Why "I know the owner" 🤝 is such a powerful statement
There's a reason you do business with places where you know and like the person running it. Whether you actually know that person in your everyday life, or you simply have built up a personal connection over time coming into their shop, the point is you feel you know them, and regardless of what their competitors are doing, you’ll often default to their business out of respect and loyalty to that person. In effect, they have earned your business through their Personal Brand!
What exactly IS Personal Branding?
If you're reading this, then you're clearly involved in running a business or organization, so you know what a "brand" is. It's what we think of big corporate sponsors, though it goes deeper than just a recognizable logo.
But the idea of "Personal" branding is not as common. In short, it is the practice of marketing yourself and your career through the gradual development and maintenance of reputation, and instilling in your clients, followers, and your team a specific impression about who you are and what you represent.
Simply put, your personal brand is how you promote yourself, and the reputation that precedes you before you walk into a room.
Photo Credit: Smartworks Coworking
For some, this means being the literal face of your business and marketing directly to your clients with the brand. If you're a Realtor, an Attorney, a Mortgage Broker, an Instructor, a Coach, or similar service-based business, you should be already very familiar with this concept.
For others, it means being represented as a leader within, and an advocate for, the business. If you run a Non-Profit, manage a major Event, own a Restaurant, are the Publisher of a newspaper, handle the Marketing for a hotel, or head up a local Association, then you're in a position where people automatically associate you with the brand, even though your name isn't on the sign.
In either scenario, the "branding" part is the way in which you share your skills, experience, values, and story...either about yourself, or about the business....with others.
And in today's society where transparency, accessibility, charity, morality, and reliability are key motivators for who we do business with,
the Personal Brand of a business is even more important than the Corporate one.
Photo: Brooke Lark
Don't believe me?
Ask about Uber and see how many people bring up Kalanick. Mention Amazon at your next event and watch the conversation turn to Bezos. You don't think of Tesla without thinking about Elon Musk, or Apple without Steve Jobs.
It works locally too.
I can tell you that when I think of an amazing pasta dish, a glass of red wine, a cozy ambience, and an oceanfront view, I think of two amazing people and all the good they do in the community (which is...hey hey!...part of their brand), and I'm even MORE excited to make that dinner reservation. Go ahead, try it....Think about a place in town that your decision to go there or not has ever been swayed either way based on what you think about the owner.
Photo: Adam Winger
See!? You may not have even thought about it before now, but we all do it, and we are similarly thus affected by how our personal brand reflects out to others.
CONCLUSION
If you’re in business or you represent an organization, you have a Personal Brand whether you’re aware of it or not. You can either ignore it and let it develop without your input, or you can build it intentionally to depict you as the person you really are.
Karrie Porter Bond is a Branding Photographer and Content Creator based in Key West, Florida. Since 2001, she has brought her experience in business, design, and promotion to her clients with the vibrant style, sage perspective, and energetic personality she’s known for. Get more info HERE