Tips for Leveraging Your Personal Brand for Competitive Advantage

Personal Brand Overview: In an age where the internet is an extension of a person’s life, millions of people are uploading the highlight reels of their lives daily, via posts, reels, carefully crafted and curated with filters and airbrushing. If one wants to lead the way in this vast world of the internet, they need to stand out, from within this millions strong crowd. This is exactly what personal branding does; it showcases brands in a way that people are intrigued by it.

Despite the newer variety of jobs being created so frequently, global connectivity has made the spread of information so fast, that competition is at an all time high.

To stand out, you have to understand that you are not better or less than anyone. If it only were about being better or faster, then so many viral Youtubers, bloggers, and influencers would not become irrelevant every 2-3 years. You stand out because you are not only better, but you can sustain quality content in everything you do for a long time. Sustainability is the main goal.

1. Understanding your personal brand:

• Personal branding can be defined as a way to show yourself in a way that it helps you stand out as an authority in any industry. It starts with a growing internet influence, getting a significant amount of followers with passing time, and then, leveraging the whole as capital. However, to build a solid foundation, you need a well thought out strategy, which comes from consistently showcasing your ideas on SM platforms, and being meaningful, and most importantly, being on brand.
• Profit might sound like a great goal to have when it comes to business, but without quality stuff to offer, profits can disappear like oxygen in the wind. Which is why, self awareness is key to not just profiting, but being able to sustain that profit.

• Some ways to conduct a personal SWOT analysis on a branding, are:

1. Understanding what makes you unique than those doing similar things as you.
2. Understanding weaknesses by reading comments, customer reviews and complaints, and improving what is not up to the par.
3. Looking up what product, or blog made a big mark, and capitalizing on it and its superior variants.
4. And lastly, looking out for what is causing a drop in engagements, or causing something to fall off of the internet’s radar.

2. Building your personal brand:

• The internet is one of the best outlets to build your brand. As much as we like to bask in proverbs like “beauty is only skin deep”, people have always been visual. So it’s important to make oneself visually unique.
• However, SM platforms, that you feel would hinder your progress, should be kept discreet or strictly avoided.
• Lastly, it’s essential to have your own webpage for your brand. Your website will be owned by you, and it should be the cornerstone of your branding. If people want to get in touch, your site, with an authentic intro and story, can serve as a foundation.

3. Communicating your personal brand:

• An intriguing introduction that keeps the audience hooked, is necessary to nudge them towards the ideas that you want them to be influenced by.
• Authenticity should be pursued, instead of perfection. Showcasing little imperfections makes one human, which is a surefire way to emotionally connect with an audience or a customer.
• Talking about your brand in AV format like on youtube, IG, or just audio e.g Spotify, can spread quick word about your influence. Blogs and landing pages that show up on a search engine are also good.
• As your audience grows, talk face to face about your products, at meetings, where you might find common ground. Nothing beats real human conversations.

4. Utilizing your personal brand for competitive advantage:

• I believe that every person has their own unique selling point, but most of us are busy copying instead of creating, as the former is way more convenient. Growing a business is a place where you can make your USP, your strongest weapon. Don’t follow a set of standards blindly, be the standard too.
• Say someone decides to pursue MBBS at 40. Most people would think they’re crazy. But there are advantages. We need doctors, it’s one profession that doesn’t care about recession, or job saturation. And one of the biggest advantages? A 40 year old will be way more dedicated to their craft, as they’ve seen the passage of time, something a 20 year old with an overall optimistic mindset, haven’t been through yet.
• Hurdles are a part of life.. But how you get back up, sets you apart from others. One of my favorite people who has a superb personal brand, would be David Goggins. His portrayal of how he overcame social anxiety, to end up being one of the strongest athletes in the world, is incredible. He showcased himself in a way that I cannot help but proactively look up what he has to offer as a person, and coach.

5. Maintaining and evolving your brand:

• Now how do you sustain your brand? Just like you don’t just buy a plant, you nurture it daily, the same you should apply to your brand.
• Honesty is key to long term growth. If people realize you’re conning, your brand will burn down fast. If you’re at zero, and just starting out, you should at least have one place where you could check what works. Example, if you have a certain diet that might cause muscle gain, try it on yourself for a month, or a family member or friend. In this way, you have one authentic feedback to start with.
• A good start would be holding on to what makes you exceptional, plus keeping up with the current market, and merging those two. Constantly changing what you stand for, shows that you don’t believe in yourself; if you don’t believe in yourself, others won’t either.
• Despite working the hardest, setbacks are quite common. If obstacles do come, the goal should be to overcome them. One way to deal with challenges is to look at them as experiences and not “failures”. Lastly, good behavior pays off in the long term. You want to be remembered as a person with integrity.

Conclusion:

• Curate yourself into the best face for your business, not some boring imperfection. Transparency, and not underestimating your audience’s minds, is good for a healthy competition.

• Sharing an authentic story that sets you apart, having a consistent internet presence, having a unique brand name/domain that come up on search results, connecting with others to spread word about your brand, and staying updated with the current market while keeping your foundation and principles intact, are some of the key things to think of when making this a long term project.