A decade ago the founders and business owners did not want to be in the limelight.After the evolution of Digital Marketing and its unique features businesses have made it mandatory to have a digital presence of their company and themselves.

In the beginning people were aware of brands.They identified some brands to be great in terms of quality,price and durability but now people have started identifying the brand owner.The trust and credibility of a brand has now gained importance with regards to its founder and co-founders.

Some characteristics and personal habits of the founders have also influenced the success rate and ROI of the brand.

Personal branding is the process of promoting an individual’s identity,value and skills.It defines how a person stands out from his competitors.

In 2024, it is essential for a Founder or a Business owner to create a personal brand on Social media platforms like Facebook,Instagram,Linkedin,Youtube and X.

Founders and business owners become role models to many people and this indirectly influences the growth of their brand or business.

It is important for a brand to maintain Personal Branding and Reputation.

Personal Branding is the process where you control what people need to know about you and your brand while reputation is the process in what people perceive about your brand from their personal experience.

Why is Personal Branding Important?

Makes you unique:

Personal Branding helps you to create a unique identity for yourself.

Whether you are a Business owner looking for sales or a Freelancer looking for opportunities or a Graduate who wants to be hired by good companies,it is important to identify your strengths and how you stand out from your peers to grab the opportunities and achieve your goal.

Builds Trust and Credibility:

A well defined personal branding strategy can help you build trust among your customers or clients.This helps in customer retention and long term relationships.

Opens Innumerable Opportunities:

When you are recognized as a personal brand,you will get a number of opportunities which will make your company strong and enhance its growth.

Get new customers:

A strong Personal branding can get you new clients and customers.This will increase your sales and thereby help you generate more revenue.

Achieve your goals:

If you are a freelancer and want to get more clients,a strong personal branding can help you get high paying clients.

If you are a Business owner looking to get more customers and sales,Personal Branding can increase your sales and maximize your ROI giving you more profit.

If you are a student and your goal is to get into a reputed company ,your personal brand and your unique skill set will help you crack the job opportunity.

People like Ratan Tata,Mukesh Ambani,Elon Musk,Virat Kohli,Sania Mirza,Neil Patel are perfect examples of Personal Brands.

Key Elements of Strong Personal Brand

Authenticity

Being true to yourself and revealing your true characteristics and skills to the public can be a key element in Personal Branding.

Consistency

Maintaining the brand value,tone and message across all online and offline platforms is important in personal branding.

Unique value Proposition

Defining your unique value proposition can help people distinguish you from your competitors.

Communication

Communicating your personal brand in a way that it reaches the audience positively is a key aspect of Personal Branding.

Steps to Enhance your personal Brand

Self Assessment 

Understand your strengths and create content around your strengths, values and goals.

Swot Analysis can help you in self assessment.

Define your niche

Identify your areas of expertise and try to position yourself within your expertise.

Online presence

Build your website or be active in the social media platforms that are relevant to you.

Content creation

Create interesting content around your success stories,case studies,personal achievements,challenges as blogs,posta,videos or podcasts.

Networking

Reaching out to more and more people who are your target audience,peers,colleagues,mentors and your role model can help you to learn as well as get opportunities for your business.

Gaining referrals or testimony from past clients could also help to develop your personal brand.

Adapting to changing trends

What has worked a few years back for you might not work now.Continuous learning and adapting to the latest trends can help you stand out.

If these steps seems to be tedious for you:

Eclatmax and its Founder John Poulose -a Harvard Alumnus with extensive experience and strategic approach to Personal Branding and Leadership skills can help you.

His Personal Branding Program is customized and aligns with each individual’s Goals and strengths.

Mistakes to avoid in Personal Branding

Inconsistency

Having different brand identity ,logo,colors,brand value,tone and message in different platforms can confuse the audience and can become a trust issue for the brand.

Losing Authenticity

Masking your individual identity to be like others can be a danger to the brand.

Over Promotion

Over optimization of Social Media Profiles and too much self promotion can be a drawback for your personal brand.Create content that adds value to your audience.

Ignoring public opinion

Public opinion about you and your brand should not be ignored.It should be taken into consideration and given special attention.

Personal Branding Best Practices

• Stay active on Social platforms,respond to feedback and address product/service queries.
• Create content and post them on social media consistently.Don’t let people forget you and your brand.
• Adapt to new trends and stay updated about the technology and algorithm changes.

Conclusion

Personal Branding when done with commitment can reward you with exceptional benefits.Every Business Owner ,Entrepreneur and professionals looking for a development in their growth curve should develop a personal brand to attain success and sustain it to achieve their goals in life.

 Every organization should plan out Leadership Development programs, Personal Branding Training and Corporate Training for its professionals to make them proactive and increase their productivity to help in the growth of the organization in terms of revenue and value.