As an entrepreneuring woman, the most powerful weapon you wield is your personal brand.
You’re the face of your business, after all, so you’ve already been shaping your personal brand, whether you’ve given much thought to it or not.
But becoming a curator of your own personal branding and being intentional about how you develop it will set you apart in your niche over the long term.
Whether your business is new or you’re well-established and looking to grow your brand, it’s time to focus on one of the most essential entrepreneur skills: developing your personal branding. To help with that, here are some dos and don’ts for women business owners along their branding journey.
Don’t: Craft a facade or persona.
Do: Be authentic.
The most successful women entrepreneurs have crafted their brand identity around their authentic selves. Dolly Parton and Oprah Winfrey have each built empires that reflect their talents, their messages, and their values, and they’re beloved for it.
Imagine working with your ideal clients, those who appreciate you and what you offer, and never having to pretend to be someone you aren’t. When “you do you”— that is, when you take care to build your personal brand identity with authenticity, this can be your reality.
While you’re branding yourself, don’t be afraid to be polarizing. When you’re authentically you, some people won’t mesh with you. That’s actually a good thing, since it prevents you from having to exhaust yourself with constant people-pleasing.
“When you create content around who you are as a person … your audience develops a much deeper connection and trust, as they feel like they almost know you personally,” writes Juliette Stapleton, a visibility strategist at Entrepreneur. People trust people, not companies. As they get to know you and your unique story, they’ll trust you, and your influence in their decisions will grow. This will lead to a natural relationship with an engaged audience, and keep you from always scrambling to find new clients or scrape ahead of competition.
Don’t: Try to be all things to all people.
Do: Choose a niche and be the expert.
What motivates you? What excites you to work on and to help others with? What training and skills do you offer?
Working towards specificity in your niche may come naturally to you, or it may be a process that takes time as your business evolves. But being able to position yourself as the expert is important to your personal branding strategy, and this means that your focus shouldn’t be too broad. Narrowing down will actually lead to more business opportunities, when done correctly.
Don’t: Focus on yourself to the neglect of your clients.
Do: Build a client profile and seek to understand them in a deep way.
A vital part of your personal brand identity is knowing what sort of clients you serve and having a plan in place to reach them and communicate with them.
As you work to connect with your ideal clients, you’ll find they share some common characteristics. What are their pain points? What are their goals? What is standing in their way of success? Are they mostly in a certain age group, income level, or geographic area?
Building a detailed client persona helps you understand and meet their needs, while helping your clients feel heard and understood.
Don’t: Neglect content marketing.
Do: Be consistent with focused content that reflects well on your brand.
Producing great content takes time and commitment, and you don’t need to churn out a 2,000-word blog and half-hour video daily for every platform out there.
But you do need to choose one or two platforms where you have the ability to produce great content within your means, and do it consistently. As you build your audience, you can expand into other platforms.
Do you already have an engaged following on Instagram? Then place your focus there. If Facebook is where you already have influence, work on curating your content there.
Be regular with your content marketing. Make a calendar to keep yourself on schedule with your postings. Employ apps that allow you to create content ahead of time and post it on a schedule that you set.
Don’t: Reinvent the wheel.
Do: Implement known success strategies, and hire help when needed.
As you curate your personal brand, you’ll likely find the help of an expert useful along the way. Seedling Digital can partner with you at any stage of your business development to ensure your brand is a direct reflection of your voice and values, and a brand that connects with your target market innately.
I’m passionate about female entrepreneurship. Through my thorough and detailed consultation process, I dig into the heart of your business to develop personal brand marketing that represents your business in the best light and lands with your target client, building their trust and earning their buy-in. When you’re ready to level up in your business and have a collaborative partner on your brand development journey, book a free discovery call with Seedling Digital and let’s get started!
