Why It Is worth Promoting Yourself through the Internet by Creating a Personal Brand

ADVICE: Personal branding strategy works well online because people prefer to communicate with other people rather than with companies.

The Internet has simplified the task of entrepreneurs and professional services providers. Anyone nowadays has access to social media channels such as a blog or Facebook page to reach a relevant audience. Personal branding strategies are especially effective online because people prefer to communicate with other people rather than with some companies.

The Power of Personal Branding

Have you ever heard of Robbins Research International? Probably not. But Tony Robbins? I bet yes!

Here’s an example of how powerful a personal brand can be. Everyone wants to benefit from the coaching, training and mentoring services of Tony Robbins. Millions of people follow him on Facebook and LinkedIn. Few of these admirers know that, actually, Tony owns a group of companies that develops and promotes its training programs. His companies hire up to 500 people during peak periods of activity! Why then, do we perceive Tony as a top trainer rather than as a CEO of a group of companies? Because his strategic choice was for the Tony Robbins personal brand to become the symbol of excellence in training and coaching rather than the name of one of his companies.

This strategy works well for small and medium companies and professional services providers. Whether you have a B2B or B2C business, your business is primarily H2H, i.e Human-to-Human.

 

You Don’t Have to Be Tony Robbins to Build a Personal Brand

You’ve already figured that I am an avid fan of Tony, whose classes I participated in religiously. This example could be daunting for you. Very few experts and professionals achieve the level of acclaim enjoyed by Tony Robbins. It’s ok. It’s important to became an expert in your potential’s eyes, not in everyone’s eyes.

 

The most frequent reasons why small businesses and professional services providers hesitate to build a personal brand are:

1. I don’t have the necessary expertise
2. I don’t have time and I don’t like to write books or blog articles
3. I’m not the kind of person to stand in the spotlight

 

Let’s take these “excuses” one by one:

1.The Expertise – Your expertise consists in what you know (and what your customers do not know and want to learn from you). These are the professional informations that allows you to deliver quality service. Positioning yourself as an expert in your industry is not just a stylistic choice but the best way to create interest in your services.

2. The Publication – All you have to do is repackage the information that you and your team already use (in sales processes, in delivery of services, customer services, etc.). If you have no one with writing talent in your team, hire someone quickly. You don’t have to start with the publication of a book. Start with the first small step: publishing a weekly article on your blog.

3.  Media Expose – Start by providing visibility on your personal blog and then you’ll get used to media exposure.

Why is it worth going out of your comfort zone to build a personal brand? Once your name is associated with excellence for services in your industry, you will create an enormous interest for your company’s services. Customers will come to you rather than you chasing them.

Let me tell you a secret. In my experience, the time invested to build Ozana Giusca personal brand was much shorter than the time I invested in activities such as cold selling or meetings with potential clients.

Instead of Conclusion

If you decide to promote your services through your own blog, Facebook or LinkedIn, it is good to understand something from the beginning. Nobody wants to read advertising! Be the “Discovery Channel” for your audience, not a commercial break. Educate your customers, put expertise in value and show them what to do to solve problems. So they will come naturally to you to help them implement these solutions.