Personal Branding has become very important in today’s gen of online search because if you don’t appear positive online, chances are meek that a prospect will ever knock your doors. There’s a reason why 65% of internet users see online search as the most trusted source of information.
Still most people don’t consider personal branding as a priority and end up damaging their brand. Here are some mistakes you are making and how you can avoid them:
1. Half-hearted efforts
Many people don’t like the idea of personal branding as it makes them feel that they are highlighting their achievements and qualities only to market themselves in a particular way. While this may, in some respects, be true, you cannot avoid personal branding otherwise you may no longer be relevant.
With the huge number of people competing with each other in every field, there are bound to be many who are trying to reach the same audience as you are. If their image resonates with them in a better way, you might end up being overshadowed, and eventually forgotten.
On top of that, if you engage in half-hearted personal branding, you are bound to appear as someone who is trying to gain attention to appear as someone they are not.
What you can do: If you are not wholly devoted to the idea of personal branding, you must discuss with a team of experts about ways in which you can create a personal brand that you are most comfortable with and which will also be well received by people.
2. Boasting
The whole point of personal branding is to establish your image as someone who your target audience can connect with. If your personal brand smells of bragging about your achievements and the connections you have made, the interest of your audience will be lost immediately. They will only see you as someone who has all those achievements to their name but they won’t ever connect with you because they won’t know what kind of a person you are and how you managed to get those achievements.
What You Should Do: Instead of boasting about the achievements, you should simply highlight them and focus more on how to pitch into the audience’s heart with your success story. You need to appear as someone with distinct qualities and characteristics.
3. Having a one-line description
You might have come across dozens of profiles that have phrases like ‘result-oriented’, ‘team player’, and similar descriptions. The people who use such phrases are those who are trying to create a personal brand but are unwilling to put in the effort required to create one. They simply use descriptive phrases and hope that people understand their entire persona and decide to work with them. If you have been using such a phrase, please stop. All it does is make you seem less original and a bit lazy. In no way does it establish your own individual identity apart from your brand.
What You Should Do: The only description that can help you create an identity for yourself is one that is easy to understand by everyone, highlights what distinguishes you from others and your key characteristics. You can try to write the description in a way that you would talk to someone if they asked you about yourself.
4. Having Traditional Business Cards
Until a few years ago, everyone would be seen carrying a paper business card that contained their contact info, their business details, and something about themselves. Even now, many carry the paper business cards. However, those who are well-dedicated for creating a strong personal brand, have already made a shift to digital business cards.
Nfc digital business cards are much handier than paper ones. You can really describe yourself as a person by the way you design your business card. On top of that, you can share your business card with anyone at any instance. If you are still using a paper business card, you will be perceived as someone who is not updated with the recent technological trend.
What You Should Do: You should consult a graphic designer and design a personal digital business card at the earliest. You can design it in a way that highlights your personality. Remember to include details of all your social media profiles to make it easier for people to connect with you.
These personal branding can not only cost you in terms of finances but can also cast a massive hit on your online reputation. So, be careful and follow all the measures to prevent it.
