Steps to Build an Awesome Personal Brand
In my last post, we examined why personal branding is important. Now that we know WHY it’s important, we need to examine HOW to build an awesome personal brand. Let’s look at four ways to create your personal brand.
1. Tell your story
Branding yourself, first and foremost, should highlight your unique story. As an artist, you have a distinctive voice and image. “Ultimately brands are stories,” said Jez Frampton, global CEO at Interbrand, “They should be a story that unfolds every single day. Any social media strategy, any strategy, related to the building of your brand and your business has to build on that story.” In telling your story, share with your fan base:
a. Your background
b. Your special skills
c. Your personal and unique insights
2. Create an effective presence on social media
The first step in creating an effective presence is planning. You have to think about which platforms will be most effective for your artistry, which platforms your fan base use most often, and most importantly, which platform you enjoy using. If it’s something you avoid using, you probably won’t access it often enough. One of the best ways to decide on a platform is to access social media as a music fan first. If you’re already doing that, which platforms do you engage with most often? Those will be the ones you want to begin with. And once you have selected at least two platforms, make sure content is fresh on each one. Don’t copy and paste content from one to the other.
3. Build a strong website
Again, planning is step number one. What will be the goal of your website? To garner new fans? Build a community around your music? Sell songs and merchandise? You may select several goals, but should focus on one or two as primary goals. Once you’ve decided on your goals, do research on tools to meet your goal. Do you need to hire a freelance writer to write blog posts for you? Do you need to hire someone with digital design experience to create and maintain your website or will you use one of the do-it-yourself online software programs? Do you need help with uploading audio files of your music? Remember, not all professionals have to be hired with money. Perhaps you can barter your services. Write a song for a web designer for his wedding in exchange for him designing a logo for you. Play at a writer’s birthday party in exchange for a couple of months’ worth of blogs. Get creative.
4. Never stop communicating with your audience
Use the power of storytelling to capture the attention of your loyal fans. Make tribute videos thanking fans for supporting you. If possible, invite a couple of fans to be in the videos with you. Wrap content regarding you and your music in strong visuals including photos, videos, gifs and memes. Make a series of hashtagged videos addressing varied fan segments.
These four steps are a good start to developing your unique and memorable personal brand. Next time, we’ll explore more steps for building an awesome personal brand.