As a business owner you bring your unique personality to your business. The good news about personal branding is that you do not need to change who you are. You do need to discover how to communicate your unique personality and how it fits with your wider business brand and your target audience.

As we have discussed in recent posts, branding is the emotional connection you make with your audience. A big part of making an emotional connection is developing a personal connection. As the leader of your business you must work at being the face of your brand.

Developing a mantra

Discovering and developing your personal brand can be a fun exercise in personal discovery. An article from Forbes suggests that one of the first steps to creating a personal brand is crafting a mantra. This mantra is different from your business’ mission statement or logo. Start by thinking of adjectives that describe you such a funny, honest, caring or attentive. Next think of words that describe what you or your business does. Find ways to put these words together in a short phrase. Forbes calls out Disney’s mantra as an example: “fun, family entertainment.” All you need to do is be creative and honest about who you really are.

My mantra is “Adaptable administration whiz, effective troubleshooter and discerning organiser of busy lives.”

Projecting your mantra

Once you have established your mantra make it a part of everything you do. Make sure you have your mantra on your business cards, stationery, your social media profiles and blogs and as part of your email signature. It can even be reflected in how you dress. Are you about serious high powered business? Wear a power suit. Are you about adventure? Wear your hiking pants and boots. The image you are projecting should relate to your brand. This should come naturally because your business and personal brand are an extension of your personality.

Unique voice

Next, don’t be afraid to develop your own unique voice. When you use social media or even copy in your offline marketing materials your tone and the way you communicate should reflect your personal brand. Don’t be afraid of sounding unprofessional. If you write passionately about what you care about in your unique voice, people will feel a stronger personal and emotional connection to your brand. You want potential clients to trust you as their friend. To see an example, read this blog post, this is one of my more passionate blogs and from the amount of comments, the post obviously resonated with others. This is a great example.

Social media

Don’t forget that all of your social media profiles reflect you and your personal brand. Keep a tight reign on your privacy settings. Make sure that anything out on social media is something you wouldn’t mind current or potential clients encountering. You can have fun with your profile, just make sure it supports the image you want to communicate to your network. Consistency is the key here.

Share who you are

Your personal brand is simply who you are. Express yourself thoughtfully so that your personality naturally expands your business’ brand. Highlight the qualities about yourself that also tell the story of your business. Remember that time used to pursue genuine personal and emotional connections eventually results in more sales.

How does your brand reflect your personality?

Top 5 Take Aways: Meld Your Personal Brand With Your Business Brand

  1. Don’t change who you are, highlight your best qualities.
  2. Develop a mantra and reflect it in everything you do.
  3. Use your unique voice to make personal connections through your marketing material.
  4. Keep a close eye on your social media platforms.
  5. Make genuine connections with your target audience.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, please leave a comment below.