Personal branding is a carefully-constructed representation of who you are and what you’re trying to portray. It’s the impression you give off, and the public perception others have of you, but it’s intentional and typically done with business in mind. Keep reading for more about personal branding and how you can fuse that with elevating your merchandise.
Create a cohesive presence
If you’re looking to build a personal brand, it needs to be a cohesive presence, similar in various areas. For example, your business cards, social media websites, personal websites, and email should all reflect the same. Likewise, how you present yourself on your website should be similar to how you are on social media.
Consider everything a cross-marketing of you. For example, the information you’re sharing, how you interact with people, and your pictures should be consistent without seeming like there are different personas in each space.
As a clothing business owner, you should focus on the fashion industry if you have a true passion. It could involve sharing information on subjects such as new fashion laws, the hottest trends of the season, products you adore like the Bella + Canvas wholesale zip-up hoodies, your outfits of the day, videos of shopping excursions, and helpful tips, such as how to get spilled wine out of a dress. As a result, it helps put your fashion merchandise in a positive light as it’s connected to you and your expertise.
Delete anything online that doesn’t align with your brand
Social media can be great for many things. Still, one of its downsides is that it can harbor pictures and information you don’t necessarily want to be associated with your brand. So even if the posts were several years ago, it’s still a good idea to remove as much of what you don’t want visible as possible, if not all of it.
While it’s an option to hire professionals to try and remove certain types of information about you, you should start by doing it on your own, especially on social media websites, even the ones you no longer use. Delete pictures, messages, and posts you no longer feel align with your brand. It can take a while, but different search features can be helpful. Keep track of what you searched for so you don’t waste time repeating them.
As a result, it is one of the first things you want to take care of when you’re working on building your brand. The more your presence is out there, the more people, including prospective clients and employers, may dig to find information on you.
Determine the direction of your brand
You want it to be manageable when building a personal brand. The more specific you are, the better. For example, many may consider you an expert in fashion, but think about how to narrow that down even further to the areas you’re most knowledgeable about and have the most profound passion for.
Have a story to tell when someone asks
Everyone has a story to tell, and each is unique to that person, even if it doesn’t seem like it at the surface level. Consider what the story is behind your brand.
If you have a clothing business, consider how you reached that point. Did you fall in love with a fashion history class in college? Have you started sewing your clothes as a teenager? Bought a pants suit for your first job and have adored them ever since? No one’s story just happened. Something got it going at some point, and that’s where you can start your story.
Before someone can ask you your story, think about how you would describe it and the specific, special defining moments that got you where you are. Once you can clearly define what they are, post them on your social media sites and website in your “About” sections.
Talk about your merchandise
If you sell merchandise, you typically don’t want to be quiet about it if you want to expand and bring in more money. So talk about it on your social media pages and your website, and if you have an email newsletter, you can discuss it there too. The more people who know about products attached to your brand–without people feeling forced the merchandise upon them–the higher the chances are that you may get more sales.
Put yourself in positions that accurately represent your brand
What you do and how you present yourself are part of your brand, which means it’s a good idea to put yourself in positions that accurately represent what you’re trying to convey. For example, if you’re looking to establish yourself in the fashion industry, write blog posts on your website, contribute articles to major significant websites, and consider hosting a fashion-themed podcast (or at least being on one). The more people hear and see you associated with a particular niche–like fashion–the more likely they’ll think about you in alignment with that topic.
Be genuine
One of the worst things you can do when trying to establish a personal brand, or in general, is to try and be someone you’re not. People can usually see through it and won’t like the fakeness; many appreciate and value someone genuine.
Being authentic is one of the best things you can do. Everyone has significant aspects to them and flaws, and there’s no reason you shouldn’t own them and your story.
You will need more time to establish your brand. It will take time, so start with the easiest step: list what you want to do. From clearing out social media sites to revamping your website, write down tasks in order of importance so you can start sooner than later with creating a cohesive brand that you can feel good about.
