A personal brand is a marketing strategy to promote yourself and your career.

A personal brand is how others perceive your skills, talents and qualifications. It helps define who you are and what you hope to achieve in your career and industry. A personal brand reflects your professional values and work ethic. It’s unique to you and is a vital part of your reputation in the workplace.

Branding isn’t just for celebrity influencers and Fortune 500 companies. Whether you’re looking for a better job, industry recognition, or new clients, creating a powerful personal brand is essential. And if you don’t think you have a personal brand, just Google yourself. Voila! The question is, do you want it to take on a life of its own, or do you want to control the narrative? By managing your message and how the world sees you, you’ll be better positioned to achieve your career goals.

These some of the steps that will get you on your way to creating a powerful personal brand.

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Craft your brand vision

A brand vision is written like a mission statement—in the present tense, as if you’ve already accomplished it. It’s clear and paints a vivid picture. A well-written brand vision helps you consciously move from your current state to where you’d like to be.

Decide what you want to be known for

If you became known as the world’s go-to expert on a specific topic, what would that be? The only way to create a compelling personal brand is by becoming the recognized authority in a particular area. Research the competition in that market and determine how you will differentiate yourself. What makes you unique? By leveraging your special gifts, you’ll be more likely to stand out from the crowd. Your personal brand should be an accurate reflection of your passions, skills, values and beliefs.

Define your audience

One of the worst mistakes you can make as you build a personal brand is attempting to appeal to everyone. That’s why it’s so crucial to define your niche. Whom do you want to serve? According to brand strategist Re Perez, “A great brand starts with understanding who you are, what you stand for, understanding your marketplace, and understanding your positioning. What is the perception that you need to create in order to appeal to the target audience that you’re trying to appeal to?” A valuable exercise is to create your target profile (or avatar). The more you understand your audience, the better prepared you will be to develop products and services that they want and need.

Develop a consistent message

What message do you want to consistently reinforce in your content and your marketing? Once you decide what it is, use the same message across all your communication channels. Consistency builds trust and credibility with your audience. In addition to keeping your tone and personality the same, use design elements (like your logo) consistently as well. Finding your unique voice and staying true to it is one of the keys to creating a powerful personal brand.

Be authentic

Your personal brand shouldn’t be a persona. It’s not an invention. It should be authentically you. Figure out what makes you different. Then learn to embrace that uniqueness and use it to get people to pay attention and seek out your content over everyone else’s. People want to interact with people, and that means being real. Determine what you want your brand personality to be. Is it more casual or professional? Quirky or serious? The more authentic you make your personal brand, the more likely visitors to your site will resonate with your message.

Create your own website

Having your own domain is essential these days, no matter who you are or what you do. And with all the simple website builders out there, there is no excuse not to develop your own website. And it can also be an enjoyable project! This is your chance to create something that is 100% reflective of who you are and what you stand for.

Build your social media presence

These days, it isn’t easy to have a compelling personal brand without an online presence. Once you secure your domain name, check to see if it is available on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other channels. You can use tools like knowem and NameChk to verify if your desired username is available on hundreds of social media sites. Then claim your social media profiles and share content regularly. Ideally, you will want to focus on one or two social networks in the beginning. It is better to select one or two carefully selected social networks and try post consistently on them, rather than posting sporadically to half a dozen. Resist the urge to use social media as a bully pulpit and instead encourage a two-way conversation. That way, you’ll be more likely to build a trusting, ongoing relationship with your audience.