrated for that purpose alone. That is known as word-of-mouth marketing. Disney World’s goal is to convert every visitor into a salesperson.

Here’s a million-dollar question for you: Do you have a system in place that is designed to create wow experiences?

Ponder that question. It may be the one thing missing in your business to catapult you to the next level. 

Here’s another question: Do your clients call friends, family members, or their colleagues to rave about you?

If your answer is no, it’s time have a creative session with your team to come up with some wow strategies.

Did you also know that millions of businesses fail miserably simply because they don’t have the wow factor in their business?

What do we mean by “wow factor”? 

The answer is simple:

We are talking about unforgettable and extraordinary experiences that inspire your tribe to rave about you and your business.

Let’s face it: we are living in a world full of copycats. People will easily copy what you do. They will rip off your messaging, colors, and the overall look of your brand. They will even try to steal your clients. 

However, they CANNOT steal the way you delight your clients. They cannot rip off your passion to wow. Simply put, they cannot steal the soul of your business. Does that make sense to you?

Your wow factor will get people to say amazing things about your personal brand when you are not in the room. 

Yes, we help our clients create million-dollar brands. However, one of our secret weapons is the fact that we demand that our clients create spectacular experiences for their clients.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

The question is, how do you plan and execute wow experiences to catapult your personal brand to the next level? 

Start with your customer’s journey. Determine EVERY single step the prospective client takes to get to you. Take nothing in the journey for granted. 

Write down EVERY step, from the time they fill out a form on your website or call your business to the time they become paid clients.

It doesn’t matter if you have one client or one thousand clients. Everything you do and say in your business is part of the experience.

Secret #5: Tell Compelling Stories To Connect Deeply

Storytelling is a huge part of building a personal brand. The better you are at telling stories, the quicker you connect with your tribe.

Every world-class brand has a compelling story that they repeatedly share with their prospects and clients. That’s called indoctrination to the nth degree.

Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, wrote a book to share his story. Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s, did the same. Tom Watson, Henry Ford, and all the founders of the major brands we love and admire told their story in a book. 

Those founders told their stories to indoctrinate us. More importantly, they told us their story to inspire loyalty. That’s why we fall in love with brands for life.

The reality is, no one really cares about what we have or what we are selling until they know who we are.

Top celebrities in the entertainment industry first become stars. However, they only become superstars when they share their backstory with us.

We love Halle Berry, Oprah Winfrey, and many others because we know so much about their struggles. They pull the curtain aside and give us a backstage pass to get to know them at a deep level. They invite us to learn about the real person behind the fame.

Pay attention to the way Gary Vaynerchuk. leverages his personal stories. You will learn a lot from him. Do the same for Oprah Winfrey.

Oprah’s story is remarkable and extremely well told. Success leaves clues. Find those clues and apply them.

Do you get the point? Here’s a hint: 

Have you ever wondered why all the social media platforms are now introducing stories as important features? Do you notice how they are constantly promoting those features?

Life is storytelling in the making. 

We are constantly telling stories to our significant others and to the people we meet. That’s because stories bond us and help us relate to one another.

Our stories are therapeutic to others. They inspire and uplift us. It’s like those stories give us the permission to live our dreams. 

We are subconsciously programmed to tell and listen to stories. It’s a primate tendency. It’s also what separates us from animals. Stories captivate our imagination. That is why we get sucked into movies and books. 

Do you remember as a child when your parents would say, “Once upon a time”? You immediately stop whatever you were doing and lean forward. That’s the point. 

We cannot resist a good story. And your story is an important extension of your brand. It’s critical for building a personal brand.

Guess what? 

Every brand is a story worth sharing. Just like the celebrities and founders mentioned above, you need to tell your tribe your genesis story. 

Tell them how you got started or what brought you this far. It may be boring to you. But to your prospects and clients, it’s exciting. Why?

They are, either consciously or subconsciously, craving to know more about you as a brand. Your struggles and the obstacles you overcame are inspirational to them.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

Start practicing sharing the story of how you got started with friends and acquaintances. Watch their reaction. Listen to the kind of follow up questions they ask you. 

Again, everybody secretly would like to know how you got to where you are today.

Your hero’s journey or genesis story is not the only story you need to share. Here are other types of stories you should be sharing as well:

1. Your clients’ stories

There’s no doubt you already know that collecting testimonials from your clients is crucial. In our branding firm, we call them case studies and tell them in the form of well-orchestrated stories.

2. Your employees’ stories

Your employees are part of your brand. Tell their stories of accomplishments. That’s a great opportunity to celebrate them publicly so they can move mountains for you.

Needless to say, you have a solid personal brand when your employees are promoting and bragging about you.

3. Your achievement stories

When you get mentioned in the news, or receive an award or any form of accolade, turn them into stories to share. Your clients and prospects want to hear the news about you.

LET’S CONCLUDE…

If you are reading this far, you are destined to create a million-dollar brand. We congratulate you! That tells us you are committed to building a personal brand. Kudos!

Most people will never read this far. But you did. That tells us you are serious. You understand what a powerful and magnetic brand can do for your business. 

Now it’s time for implementation. 

The ideas we just shared with you are useless and pointless unless you follow through with the assignments. 

We literally reverse engineer thousands of irresistible brands along with our clients’ successes. We have a combined forty years of experience in the branding space.

We just handed you on a silver platter what took us years of researching, systemizing, and executing. It’s the same blueprint we deploy for your premium clients. 

YOUR INVITATION

Finally, for the sake of time, we couldn’t share with you everything about building a personal brand. There are way too many moving parts in building a personal brand. At least, we gave you the critical branding tips to get you started.

If you want us to dive deeper with you, feel free to schedule a call with us. Click here to contact us. Fill out the form. Then we will send you the calendar link.