Personal branding is the practice of marketing yourself as a brand. This starts with your authentic public identity and your value to other people. This is a presentation on personal branding for the UCLAx course Advanced Digital & Social Media Strategy (MGMTX 466.05)
2. Lecturer: Valters Lauzums 2024
Overview & Concepts
Personal branding is the practice of marketing yourself as a brand. This starts with
your authentic public identity and your value to other people.
3. What is personal
branding?
Personal branding is the practice of marketing oneself as a brand.
It involves creating a unique image, message, and reputation that
represents who you are, what you stand for, and what you can offer
to other people in your personal or professional life.
4. Money
A strong personal brand can open
doors to new job opportunities,
promotions, and industry recognition.
Friends
People are more likely to
remember and engage with a
strong, consistent personal brand.
Reputation
An authentic personal brand will
establish you as an expert in your
field, leading to trust and credibility
Perception
Personal branding helps manage and control the effects
of your online presence.
5. Before you begin the process of developing your personal brand, the first critical step is to identify
the specific audience you are targeting. Understanding your audience is not just about knowing
who they are but also about grasping their needs, preferences, and the platforms they frequent.
Audience
● Who do you want in your life based on your personal brand?
● Are you targeting recruiters or an entire industry?
● Are you targeting a lifestyle or a niche?
● What are their needs and preferences?
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6. 02 First you need a long-term vision and mission. What difference would you like to make to the various
audiences that are important to you, personally and professionally, and what values would you like
to embody as you do so? Think about your significance to others, which is embedded in your past
experiences, decisions, and actions. Ask yourself how and why you have lived the life you have, and
look for consistent interests, competencies, or character traits.
Identity
● Who are you right now?
● Who do you want to be in the future?
7. 03 Keeping your message focused for your target audience will make it that much easier to both
create content around your personal brand and have others define you easily with visual cues.
Consider carving a niche, and then take it even further by creating a unique niche within your niche.
The narrower and more focused your brand is, the easier it is for people to remember who you are.
Focus
● What is your unique focus?
● What is unique and interesting about you?
8. 04 There’s an easy way to have an original personal brand — which is to be genuine and authentic.
People are likely to see right through a disingenuous act. Your personal brand should be an easy
daily filter that you create content around and engage your audience in communication on for your
niche or relevant topics.
Authenticity
● How confident are you in who you are today?
● How can you improve your confidence on what you communicate?
9. Consistency
Consistency means being reliable in your interactions and content. If your audience expects weekly
blog posts, YouTube videos, or social media updates, try to meet these expectations. If your
audience expects information on cats because that’s what they are interested in, you need to
continue focusing on cat stuff. Consistent messaging helps in reinforcing your brand identity and
makes it easier for your audience to understand and remember your brand.
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● What thing do you need to provide your audience?
● How can you do this over a longer period of time?
10. In order to build a personal brand that accurately reflects your
personal and professional identity, you first need to know who you
are. Once you’re more aware of the different facets of your
personality, you can decide how best to brand them.
Be honest and introspective about your awareness in what
people know about you, their associations (thoughts, feelings, and
attitudes about you), and the special meaning you have for
others (the stories they know and tell about you).
● What am I good at?
● What have others complimented?
● What drains my energy?
● What gives me energy?
Self-Awareness
11. Personal Brand Strategy
Identifying which methods best suit your unique personality and personal or
professional goals through managing your identity.
Lecturer: Valters Lauzums 2024
12. of job offers are influenced by the
candidates personal brand
85%
Much of professional and personal success depends on
persuading others to recognize your value. Professionals
each have their own story to tell and goals, skills, and
expertise to share.
Showing your
unique value
13. Personal
Brand Audit
Identify and analyze the brand you are today so that you can fruitfully
build on or shift it to stay true to your personal proposition.
Credentials
Education, significant professional or
personal experiences, and achievements.
Connections
Your social connections and relationships within
various groups and organization.
14. Word of mouth The best marketing and public relations is all word of mouth.
Similarly effective personal branding often relies on organic, word-
of-mouth promotion.
15. Collaboration
Collaborate with other professionals and influencers
in your field. Find a reason or pitch a compelling idea,.
This extends your reach to their audiences and
associates your brand with them.
Engagement
Engage with your audience regularly and
meaningfully on blogs, social media, etc. Create
conversations, respond to comments, share content,
and participate in relevant conversations.
Networking
Building strong relationships with peers, mentors, and
industry leaders will amplify your personal brand's
reach. When these connections share their
experiences and interactions with you, it adds
credibility and builds your influence
Key Strategies
16. Think about where you can make the most impact
and be consistent and relevant. LinkedIn, Instagram,
and Twitter are some of the best brand-building
channels because you can showcase your work,
personality, and creativity.
This is how you can let your personality shine through
your personal brand. Fun, relatable, professional,
serious, witty and inspirational are just a few ways you
can communicate online.
● What platforms will you focus on?
● What's your writing style and tone of voice?
Social Media
18. Linkedin is your
business identity
Complete your profile: people want to see what work
experience you have, your educational background,
and a detailed list of accomplishments, so make sure
you’re showing the full picture.
87%
Of recruiters use LinkedIn
to find job candidates
91%
Of executives use
linkedin as their #1
content source
19. Linkedin Profile Checklist
Headline Summary
Restate your job with creative words, focus
on specific achievements, and try to
quantify things with metrics.
Experience
Education Skills
When describing your experience, focus on
specific achievements and try to quantify
them with metrics or tangible results.
When describing your experience, focus on
specific achievements and try to quantify
them with metrics or tangible results.
Include your education, degrees, and any
unique details or accomplishments. Add
certifications relevant to your field.
Put anything you like in this section that’s
relevant to your job. These can be broad
but should highlight your focus area.
Restate your job with creative words, focus
on specific achievements, and try to
quantify things with metrics.
Experience
20. “People interested in personal branding
need to start marketing themselves like
the celebrities and influential people that
they look up to every day“
CEO of Wonghaus Ventures.
Jason Wong
Learn and apply
proven methods
21. Create new content or edit existing social feeds to
curate. Creating new content is best done through
other websites and organizations.
● Profiles and social content can create issues
● Mentions on websites can be positive or neutral
● Negative content can be removed (sometimes)
70%
Of recruiters search your name
on social and/or search engines
Search results
Let's just get it out in the open: google stalking is a thing.
22. Practice makes perfect Find where you can invest your time efficiently, build on your
communication skills, and experiment with ideas.
