Ayishat Olanrewaju: Your Checklist for Launching a Personal Brand Online

Most people want to launch their personal brands online, but don’t know how to start or what next to do. It is not enough to start a website or come up with a logo; you need to map out your brand and have a strategy in place. Your personal brand is beyond your logo or your website; it is a sum of everything, including your brand purpose, brand promise, and so on.

Launching your personal brand can help you advance your career or business in numerous ways. If you have always wanted to start, the tips below will greatly help you:

Develop a brand audit
First, you need to take an assessment of where you currently are so that you have an idea of what you need to do to move to where you want to be. What is your current brand reputation?

Do a SWOT Analysis of your brand
What are your strengths? How can you turn your weaknesses and threats into an advantage? You need to work on your strengths, operate from a place of strength. For instance, if so many people come to you to help them write, and you do this really well, it can be something worth building a personal brand around.

Create a personal brand mission statement
Your personal brand needs to be driven by the service you are rendering to others. You don’t build a personal brand just because it sounds cool, but because there is a gap you are filling. Your personal brand mission statement must contain your mission, vision, and brand values.  

Craft a USP
This is what separate you from other people. Your Unique Selling Proposition is what differentiates your brand from others, gives you an edge over others. You need to know what it is, and communicate it as often as you can.

Create a brand identity
Now is the time to create a visual brand identity, one that matches what your brand is about with how you want to position it. You need to decide on your brand colours, logos, and typography. Don’t just choose your visual identities because they seem or look nice. You need to make sure they go in line with what your brand is about. A lot of research goes into this process. Closely related to this is also coming up with a brand voice that is recognisable to your target audience.

Invest in professional photography
You need to invest in professional photography that you can use on your bios, website, social media pages, etc. This shows that you take your brand seriously enough to invest in it. It also helps you with brand positioning.

Create a content strategy
It is from your content that your brand essence is communicated. It is important to have a good content strategy in place, that will help you communicate the value you have to offer, and position you as a thought leader in your field.

Have an about.me page or personal website
Your website is your online real estate. It is where you host your own content, where people can find out more about your brand. When you invest in a website, you help your target audience understand that you are serious about your brand. If you are not ready to invest in a website, you can visit about.me to create an ‘About Me’ page. You can’t rely on just social media to build a personal brand, you need your online real estate.

Create a valuable content offer
One of the ways to position yourself as an expert in your field is by creating valuable content offers like eBooks, writing your book, creating a template, checklist, etc. One of the ways to come up with a valuable content offer is by taking a look at what you love to do and what your target audience needs solutions for. Once you have created this offer, then you need to promote it and generate leads from it.

Claim your social media profiles
Make sure you claim all your social media profiles. However, you don’t have to start out with all social media platforms. Research on the ones your target audience are currently on and start from there. For instance, LinkedIn is great for personal branding.

Show up consistently
You need to keep showing up, and show up with great content.

Are you ready to build your personal brand? Which of the above steps are you taking next?