Personal branding is so self-absorbed!
Does the concept of personal branding make you feel icky, suggesting shameless self-promotion or self-aggrandisement?
Well, even if saying the words makes you cringe a little, like it or not, you do have a personal brand.
It’s your image and reputation, your self-presentation. It’s what people say about you when you’re not in the room and what comes to mind when people say your name.
Don’t like the words ‘personal branding’ think of it as reputation management instead.
I’ll admit, the whole thing can feel a little self-absorbed, especially amongst us Brits. As a child, I remember being told that you shouldn't blow your own trumpet which, of course, is ridiculous. If you're not, then who the heck is? Actually, don't think about that - it's unhygienic!
It’s not conceited to spread your message. Personal branding is really just a way of describing how to take control of your story and how best to present yourself to others.
Getting a handle on your personal brand can be an effective tool for networking and building relationships, allowing you to communicate your strengths and what makes you unique.
It’s about understanding what makes you YOU and how you are making a difference! This begins with knowledge about what you want people to believe about you and what, in fact, they currently believe. This isn’t to suggest you should pretend to be someone you’re not. Instead, it’s about determining what you want to be known for.
What do you want to be known for? How much of yourself should you put out there? What should you keep back?
If you want to share it all, go ahead. If you don’t that’s okay too. While in some cases, sharing too much might be seen as unprofessional or inappropriate, for others your transparency and authenticity could be the breath of fresh air they were looking for. To know for sure, you need to have a really good idea of your ideal client, their interests, values, likes and dislikes. Either way, it is important to be mindful of these perceptions and to consider whether sharing personal information sits right with the image or reputation you want to present.
Ultimately, it is important to be true to yourself and to make choices that align with your values and personal boundaries. If you feel comfortable sharing more personal information on social media then go for it. But if you prefer to keep your personal and professional lives separate, that is also completely valid. The most important thing is to make choices that align with your personal comfort level and professional goals.
I’m far from having it nailed - it’s a work in progress. And likely always will be. Things change. Having a clear idea of my core values, message and how people might experience me for the first time though, means that when they do change, I’m in a good position to adapt to that.
And even though it is something to keep working at, I’m already pretty reassured that when people seek me out they understand the values that I have built my business on and that they also have a good idea about what it will be like working with me.
I recently took part in a personal branding exercise with Yawn Marketing (practice what you preach!). And from that exercise, I gathered anonymous feedback from previous clients. Combining that feedback with my Google reviews gave me this word cloud of the qualities people see in me.
Those are the words my customers use to describe me and associate with an image of me. That gives me a pretty good idea about my personal brand - how I’m perceived and what people might say about me when I’m not in the room.
It also helps me to identify areas I might want to work on, where I might need to close the gap and align how people perceive me with the image I’d like them to hold.
It’s obvious what I do I (if it isn't ... I really am in trouble!), but the reason why I might be someones choice over another photographer ultimately boils down to my good looks reputation!
Those words in the cloud above, suggest that I’m making a generally good impression. It tells me that people have a good idea about the guy behind the camera - what I stand for, what I’m good at, what makes me different and what they can count on when they book me.
So, while I know it can be hard to put the focus on yourself and it can feel self-centred, it shouldn’t. For me, it’s simply about helping my future customers to gain trust in my attributes and abilities and to help them understand what they can expect when they encounter me.
Have a go at a similar exercise to the one I describe above. While it might feel a little self-absorbed to do so, at first, that feeling will be far outweighed by the sense of self-confidence it can give you about your strengths (and on that note - thanks to all of the people who took time to feedback - it means the world)! Not only that but it will, most certainly, help you to know if you’re on the right track as well as helping to highlight those aspects of your reputation that you should continue to build upon.
Whatever the outcome of that exercise for you, whether it prompts you to change direction or double down on the things you’re already known for, photography can play an important role in your brand image, in the strategy you should follow to differentiate yourself and to gain the reputation and influence that affects your success - get in touch and let’s tell your brand story!
