Like most others who start out on a completely new venture, I had no idea what I was doing. Sending 60 cold outreach messages a day, I was lucky to get one or two replies. It wasn’t until I discovered the power of personal branding that I realised exactly why I was well failing. Becoming a student of the game, I spent hours each week studying the types of content and branding techniques that industry leading entrepreneurs were using – which I decided to model and implement for myself. 

After weeks of posting content and branding myself to suit my title, to my amazement, my response rate went through the roof. I went from receiving a couple of replies per day from the 60 messages I was sending, to now getting 15-20 responses. Now you could say this is coincidence but I know for a fact it’s not. This is when I discovered the real power of a strong personal brand. As an entrepreneur in the world of online business, it’s particularly important to stand on social media, it’s harder than ever to stand out – but more importantly, there are more scams out there than ever. 

A strong personal brand builds trust with your audience and potential clients, as they have an insight into who you are, what you do and how you can serve them – just from a quick glance at your profile. 

Whether it be on LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook – if you do business online, here are the 5 ways to boost your personal brand and position yourself for maximum results. 

1. Colour Pallet

One of the simplest yet most overlooked parts of a personal brand is a clear, bold colour pallet. As mentioned earlier it’s more difficult than ever to stand out, but by using strong colours to highlight your brand, you will become more recognizable and stand out from the bland, vanilla crowd. Incorporate your chosen colour in your posts, photo frames, client testimonials and even banners and cover photos. Remember to keep it consistent across all platforms to make it as memorable and recognizable as possible.

“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” – Seth Godin

2. Five Pillars

One thing I learned from a webinar of a highly sought-after personal branding coach, was her 5-pillar method. The 5-pillar method is simple – you choose the 5 things that best represent you and your brand, ensuring that everything you post falls into those five categories. These could be just about anything. Mine for example are; Fitness, Entrepreneurship, Nature, Marketing and Golf. That way when someone comes across your profile, from a quick glimpse they can see exactly what you do.

3. Tell Stories

Both in written and video content, telling a story is the best way to connect and build trust with your audience. Story is the perfect way to influence, engage and inspire people, and it’s a sure-fire way to get people consuming your content every time you post. Remember, attention spans are becoming shorter by the day, so use a story to hook them in. 

4. Unique Content

Once again, I can’t stress the importance of standing out. I know personally, that each time I see a normal video, I almost always scroll past – unless a great caption hooks me in. Using technology to our advantage once again, there are some amazing apps that let you produce quality video content with a canvas, progress border, subtitles and headings which are sure to grab attention. Creating clever graphics and posts using Canva is another sure-fire way to make your content more unique.

“The key is, no matter what story you tell, make your buyer the hero.” – Chris Brogan

5. Overdeliver in Value

I’m a big believer that the more you give, the more you get. It’s no secret that everyone loves free things – and by consistently delivering value to your audience for free, the more likely you are to close on a sale further down the track. No longer is a simple photo post enough to retain your audience, unless you’re a supermodel. Value-packed content is the strongest content in 2020 and is a great way to boost your personal brand. 

Personal branding is all about building trust and creating a clear image of who you are, what you do and how you can help people. By implementing these 5 tips into your personal branding strategy, you’ll be building rapport with your audience without having to remind them how trustworthy you are – boosting your credibility and social proof effortlessly.