In this social media driven world we live in Personal Branding is one of the most organic and effective ways to engage those we want to offer our products, services and expertise to. In fact, it has been shown to be as important - if not more important than branding your business. Yes, that amazing logo, beautiful colors and amazing font you chose for your website are not enough! People want to know the person behind all that greatness and there is no more powerful way to open the door than visually!
For many of us the question “Where do I start?” is what holds us back or doesn’t allow us to get started on the personal branding path. People want to know your story, know who you are and have a connection with you even before they speak with you. The starting point and most critical aspect is the visual representation, via photos and/or video, (you need both, trust me!) that provide a glimpse into you and your passion for your craft.
If potential customers, hiring managers, casting directors etc… find you via social media or your website do your visuals tell your story or influence them to take action? Even in the most bland and vanilla fields your aim should be to be a figurative “rock star” in the most polished yet personable way possible. Outside of your personal journey your visuals should depict your expertise in your field. Here are 3 steps on how to get this personal branding mission started and it’s honestly not as difficult as you think!
Let The World Get to Know You!
Step 1: Brainstorm and answer a couple of questions
Vision separates the good from the great, put some thought into what the ultimate version of ‘You’ is. Remember you must be genuine, not being yourself will be noticed easily, let your passion for what you do shine through. It doesn’t have to be wordy or lengthy, just jot down a few words that describe the ultimate ‘You’ and how you want to be perceived.
Your Images Should Make Your Audience Believe In You
Ask yourself a couple of questions:
Who is my target audience or ideal viewer? For a business owner it could be consumers or other businesses that are searching for your product or service. For career minded professionals your Linkedin profile or Intranet photo could be what gets the recruiter to take notice. If you are a realtor, it may be families looking to purchase their first home or sellers looking to sell their luxury home. Actors, models or recording artists need to be seen by casting directors, talent agencies and can be successful through building their own following.
What uniquely qualifies me to help them? We are all problem solvers and contributors but our personalities are usually what make us unique. Some of us are outgoing and bubbly, while some are very stern and composed and others are in between. The beauty of it is with personal branding any personality type works, although some possibly more than others depending on the field. Some customers, jobs and roles call for structure and discipline while others are more relaxed and feel good as well as those that are abstract and somewhat ad lib.
Some examples of this you see regularly in advertising are the GM or owner of a car dealership doing a humorous commercial to break down the ‘evil car salesman’ persona, or an attorney using a firm tone to assure they ‘fight for your rights’ and even the moderate tone of a medical or dentist office to give a warm family feel but assure you they take your health seriously.
Those visuals develop trust with your ideal viewer, and people do business with people… especially those they trust! Still not 100% clear, never fear, let’s move on to the next step!
Step 2: Hire creative professionals to bring your personal brand visuals to life
Photo by Trey Grier
We have become more and more of a DIY society due to economic reasons and advances in technology but when it comes to visuals, polish and professionalism matters! Some informal things related to your personal branding work well, but do you really want the entirety of what your target audience see from you be…. well…. ‘Informal’. Working with Pros allows you to leave the technical aspects like lighting, audio, video stabilization and editing to those who have the needed training. Saving you major time!
Most commercial photographers and videographers can take the thoughts you have from step 1 and create a visual plan that tells your story and separates you from the crowd. The only limits are usually how creative you allow them to be and your budget! No matter what your budget is some form of personal branding can be done reasonably, from a great professional headshot to a short promo video telling about yourself.
Custom Content is the Key! Headshots are great but environmental portraits in your element can take the image to the next level so I always recommend both to clients. A chef in a kitchen, realtor in front of a home, an executive in a boardroom or office, or whatever your field is give the viewer a view of you where the action happens! This should also be incorporated into your videos and b-roll can make video even more powerful with you in multiple environments being shown.
Step 3: Stay Consistent
From a personal branding standpoint staying consistent can mean many things, but producing consistent, polished, professional visual content is very important. I encourage all of my clients to have fresh visual content to release monthly or quarterly and for some it may be needed weekly or bi-weekly. The key is to keep people engaged with ‘You’ and not just what you may be selling. Mix in some elements you capture on your own also, like places you go to eat, and family as it makes you more human but don’t let that be the only or most prevalent images your viewer gets to see. Developing a calendar is one of the easiest ways to stay on top of this task.
If you are still struggling with defining yourself as outlined in step 1, I highly recommend reading the revised version of the book Fascinate by Sally Hogshead. It’s a great read and the audio book is an even better listen! It’s read by the author and provides some great insights into her work with large corporations on branding. Her expertise can be applied to personal and business branding and has exercises to help you figure out who you and your business are. Be sure to do the exercises, they are very accurate!
Personal Branding is for everyone, whether you own a business, work as a professional, are an actor or model or do anything in between, perception is everything and you have the power to control the image you portray. Start with these steps, be the ultimate ‘You’ and have fun with the process. You can truly take yourself wherever you want to go by helping people visualize who ‘You’ are!
Trey Grier is a Creative Brand & Marketing Strategist who specializes in custom business and personal branding imagery. His desire is to create images that make his clients desired audience take notice and evoke emotion and action. When he's not cooking up a new marketing strategy Trey can be found hanging with his family, mentoring local youth or in front of his grill making some tasty BBQ!
