Why You Should Market Yourself and Your Career as a Brand in 2021

When it comes to a personal brand, there’s something you should know: everyone has a personal brand, whether they like it or not.

Choosing not to have one, or not engaging in building yours, doesn’t mean you’re without one - it means that other people decide who you are and what you are to them.

And if you’re okay with that, then this post isn’t for you. But if you’d like a little more control over how you appear to other people and more control over your career and lifestyle, then read on to find out why personal branding isn’t a “nice to have” but an absolute essential heading into 2021.

What A Personal Brand Can Do

Building an authentic personal brand is a crucial way to help you reach the next level of your career. It’s quite simply the most effective way to establish yourself as an expert in your field, to find yourself doing more work that you love, and really making a difference.

As an added bonus, your personal brand serves as your best protection against business factors that you can't control.

If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that the unthinkable really can happen. While we’ve all experienced upheavals, it’s vital to take control over your future now more than ever.

How you position, brand, and portray yourself can open an immense amount of doors for you - meanwhile making you irreplaceable to your company or your clientele.

Marketing Your Career As A Brand

But creating a personal brand isn’t just for businesses or entrepreneurs. Whether you’re looking to be a thought leader, looking for a career in human resources, or want to make the most of your next job search, dialing in your personal brand is the number one way to build your brand and career.

That’s because a personal brand is about more than your personal website, colors, fonts, and logos. The visual elements only help to convey the essence of you - the feeling you give people you work with.

With your personal brand, you can establish everything from your first impression to your positioning in your industry or career. Just like every major corporation out there, you can present a personal brand that lets people get to know you and what you’re about.

It’s become easier than ever to engage one-to-one with people who live thousands of miles away. And this can make all the difference to you, your career, and your business.

This can’t be overstated.

As 2020 has shown, flexibility and the chance to connect with people remotely has proven an invaluable skill. It also increases the possibilities of diversifying your income streams and creating a personal brand that can handle the shifts in the economy and the kind of monumental changes that 2020 has proven DO come along.

To succeed with this kind of personal brand management, it’s important to take into account your target audience and what kind of marketing strategy this takes.

So let’s jump into how you can convey your personal message - from your cover letters to your blog posts - and emphasize your communication skills and the special things that make you you!

Personal Branding & Relationship Marketing

You don’t need a degree in marketing to understand that strong relationships make the world go round.

One of the lessons 2020 has taught us is that customer-first thinking is as crucial now as it was when it was coined in the 60s.

That’s because when you look at prospective clients, companies, or employment as something that’s solely transactional, it’s hard to stand out from the crowd in any way other than price.

But how can your personal branding improve your relationships?

Let’s take a look at Lolly Daskal, who is a coach, consultant, and speaker, focusing on global leadership and consulting. She is a highly sought-after executive leadership coach and business consultant.

The consistency across Lolly’s website, social media, LinkedIn, and online presence - including her content marketing efforts in her blog. Her personal brand highlights her leaderships skills, ability to communicate with an audience, and illustrates her experience writing for blue chip and high profile business publications.

Do I know all this because I know Lolly personally? I don’t. But just like an interested employer, client, or customer, I have a solid understanding of Lolly’s brand.

Customers in all industries are looking for something more than just the “cheapest” or another run of the mill service for hire- they’re looking for people they can believe in, who can give them a premium experience, and brands (and therefore the face of the brand) as someone they can trust to do business with.

Developing Your 2021 Career Strategy

It’s fair to say that while 2020 was a year of going nowhere, 2021 is already set to be a truly unprecedented time.

With travel, entertainment, and big life opportunities limited in 2020, people have been able to save time and money - and as the uncertainty of COVID-19 makes way for a new way of living, people are going to be looking where to spend that money.

But 2020 has also included a critical reset of the way that we interact with the world around us - from our friends and families to how we like to do business. It’s not enough to just do what you do well - if people can’t form a relationship with you, then they’re going to go elsewhere.

In fact, the ability to build relationships is a primary part of how you choose to position and market your career. But until you have established your brand - and until you know what you stand for - it’s going to be more hard work than smart work to stand out.

Are You Ready To Take On Your 2021 Personal Branding?

If all of this has you fired up and ready to go, then it’s time to consider working with me in a custom personal branding intensive. Together, we’ll deep dive and home your direction and unique position and help you turn that into an actionable and profitable personal brand that truly represents who you are.

It’s time to create financial freedom on your own terms and stand out for being your genuine self while adding value in a meaningful way. To get started all you need to do is schedule your Personal Branding Strategy Call and I'll walk you through it.