7 Reasons to Build Your Personal Brand

by Jimi Jones

Welcome to Jimi Jones Dot Com! New here? You may want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates and tips on branding and building an online business.

Personal branding, the process by which people add distinction, value and definition to their name through self-packaging is continually growing in importance.

With so many individuals in every corner of the business world one must find a way to literally make a name for yourself and gain separation from the others.

It boils down to what you are known for. When others see you or your image, a message should be delivered regarding what you represent in the marketplace.

The reasons for building your personal brand are numerous and below I have listed 7 to consider.

1. Create opportunities – Successfully building your personal brand will have others seeking you out with opportunities to participate in a variety of business projects, as people are always in search of others who have demonstrated a level of success.

2. Build trust – Your personal brand should be a promise of value added to the situations that you are involved with and when this continually happens, a great level of trust is built and word-of-mouth advertising spreads the news.

3. Market positioning – When you become a highly trusted source it positions you in the marketplace as a go-to person and as such, your endorsement of products will carry much weight and influence.

4. Build security – A great brand means that you have employment and financial security since your services will continually be in demand.

5. Build a large network – It is no longer just about who you know. There was a time when opportunities were closely aligned with who you knew but that has changed to include who also knows you. In this ever increasing and competitive marketplace, networking has become more critical than ever before.

6. Increase your social standing – Your influence and overall standing in the social networking community grows when you build your personal brand.

7. Stay ahead of the crowd – Many bloggers and online marketers pay little to no attention to building their brands, but rather concentrate on other aspects of the business, figuring the branding will come naturally. Those that put forth an effort and employ specific strategies to build their brands will outpace those who do not.

There is no more valuable asset than your name, and building it into an easily recognizable brand will bring long-term benefits for years to come. The online world continues to become more and more crowded with marketers, bloggers and entrepreneurs looking to make a sustainable income by providing products and services. Do yourself a good service by increasing adding value to your name.

Keep Blogging!

http://www.blogengage.com/story.php?id=51272 Vote on this article at blogengage.com

7 Reasons to Build Your Personal Brand | Jimi Jones Dot Com…

Personal branding, the process by which people add distinction, value and definition to their name through self-packaging is continually growing in importance.There are benefits to building your personal brand. Read about them here….
http://mariamcisse.com/ Mariam

Hey Jimi,
These are really great points. If you’re about to do some business, there’s no way to do it but to brand yourself. I mean what’s the point of building a “business” when no one knows and/or cares about you? Then it’s not a business to me.

In my opinion branding yourself / your business first leads to building trust. You become known and recognized. If you can be recognized then you almost automatically build a network (if you’re smart not to overlook your customers and potential partners) and create opportunities.

But way to many people spend time on figuring out what their main message is. They think “If I create a fancy logo everyone will be able to recognize me”. But the logo is just a part of branding.

I think you have to know what you and your business stand for and build your website, communication channels and products based and around this message. It’ll take time and some serious effort but in my opinion you can just win by doing so.

I’m going through this process at the moment. Though it doesn’t make me money at the time, I’m sure that I’ll benefit from this process in the future.
.-= Mariam´s last blog ..This Blog Is Not Ready Yet, But I Can Drop You Line =-.

[Reply]
http://mariamcisse.com Mariam

Hey Jimi,
These are really great points. If you’re about to do some business, there’s no way to do it but to brand yourself. I mean what’s the point of building a “business” when no one knows and/or cares about you? Then it’s not a business to me.

In my opinion branding yourself / your business first leads to building trust. You become known and recognized. If you can be recognized then you almost automatically build a network (if you’re smart not to overlook your customers and potential partners) and create opportunities.

But way to many people spend time on figuring out what their main message is. They think “If I create a fancy logo everyone will be able to recognize me”. But the logo is just a part of branding.

I think you have to know what you and your business stand for and build your website, communication channels and products based and around this message. It’ll take time and some serious effort but in my opinion you can just win by doing so.

I’m going through this process at the moment. Though it doesn’t make me money at the time, I’m sure that I’ll benefit from this process in the future.
.-= Mariam´s last blog ..This Blog Is Not Ready Yet, But I Can Drop You Line =-.

[Reply]
http://mkakan.com/ mk akan

yes Jimi,
branding is very important it also shows professionalism in whatever you do.
it stands you out from the crowd..

[Reply]
Jimi Jones Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Very important elelments of branding. No one wll do business with those who fail to show professionalism.

I think about the times I have been treated poorly by people who were not professional, and exhibited their desire to be doing something els. You have a tendency to write off those businesses because of the poor service and lack of professionalism.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..7 Reasons to Build Your Personal Brand =-.

[Reply]
http://mkakan.com mk akan

yes Jimi,
branding is very important it also shows professionalism in whatever you do.
it stands you out from the crowd..

[Reply]
Jimi Jones Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 10:31 am
Very important elelments of branding. No one wll do business with those who fail to show professionalism.

I think about the times I have been treated poorly by people who were not professional, and exhibited their desire to be doing something els. You have a tendency to write off those businesses because of the poor service and lack of professionalism.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..7 Reasons to Build Your Personal Brand =-.

[Reply]
http://JimiJones.Com/ Jimi Jones

Hi Mariam.
Thanks for your awesome comment.

You are absolutely correct, without branding yourself and building a level of trust you are not actually helping your business. We must all create a positive image and establish that base from which we can build a solid business model upon. Much like other forms of advertising, failing to do so means you’ll likely not be found.

[Reply]
Mariam Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
That’s right. And who wants to run a business that no one knows?

It’s actually much easier to brand yourself these times because the Internet gives you so many ways to build and establish a brand. You don’t have to go door to door in order to tell everyone that you exist and are available.

But the fact that a lot of businesses (new or “old”) don’t use the power of this revolutionary medium is just sad.
.-= Mariam´s last blog ..This Blog Is Not Ready Yet, But I Can Drop You Line =-.

[Reply]
http://JimiJones.Com Jimi Jones

Hi Mariam.
Thanks for your awesome comment.

You are absolutely correct, without branding yourself and building a level of trust you are not actually helping your business. We must all create a positive image and establish that base from which we can build a solid business model upon. Much like other forms of advertising, failing to do so means you’ll likely not be found.

[Reply]
Mariam Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 11:12 am
That’s right. And who wants to run a business that no one knows?

It’s actually much easier to brand yourself these times because the Internet gives you so many ways to build and establish a brand. You don’t have to go door to door in order to tell everyone that you exist and are available.

But the fact that a lot of businesses (new or “old”) don’t use the power of this revolutionary medium is just sad.
.-= Mariam´s last blog ..This Blog Is Not Ready Yet, But I Can Drop You Line =-.

[Reply]
http://www.freemanlegacyllc.com/ Ms. Freeman@Baby Steps of an I

Are there other brand building techniques that work better than others.

Here’s what I mean; John Chow has a pretty strong and well known brand, but from reading posts around the blogosphere he is not that well trusted.
.-= Ms. Freeman@Baby Steps of an Internet Entrepreneur´s last blog ..How to get Affiliate Team approval =-.

[Reply]
Mariam Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
That’s absolutely true Ms. Freeman. There are several ways to brand yourself but if you choose one, you need to keep in mind that there will be some individuals that might not like it.

You need to have a thick skin to stay focused and keep on moving and growing. If there are peeps that don’t like you or your methods, there are also peeps that DO like you. You then have to make the choice which group you’re going to empower.
.-= Mariam´s last blog ..This Blog Is Not Ready Yet, But I Can Drop You Line =-.

[Reply]
Jimi Jones Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 6:23 pm
I agree with Mariam, there are many techniques for building your brand. As she has pointed out, there will always be detractors no matter what you do.

John Chow has a very strong brand and I don’t know him personally, but I doubt he could reach the level of success he has by being untrustworthy.

There has always been one constant in life, negativity spreads and last longer than the positive. Do something right, and someone will tell 5 others. Do something wrong and they will tell 50.

They key is to be yourself and build a trusting and credible relationship with as many as you can, which is very easy when you are honest and sincere anyhow. Those who don’t care for your style or dislike you for whatever reason, will move on to a place more to their liking.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..7 Reasons to Build Your Personal Brand =-.

[Reply]
http://www.freemanlegacyllc.com Ms. Freeman@Baby Steps of an Internet Entrepreneur

Are there other brand building techniques that work better than others.

Here’s what I mean; John Chow has a pretty strong and well known brand, but from reading posts around the blogosphere he is not that well trusted.
.-= Ms. Freeman@Baby Steps of an Internet Entrepreneur´s last blog ..How to get Affiliate Team approval =-.

[Reply]
Mariam Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 11:20 am
That’s absolutely true Ms. Freeman. There are several ways to brand yourself but if you choose one, you need to keep in mind that there will be some individuals that might not like it.

You need to have a thick skin to stay focused and keep on moving and growing. If there are peeps that don’t like you or your methods, there are also peeps that DO like you. You then have to make the choice which group you’re going to empower.
.-= Mariam´s last blog ..This Blog Is Not Ready Yet, But I Can Drop You Line =-.

[Reply]
Jimi Jones Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
I agree with Mariam, there are many techniques for building your brand. As she has pointed out, there will always be detractors no matter what you do.

John Chow has a very strong brand and I don’t know him personally, but I doubt he could reach the level of success he has by being untrustworthy.

There has always been one constant in life, negativity spreads and last longer than the positive. Do something right, and someone will tell 5 others. Do something wrong and they will tell 50.

They key is to be yourself and build a trusting and credible relationship with as many as you can, which is very easy when you are honest and sincere anyhow. Those who don’t care for your style or dislike you for whatever reason, will move on to a place more to their liking.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..7 Reasons to Build Your Personal Brand =-.

[Reply]
http://www.integralwebsolutions.co.za/Blog.aspx Robert Bravery

Such great points there Jimi,
I think the ones that probably matter the most, if one would rate them would be Building trust and building a network. For me the others could easily branch off those two.
.-= Robert Bravery´s last blog ..Do you actually make any money out of ads =-.

[Reply]
Jimi Jones Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
I too think that trust is the most important, without that nothing else will develop.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..7 Reasons to Build Your Personal Brand =-.

[Reply]
http://www.integralwebsolutions.co.za/Blog.aspx Robert Bravery

Such great points there Jimi,
I think the ones that probably matter the most, if one would rate them would be Building trust and building a network. For me the others could easily branch off those two.
.-= Robert Bravery´s last blog ..Do you actually make any money out of ads =-.

[Reply]
Jimi Jones Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
I too think that trust is the most important, without that nothing else will develop.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..7 Reasons to Build Your Personal Brand =-.

[Reply]
http://web2andmore.net Kevin Tea

There’s an interesting thread here in that other posters have identified a difference between conscious branding and unconscious branding. John Chow has obviously carried out what he considers positive branding but Ms Freeman points out that this message is not getting out to readers who for some reason see him as untrustworthy.

I recall when Darren started his 31 days project there was a conversation on the forum about something or other and I mentioned that I thought that another well known Aussie blogger came across as little more than a pyramid salesman because of the way that his sales spiel was published. I have no doubt that this was not what was intended but as the thread developed it appears that I was not alone.

So how careful are we that our branding does not open us up for criticism because we haven’t thought it through properly?
.-= Kevin Tea´s last blog ..Is Your IT Team Wrecking Your Cloud Computing Dream? =-.

[Reply]
Jimi Jones Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Excellent point, Kevin.
No one sets out to offend or alienate, but depending on how the message is delivered and received, things could be misunderstood. This is extremely important, particularly on the first encounter when people form that early opinion of someone.

I think we have all experienced a time where we developed an early opinion about someone, only to find out otherwise later. It’s human nature.

We’ve also had those times when the person absolutely verifies your initial thoughts. LOL

Another thing to consider are cultural differences. Someone from another part of the globe may not understand completely the context in which you have spoken and vice-versa. Text can be a little tricky at times since there are no facial expressions or other mood setting signals available.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..7 Reasons to Build Your Personal Brand =-.

[Reply]
Mariam Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 6:53 pm
Haha Look at that stupid SMS thing! You even don’t need to have cultural differences to misunderstand what someone said via text.
.-= Mariam´s last blog ..This Blog Is Not Ready Yet, But I Can Drop You Line =-.

[Reply]
Jimi Jones Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 7:14 pm
True that!
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..7 Reasons to Build Your Personal Brand =-.

[Reply]
http://web2andmore.net Kevin Tea

There’s an interesting thread here in that other posters have identified a difference between conscious branding and unconscious branding. John Chow has obviously carried out what he considers positive branding but Ms Freeman points out that this message is not getting out to readers who for some reason see him as untrustworthy.

I recall when Darren started his 31 days project there was a conversation on the forum about something or other and I mentioned that I thought that another well known Aussie blogger came across as little more than a pyramid salesman because of the way that his sales spiel was published. I have no doubt that this was not what was intended but as the thread developed it appears that I was not alone.

So how careful are we that our branding does not open us up for criticism because we haven’t thought it through properly?
.-= Kevin Tea´s last blog ..Is Your IT Team Wrecking Your Cloud Computing Dream? =-.

[Reply]
Jimi Jones Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Excellent point, Kevin.
No one sets out to offend or alienate, but depending on how the message is delivered and received, things could be misunderstood. This is extremely important, particularly on the first encounter when people form that early opinion of someone.

I think we have all experienced a time where we developed an early opinion about someone, only to find out otherwise later. It’s human nature.

We’ve also had those times when the person absolutely verifies your initial thoughts. LOL

Another thing to consider are cultural differences. Someone from another part of the globe may not understand completely the context in which you have spoken and vice-versa. Text can be a little tricky at times since there are no facial expressions or other mood setting signals available.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..7 Reasons to Build Your Personal Brand =-.

[Reply]
Mariam Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Haha Look at that stupid SMS thing! You even don’t need to have cultural differences to misunderstand what someone said via text.
.-= Mariam´s last blog ..This Blog Is Not Ready Yet, But I Can Drop You Line =-.

[Reply]
Jimi Jones Reply:
April 12th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
True that!
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..7 Reasons to Build Your Personal Brand =-.

[Reply]
http://www.loukmedia.com/ Louise Griffiths

Thanks for this article, I have actually begun my most recent website based on trying to enhance my personal brand (http://loukmedia.com) it’s something that is becoming more and more important. I completely agree though that even when trying to control your brand like John Chow, you can’t always predict how people will perceive you. I actually wrote an article last week about consumers and how they perceive a company (http://bit.ly/azxTsX) and I think the concept is also very relevant to your personal brand, especially when you mention market position. You need to make sure you are consistent in what you are telling people about yourself and its also important to monitor social sites etc to see if anyone is discussing your personal brand.
.-= Louise Griffiths´s last blog ..My Favourites From Around The Web This Week =-.

[Reply]
Jimi Jones Reply:
April 14th, 2010 at 11:55 am
Hello Louise and welcome!
You are correct, the personal brand has become very important, a point lost on many. I will be coming by to read your post, sound interesting.

I agree, consistency is also a critical aspect of branding, both in what you say via content, and your brand’s physical appearance. I often see many bloggers with “photos of the week”, as they seem to change them regularly, which interrupts the process of branding. It is also important to present a consistent image on various sites like Twitter and Friendfeed. If it is possible to use the same color patterns a similar appearance, do so.

Google Alerts is one means of monitoring what may be said about you, important to know, as you’ve mentioned.

Thanks for visiting, hope to see you again.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..7 Reasons to Build Your Personal Brand =-.

[Reply]
http://www.loukmedia.com Louise Griffiths

Thanks for this article, I have actually begun my most recent website based on trying to enhance my personal brand (http://loukmedia.com) it’s something that is becoming more and more important. I completely agree though that even when trying to control your brand like John Chow, you can’t always predict how people will perceive you. I actually wrote an article last week about consumers and how they perceive a company (http://bit.ly/azxTsX) and I think the concept is also very relevant to your personal brand, especially when you mention market position. You need to make sure you are consistent in what you are telling people about yourself and its also important to monitor social sites etc to see if anyone is discussing your personal brand.
.-= Louise Griffiths´s last blog ..My Favourites From Around The Web This Week =-.

[Reply]
Jimi Jones Reply:
April 14th, 2010 at 7:55 am
Hello Louise and welcome!
You are correct, the personal brand has become very important, a point lost on many. I will be coming by to read your post, sound interesting.

I agree, consistency is also a critical aspect of branding, both in what you say via content, and your brand’s physical appearance. I often see many bloggers with “photos of the week”, as they seem to change them regularly, which interrupts the process of branding. It is also important to present a consistent image on various sites like Twitter and Friendfeed. If it is possible to use the same color patterns a similar appearance, do so.

Google Alerts is one means of monitoring what may be said about you, important to know, as you’ve mentioned.

Thanks for visiting, hope to see you again.
.-= Jimi Jones´s last blog ..7 Reasons to Build Your Personal Brand =-.

[Reply]