There’s a lot of talk nowadays about personal branding through social media.
We all need Twitter profiles, Facebook pages, and YouTube channels. We’ve got to blog, tweet, digg, and chat our way into popularity. Right?
Don’t get me wrong. Personal branding through social media is very important. If you (or your business) don’t have a social media footprint, it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee.
But social media isn’t the whole picture. There are other effective ways to build a personal brand. And you don’t even need a Twitter account to pull them off.
Why Your Brand Matters
If you’re an entrepreneur, your personal brand is everything. It’s how you get business partners. How you get investors. How you get clients. It’s what you’re known for, whether that’s good, bad, or just plain boring. Your personal brand is what makes people believe in your business ideas.
Your personal brand is also your insurance. If your business tanks, or if things just go wrong, your personal brand is what allows you to survive – even prosper during tough times. If you have a magnetic, trustworthy brand, people will follow you and support you. You’ll have a community surrounding you. And that’s a powerful resource.
Building Your Brand Without Social Media
As I said earlier, social media are very effective (and probably indispensible) personal branding tools. But they aren’t the final word. In fact, nearly 70% of adults still don’t know what Twitter is. That’s a lot of people who aren’t reading your tweets.
So forget about social media for a minute and try these 4 forgotten (but effective) personal branding techniques.
1. Dress to Impress
Internet communication has made us lazy. We’re so comfortable in our computer chairs that we forget about interacting with people face to face. The modern entrepreneur can get away with wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants.
But sooner or later, we’ll have to get up, go outside, and actually meet people. When that happens, what impression will your wardrobe make? What kind of message are you sending every time you walk into the office? Do you look clean and professional (no, that doesn’t always mean suit and tie), or do you look like you just rolled out of bed?
Just as a logo can brand a company, your clothes and appearance brand you. Make sure that brand is a good one.
2. Flex Your Vocabulary
Social media platforms may come and go, but good communication skills will always be in style. Are yours up to par? Whether it’s fair or not, people will judge you by the way you speak and write. When you slip into slang or make silly grammatical mistakes, you risk looking dumb. So polish up your writing and public speaking skills. Sooner or later you will need them.
It’’s not just about speaking engagements and networking opportunities. It’s about how you sound when you’re on the phone with a client. It’s about the way you write emails to investors. It’s about your conversation during lunch meetings. You’re a professional. Talk like it.
By the way – communication skills matter online too. Sure, there’s a lot of gibberish passed around, but the true leaders (Brian Clark, anyone?) are masters of communication – both written and verbal.
3. Go the Paper Route
The more snail mail falls out of favor, the more of an impact it can make. Think about it. You read hundreds of emails and thousands of tweets every day. But how many handwritten letters do you receive? One a week? A month? A year?
If I sent you a tweet, you may or may not take notice. But if I sent you a personal, handwritten letter (postage stamp and everything), would you remember me? I bet you would.
So try it. Think of someone you really want to connect with and send them an old-fashioned letter. You’ll be branding yourself as the one person thoughtful enough to stand out from the crowd. That’s a great reputation to have.
4. Give With No Strings Attached
On the Internet, almost everything seems to have an ulterior motive. You enter your email address to download a free e-book … but you’re also subscribing to weekly email updates. And sooner or later, someone will try to sell you something.
Now, I’m not trying to bash content marketing. There’s nothing wrong with giving away a free resource in exchange for someone’s email address. In fact, it’s a brilliant, win-win business model.
But everyone’s doing it.
There’s no point in branding yourself “same as everyone else.” So do something different instead. Give away stuff. Lots of stuff. Great stuff. And do it with no strings attached.
It’s Your Turn
How’s your personal brand doing? How do you brand yourself online? Offline? What makes a branding strategy worthwhile? And how can you improve your brand today? Personally, I’m going to start working on some great, no-strings-attached giveaways.
Share your insights in the comments section below!
29 Comments on “4 Effective Personal Branding Strategies You Forgot”
says:
Nice post. I especially love #3. Since email is too common, its always nice to fall back on some old school ways to communicate, just to be different. And it shows sincerity too.
However, for #1 i think its just too common a knowledge for anyone who takes himself seriously. Dress to impress will often be the first reaction when meeting prospective business partner, etc. It would be plain dumb not to. But overall, great post.
says:
Great advice! It's all about creating a clean, professional image, with perhaps a little quirkiness thrown in. Your advice about giving is absolutely spot on – it's what separates a true entrepreneur from the used car salesmen of the world. Keep up the great work!
says:
“Hmmm, that's interesting,” she says, allegedly working while still wearing this morning's yoga clothes.
To build on what you're saying, I would argue that “dress to impress” goes beyond just what you wear when you go out and meet with people. Even if you're working at home, even if no one can see you, I think that it's hard to feel as professional (and therefore convey your professional brand image) when you're in your pajamas.
In my experience, I am more productive when I “dress” for work, even if I'm just walking into the next room. It helps me create the boundary between work and home, and helps me mentally shift into work mode and into the mindset of the personal brand that I'm creating.
And now I need to go and get dressed.
says:
Hi Jeffrey,
you probably guessed, that I would like this article. All 4 points are very important, even if dressing up doesn't necessarily mean to be wearing the high heels or the tie all the time, it's just making sure that your personality becomes visible. It's also about caring about the others by finding a special way to communicate with them, by dressing being dressed properly, by choosing the adequate words and by clarifying that you don't always expect something in return.
Great reminders of the “old ways”
says:
Jeffrey – Great post! Like your takes some personal branding issues that most people take for granted.
Especially like the section about sending a written letter. (with the exception of resumes), this is a very powerful method of reaching someone on a personal level.
And in general, I think many individuals do not pay enough attention to their personal brand.
says:
love it love it love it! A great reminder of the ” old fashioned” but proven strategies in this tech oriented World. Thanks, Jeffrey!
Diana Placiakiene
personal wardrobe stylist
ishopstyle@gmail.com
Style is your Visual Vocabulary. Speak Your Language!
says:
Way to keep the eye on the ball Jeff! I like how these can apply for more than just entrepreneurs, but also for anyone trying to manage their image.
says:
Haha, #1 is a pretty common-sense point, I agree. I included it because I wanted to show that everything you do impacts your personal brand – even if you don't realize it.
says:
Quirkiness is good! After all, if there's nothing different about you, your ideas, or your business, why should anyone pay attention?
says:
Very good point, Melissa! I agree wholeheartedly. Building a great personal brand isn't just for other people – it also changes and improves the way you feel about yourself.Dressing, talking, and acting like a professional can be a great psychological motivator.
says:
It's so easy to get caught up in the “new marketing” and forget that time-tested principles still apply! Thank you for pointing out that important truth :) And thanks for commenting!
says:
It's all about being unique and memorable. If everyone else sends nothing but email, be the guy who's thoughtful enough to write something by hand.
And yes, I definitely think that personal branding is something that we all could think a little more about. It's very easy to define yourself as “an employee of XYZ corporation” – but then you're just a face in the crowd. We should all take some time to define ourselves as individuals, not just as our job titles.
Thanks for commenting! By the way – I like the way you're using Posterous on your blog. How's that working out for you?
says:
“Old-fashioned but proven strategies” is a great way to put it. I think it's important to remember that both “modern” and “old-fashioned” branding and networking techniques are built on the same timeless principles. Thank you for commenting, Diana!
says:
In a way, we're all entrepreneurs, aren't we? We just express it in different ways. But I think people are naturally creative beings, so entrepreneurship is something that's in our blood, so to speak. We just have to learn to take that talent and apply it.
says:
Well said, I absolutely agree.
says:
Jeffrey, I love the solidity of your thinking here. Some of the best ideas seem obvious. But the points the thinker made are only obvious in retrospect.
It takes a special gift to see important ideas hiding in plain sight. Thank you.
Kye
says:
I like the idea of flexing your vocabulary. I think more people should consider developing their writing and conversational skills. Today more and more people tend to use conversational and completely grammatically incorrect language on social media (some of those tweets can be hardly read! They look like somebody wrote them in cipher). I prefer using real language that can be understood by all people, I think it creates a much better personal brand (you are right, Jeffrey :-)) After all nobody wants to have business with some uneducated hicks
says:
Great tips! I think work at home moms get even more out of dressing to impress. It makes us feel good about who we are too – instead of just take-care-of-the-kids-and-try-to-get-some-work-done-bots. But that type of confidence is good for all bloggers, isn't it?
says:
I enjoy these posts Jeffrey, also loving this whole new comment box you have. Branding is always important and is probably the first thing people noticed as you have mentioned. It is always important to make a great first impression either through your looks or your knowledge. My work has entirely no human face to face interaction. All banner stands I sell or mostly ordered online or over the phone so I won't lie I am indeed bumming it out. I come from a background of working at an investment bank where I would dress professionally…dress shirt, tie , and slacks .oh yeah and posses that “clean” look. In my situation I feel if I were to appear at work, with a full on suit it would be really weird….but it could also change how the company is ran….of course i don't run it….so great article none the less….
retractablebannerstands.us
my blog
says:
Thank you for the gracious compliments, Kye – and thanks for commenting! And yes, I agree, sometimes the obvious ideas are the ones we forget the most.
says:
“Flex Your Vocabulary”
I am lucky with this because English it's not my primary tongue so I have a huge foreign accent :D
says:
Oh, I've definitely seen some tweets that require work to decipher! Of course, some of it might be due to Twitter's 140 character limit, but then again, brevity is an important language skill too. Thanks for the input, Anastasiya!
says:
Hey Denise :) I agree – dressing to impress is a great confidence and self-esteem booster. Thank you for pointing that out from the the viewpoint of a stay-at-home mom. Whether you're at home, at work, in public, or alone, your appearance does make a difference (if only psychologically).
Thanks for stopping by!
says:
Jeffrey—Great post. I'm working on creating my brand right now and I'm going to start putting these plans into action. Thanks again!
says:
Jeffrey
Excellent points on branding
I love going to networking events in my city to give away free stuff – face to face and let people know about my blog. It is a good way to promote your brand and has worked well for me.
Thanks for the post.
says:
Great post! Most great blogs have their brand. What exactly did you attempt to brand your site as?
says:
Great Post-I will be putting all of this into action! You do such a great job to new freelancers so keep up the great work!
says:
I hope these ideas help! Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.
says:
Great points! I refrain from the handwritten communications because my handwriting is atrocious, but I think you have to always keep you audience in mind.
I absolutely LOVE email – it is my preferred communication, but many people hate it. I have found that you can personalize emails with both content and timing to suit the person to whom you are communicating and have great success.
If someone prefers the telephone, I will call them and follow up with an email after the call with what we discussed. I still like to send birthday cards and holiday cards through the mail to my clients, but I will also send my well wishes to them electronically.
I think this approach tends to make my emails more welcome from someone that does not normally like emails. I get to keep my preferred method of communication and double my touch points with my clients without seeming a nuisance.