Most of us use “market yourself” and “brand yourself” interchangeably. There is a subtle difference between the two, though.
We’ve talked about personal branding before.
It’s a long-term strategy focused on positive perception of you. When clients think of you, or your business, they think of the brand you’ve established. They have thoughts and feelings that they’ve associated with your brand. And you maintaining your brand reinforces these thoughts and feelings.
Marketing yourself is a short-term strategy.
With marketing efforts, you showcase a particular item. In the case of marketing yourself, that item is your skill and knowledge. Personal branding dictates how potential clients see you. Meanwhile, personal marketing shows potential clients what you can offer them.
Some view personal marketing as bragging, but it isn’t. Demonstrate why you are worth a client’s effort. Show them what makes your skills and experience perfect for their needs.
Essentially, you are building trust and a reputation.
Of all the times to “brag,” now is the time. Make note of your accomplishments. Highlight your unique experience.
And make sure you have a clear strategy for marketing yourself properly.
Discover Your Passion
Consider your interests. Look at what skills you have and what you are good at. Think of what you gravitate toward in your life. Depending on whether you have a long list of passions, narrow the focus to about three.
That is your starting point. With those in mind, find your niche.
Your niche dictates who you market to and how. It affects your message. The skillset you highlight. And it impacts where you build your reputation.
It’s key to your personal marketing strategy. So, choosing the right niche is important.
As you make the decision, remember to keep your niche narrow. Freelance writers, for instance, don’t want their niche to be “freelance writing.” That is too broad. Instead, if you excel in blog writing, make blog writing part of your niche. And, if you offer it at a lower price, highlight that.
Don’t make your niche too narrow, either. You can choose a niche so narrow that you create a small market, which is bad for business.
Find Your Audience
With your niche in mind, finding your audience is easier. You know the market you are reaching out to. It’s just a matter of doing some research about it.
Complete research into the average age of your desired audience. Look at their online habits and interests. This information gives you a deeper understanding of your target audience.
With an understanding of your audience, you create a more appealing marketing strategy. You’ll understand their preferred language. And you’ll have a strong idea of what needs and wants they have.
If you are still uncertain about finding your target audience, I have an in-depth article about it.
Develop Your Expertise
People trust experts. And you need trust for the positive reputation you want. That means you need expertise.
At this point, you already know your target audience and niche. Complete some research into your passion and interest. You may think that you already know enough. That might be true. But extra research doesn’t hurt.
Also, no matter how much you know, others are unaware of that fact. This is another aspect of developing your expertise. You can do all the research in the world. If people are unaware of your knowledge, they still won’t trust that you are an expert.
Get your name out there. There are many methods of achieving this. You can write a guest-post on a professional blog, for instance. Or be a speaker at a networking event. Create videos for YouTube, maintain an Instagram, or set up a speaker website. Whichever way you do it, share your knowledge.
Developing your expertise only goes so far when you don’t educate others.
Build Your Community
You’ve already identified the online community you appeal to. You did this by identifying your audience and developing your expertise. At this point, all you need is some effort.
Put effort into building your online community. Do so by choosing the social media platforms your target audience favors. If they spend a lot of time on Instagram, build your following there. If it’s Facebook, opt for that.
Through social media, you interact with potential clients. And current customers. You share your expertise and familiarity with your field. You also demonstrate that you are up-to-date on professional development.
Social media, while the primary method, is not the only way of developing an online community. You can interact with clients and share your knowledge of the field through a website. It shouldn’t be the only method of building a community that you employ. It’s just another piece of your arsenal.
Keep in mind that depending on the platform, your strategy will change slightly. But the goal of building a community remains the same.
Include Others
There is not a single one of us that knows everything about any subject. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
It may not seem like it, but having others speak for your brand instead aids in marketing yourself. It demonstrates that you are a team-player. You have your expertise and knowledge, but you remain open to input from others. Prospects like this. They are more likely to do business with team-players.
So, don’t keep everything to yourself. Give others a platform when necessary. By doing so, you are admitting that you don’t know everything.
And none of us like a know-it-all.
Be Yourself
Being authentic is an essential part of personal branding, too. It makes sense that it’s part of properly marketing yourself.
Throughout the process, you developed an understanding of what your target audience wants. You know your market. And you understand what they expect from trusted sources.
Molding ourselves into the person that our audience wants is tempting. We have the idea that pleasing our market will lead to more sales. In reality, showing a bit of personality leads to more sales.
You are who you are, at the end of the day. Incorporate a bit of yourself into your marketing efforts. Showcase your personality and your voice. Doing so adds a human element to your marketing. It makes people like you more. And keeps yourself from appearing too robotic.
You have your own moral standards and integrity. Don’t sacrifice it.
Keep On Going
Marketing yourself properly does not happen overnight. The process takes time. But, rest assured that each step has an impact. Each social media post, each website addition, each networking event. They all move you in the right direction.
You have your niche, target audience, and community established. That does the hard work for you. At this point, you only need to keep researching. Stay up-to-date on developments in your field. Things change over time. And that will alter your marketing strategy. The bulk of it will remain the same, regardless.
So, give it time. Stay the course. You have your identity and your goals in mind. Keep on going, and you will achieve the results you want.