Sometimes a little guiding does the magic…
Who wouldn’t appreciate a roadmap to a treasure island filled with many pots of gold?
Well, today I present you with a checklist easily used in crafting and building your personal brand; a must-have tool showing things to do to help position our brand in the digital storefront. Have you begun building your brand, or are yet to, or stuck along the journey? Let’s get started!
“When men do not know their assignment on earth, they kill themselves psychologically and emotionally; wallowing in different careers and meddling in dreams of others. They become restless and engage in unhealthy competition – living unfulfilled lives”
― Bernard Kelvin Clive
Purpose
On top of the pile of things to do for your brand is clarifying your ‘why’. Stating and finding your purpose is the core pillar in building a successful and impactful brand. Take time to define your why; stating ‘why’ you are embarking on the brand-building journey. It’s important to you and others. Your purpose is like casting a vision to see it fulfilled.
Angela is passionate about nursing mothers’ wellbeing, and she stated: “My purpose is to help nursing mothers in my community live a healthy and happier life in raising their children”. She seeks to be known as the nurse who cares for nursing mothers. To be the ‘go-to’ nurse for living a happier and healthy post-partum life.
Mission: Personal Mission Statement
If your purpose is the ‘why’, then your mission is the ‘how’.
After casting a vision with your purpose and knowing exactly what you want to do with your brand, you develop a roadmap on how you can carry that through. The roadmap is your mission statement; write down how you will get this done.
Angela’s mission statement read… ‘I live to help nursing mothers to live a healthy and happier life by providing them with educational resources and practical pieces of training’.
Craft your Brand’s Message/Story
We all love stories, and stories leave a lasting impression on people. We may all have similar experiences, but we also have unique perspectives of them. It’s imperative to write your brand story; what experiences you would like to share, your perspective, and lessons. It could be your zero to hero story. Whatever you want to be, communicating should be simply crafted in a story you’d want to be sharing frequently. Successful personal brands use their unique stories as a tool to spread and grow their brands.
Positioning Statement/Strategy
Trying to be all things to all men is a sure sign of failure. You need to be known for specific things; at least one thing, or two or three or more. Based on your purpose, mission and story, you develop the strategies you will be using to set yourself apart from others. Your positioning statement and tagline should be clear and unique. They can trigger emotions and build a connection with your audience.
Dietician Abena Boatemaa Asantewa’s positioning reads… ‘losing weight while having fun’. Her goal and story have been to help the corpulent lose weight without many cuts in their lifestyle.
Brand Identity
Your brand identity is the visual representation of your brand. At this stage, you can get your logo designed, pick your brand colours-attributes, and have your brand creatives designed. Visuals speak volumes, and in order to drive home your brand’s message it must be consistent.
Get your hands on some basic graphic designing tools/apps to help you do some basic designs yourself. (Canva, Crello)
Niche
Find a specific market and meet its needs. Don’t spread yourself too thin, don’t try to be everywhere or to meet the needs of everyone. You should be asking yourself questions such as: Which market segments problems can be solved with your unique abilities, skills, and talents? Which section of the market has been neglected that you can provide for? Find your niche and grow rich.
Bio/Profile
Brief information about who you are, what you offer, and why you should be hired or recommended. Firstly, have a one-sentence bio of you then a paragraph version, and lastly a full page or more. You will be needing each of them at different stages. You can consider crafting the bio in both the third person narrative or the first person narrative. Examples. (i) Angela Fox a retired Dietician with 20 years of experience in….. (ii) I am Angela Fox, a retired Dietician, I have…..
Domain Name
A brand name for your website or blog. I highly recommend using your name as your domain name – that is, if it is not taken. And I also recommend you go for these popular Top-Level Domain extensions – .com, .org, .me, .name e.g. Bernardkelvinclive.com, EugeneAyim.com. Any domain name will work though. You can consider a variation of it by adding a middle name initial, a title or tagline – a keyword that will differentiate your domain name from other similar ones. Examples are; DavidKScott.com, AuthorMichaelAddo.com, CoachAmoako.com, BKC.name, RhymeSonny.me
Email Address
Your email address speaks volumes about your brand; getting it right from the beginning will be of great benefit to you. Instead of settling for generic names from popular email clients like yahoo and google, get an email in your brand’s domain name. It should be your official email for communication. These email addresses are nice to have but they hurt your brand – for example [email protected], [email protected]. So, get your professional email with your domain name: e.g. [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Website/blog
A website is a “must-have” in building your digital presence and brand. Once you have a domain name secured, it’s important to have a website or blog set up. Your website will be your primary home, where you share content with your audience and build your platform with it. A professional website/blog helps to establish your credibility and validates your authenticity.
Take some inspiration from BKC.name, SamauelAdjei.com, NeilPatel.com, Ekowmensah.com
Reviews/Testimonials/Endorsements
People like to tag along with that which works, and largely follow recommendations and referrals by friends. A testimonial, endorsement and reviews about your brand sells your brand with ease. It’s one of the ways to establish your credibility and authority. When people get to know that you offer value they would like to do business with you. So, always ask for testimonials from your clients in whatever form – text, video, images etc. to serve as references and prove for you that your brand/product or service works.
Social Media Handles
To have a well-branded social media presence begins with picking a handle that speaks to your brand and represents your property. It begins with setting the right vanity Uniform Resource Locator (URL), mostly the handle or username. Secure a name/handle that can be consistent across other social media platforms. Examples of consistent URL/handles are: Facebook.com/bernardkelvin, Twitter.com/bernardkelvin, Linkedin/com/Bernardkelvin, and the handles are the same @bernardkelvin
Content Strategy
Relevant Content is the fuel that drives the brand. In order to stay top of your game, you will need quality, timely and relevant content consistently. To effectively get this done, you must develop a content strategy and calendar; a plan of what, how and when to share the various content you will be producing.
Project/Product
What will be the use of your brand if after gaining all the traction you really have nothing to offer? Everyone is selling one thing or another. As part of building your brand and marketing, demand that you sell something worth the attention of your audience, something that will benefit them while providing content to solve their problems. Don’t shy away from selling your product and services, and consistently keep developing tailor-made products and services for your existing audience. What are you selling?
Get on the Map
Will you be found when certain keywords about your industry are searched for online? It is therefore important to Pin your brand/business location on the map. It helps bring some local searches to you and gives your brand some level of visibility. Remember that your competitor is just a click away.
Connect/ Network
Always be connecting with customers and clients at various levels. Get to know people ahead of your – mentors/coaches; connect with like-minded people – masterminds/colleagues doing similar things; connect with people who desire to learn from you – mentees. keep these circles of a relationship growing. Find ways to connect with industry leaders and influencers in your field by offering value they would need. Think of every connection as a seed-sowing period and nurture it. Remember that a referred brand is a preferred brand. If one person in your network likes your brand and refers it, this leads to exponential gains without hassle. One key relationship can skyrocket your brand and business.
Show and Show up!
Be confident in your expertise and be confident in sharing it. Let the audience know you know your stuff and your worth. Don’t sell yourself cheap or settle for less.
Show up and show up with your brand’s presence. Make a statement when you show up, wear your brand. Make yourself available at places you will be needed. Networking events, trade shows, launches etc. Sometimes people want to put a face to the virtual person and would like to meet you in person; if that’s needed, show up and let it count!
Show up where you matter most and where your presence will be of benefit.
This list is not exhaustive and you don’t need to have all these checked to succeed with your brand; you may need all plus a lot more, or may utilise a fraction of it. In all, make the most of it. Be different!
I recommend you take some branding courses by visiting https://bkc.name/courses
The best is yours.
