Personal Branding Online - 4 Ways for everyone

Best way to do personal branding online

These past four years, it’s been said that branding is no longer limited to companies; individuals also engage in it, whether they know they’re doing it or not. The difference is that while companies have access to the more traditional branding options, like television ads, press conferences and the posters/streamers to be used for those events, individuals have limited options.

But even though there are fewer options for individuals to brand themselves, the options that are available are free to use and are used by millions of different people. I’m referring to the different social media sites and apps out there.

Though there are many social media sites to choose from, not a lot of people know how to maximise them. Not only that, but not a lot of people are willing to exert the necessary effort and so just wait until followers come. In fact, at one point, when I had a difficult time acquiring 100 followers for my personal Twitter account despite all the hype-sounding tweets I sent (I created a personal Twitter account to see if it is a great social media site for my business), I had decided to deactivate it and instead create an Instagram account for my company, thinking that a high-definition, professional photo alone should be more than enough to get followers.

But as it turns out, happy-sounding posts are not enough to acquire online real estate. The thing is, it still happens in 2017. Are you guilty of doing this? Then let’s get it fixed with the following methods!

Before the actual branding, you need to build your own blog or website, whichever is appropriate. Website creation has a number of benefits ranging from product showcase to data organisation. Whereas in the past, you MUST pay a hefty sum of money just to have someone create a website for you, this is no longer necessary today. With just a few clicks, you can create your own website even without knowledge of website development, dump all the necessary data there, and then do the following:

Choose a social media site to focus on. What this means is choosing the best site to use for showcasing your products or services – and sticking to it. I’m an event organiser and promoter, and while Twitter has proven to be effective for me in spreading the word of my services and the events I’ve put together, I found out later that Instagram was better for the same purpose. Photos of the event, event posters, and behind-the-scenes ongoings give people an idea of what I do and how I do it.
Insert your logo on your photos. Speaking of photos, it’s worth keeping in mind that just about anyone can take a photo and claim it as their own, and this leads to online drama, which does nothing but gives you a headache. Prevent this by inserting a watermark on your photos, which are logos inserted to look like a part of the picture. A logo on a corner of the photo also works wonders.
Never settle for low-quality images of yourself. Pictures taken with a DSLR camera and with a little bit of editing are the best to upload on social media. In the case of Instagram, however, a picture taken with a camera phone will do. Just make sure to apply a filter to that picture. You do not have to limit your photos to the things that make your company special. Remember what your employees are doing or creating is are also why your company is special, so it’s important that you take pics of them working at their desks as well, sharing your company culture makes an impression.
Consistency. In the case of personal branding online, consistency goes beyond making the actual product an amazing one overall; it also involves posting your updates and photos on a schedule you should set and follow to the letter. Since I own an events business called Entrepreneurs Collective, I post photos and updates of how things are going before and during the event. Also, I post schedules of events a week before they occur.

I may talk about my services on a Monday, post motivational quotes on a Tuesday, talk about a business secret (that’s not really a secret) on a Wednesday, post a picture or video of a past event on a Thursday, and post about one specific task our staff did on one event. It seems like a hassle at times, but how else will you prove that you are an organised company or individual with knowledge and depth as an influencer?

Doing the above should somehow give you an online edge. But if you want to make a grand impression among your followers, you should make it a point to be renowned for customer service. Even a single instance of going out of your way to ensure customer satisfaction can be a boost to your product reputation as a whole. It is not unheard of for customers to make a post about how a company seemingly ‘broke’ standard operating procedures to satisfy any unmet needs.

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