Build Your Personal Brand as a Founder
One unique way to build long-lasting connections with your followers and differentiate yourself from others - is to bring the founder voices forward on social media. Although it might be uncomfortable to step out into the world from behind the curtain, people connect to people, and often the brand and vision of your company are directly connected to the individual at the helm of the business. What does that mean? If you are an eCommerce brand, a B2C business or direct-to-consumer company, it may make sense to to start becoming more vocal on your social channels, and to create a persona of the brand through - you.
To put yourself out there is one of the hardest things to do. It will require you to get truly personal and be vulnerable.
A brand is a set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one service over another. ~Seth Godin
Here are 7 steps to help you build the brand of YOU and share it with the world, so that people can connect to your business.
Part 1: The foundation of your personal brand is the story of YOU
1. Define what you can offer. In your business, this would be your ‘product, service and offering’. As an individual, you will want to showcase your life behind the business, what inspires you, your strengths and passions. It requires a little self-reflection - so grab your notebook and answer these 4 questions:
Why did you start the business? Tell your personal story and the “WHY”.
What is your day-to-day routine in running the business? People like to see behind the scenes.
What are your unique challenges, goals and aspirations? Show people what’s hard but also what inspires you and what you are trying to accomplish.
What do you enjoy doing, how do you spend your time? Get personal, if its yoga, family, travel, show your audience who you are, so they can relate.
2.Define your values. Your values are the beliefs that are central to who you are as a human being. Values guide your business, and values guide us in our decision-making and behavior. On social media we are seeing a world where your audience wants to feel connected to what you represent. More than ever, how you present yourself is being evaluated and will determine how your audience views you. Values can be anything from; compassion, to work-ethic, to transparency, a social mission, mindset, philosophy. In this exercise keep it simple, and be true to who you are.
What 3 values represent who you are?
What 3 values represent how you operate in the world?
What 3 values represent the way you operate your business?
Mahatma Ghandi said, “Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny.”
3.Craft your story. Everyone has a story to tell, and the experiences of how you arrived at who you are and what you have learned along the way is where your personal brand comes to life. It is where your values and what you offer come together for the purpose of positioning yourself in a unique way. Some thoughtful questions to consider:
What unique experiences have shaped who I am?
Did I struggle, did I overcome something?
Did I learn something that changed my life?
How am I different from others with the same skillset?
How did all of this shape what I do in business?
Part 2: Bringing the story of YOU to the world
1. Define your target audience. Before you connect with others, it’s important to consider who you are talking to. One key exercise in branding, whether you are a business or individual is creating personas of your audience. The first step is to simply determine the demographic:
The majority of my audience is based in:
They are __% Female and __% Male
The age range of my audience is __ to __
The second step is to develop attributes of your audience. Because of your interests and passions, and even life stage and perspective, you should be able to easily jot these down. Consider things that align with your company, but keep in mind the audience my vary, and that’s ok. A few things to jot down are:
Hobbies, occupations, interests, challenges, income, family status, careers and interests. If you don’t know all of the specifics don’t worry, it is likely that this will evolve as you grow your following. Along the way, you can engage with your audience directly by posting personalized questions to utilize Instagram stories. It will always be important to ‘get to know’ your audience and to keep refining your process.
2.Develop Personal Image. There is no shortage of inspiration on the web. When you begin to think about how you want to brand yourself, get browsing! By creating a board in Pinterest and a collection on Instagram, you can save images and start to build a look and feel for your personal brand. Think about the female founders who are in the spotlight and take notes.
To get started, let people know who you are and create a compelling bio. (linking directly to your company)
3.Create content. To reach your audience, you will need to create content, share stories and interact with others with a regular cadence. Here are a few strategies to help you get started.
Post everyday
Get active on stories
Follow people you admire and comment
Repost content from communities and brands and tag them
Utilize relevant hashtags
4.Determine channels. Whether its Instagram, LinkedIn or TikTok, determine where you can have the most relevant conversations, where you can incorporate sharing in a natural way and push the boundaries of your comfort zones.
5.Find your tribe. Once you have a personal brand that articulates who you are and what you do, you can begin to conduct outreach to groups, communities and people with similar backgrounds. You can’t grow alone, no one can, so it’s important to begin to establish a network online. To do so, here are a few tips:
Find a community for entrepreneurs
Attend virtual events for female founders
Follow people online that are similar to you
Strike up online conversations through commenting on and re-sharing content
Conduct interviews on stories or IGTV
Write a list of Podcasts you would like to be featured on and reach out