Elements of personal branding: what is it, and how do you do it?

When someone in your industry says your name, what do you think comes to mind? Is it nothing? Some particular project, area of expertise, or an especially strident opinion? What about when they plug your name into Google?

This is your personal brand: your individual sphere of influence within your niche in your industry.

And even if you answered ‘nothing,’ to those questions above, you still have a personal brand—it might just not be a very good one.

The idea of personal branding has been around for just about as long as the concept of networking, of course, as they’re interlinked. But the arrival of mainstream social media in the early 00s really supercharged the value of the personal brand, because it expanded the reach of professionals far beyond the traditional sites of influence like trade shows, conferences and personal networks.

Just because it’s more valuable than ever doesn’t mean good personal branding is easy to execute, however. It’s never easy to control what people perceive of you while elevating your profile across a broad audience.

So, what then are the key elements of personal branding?

1. Authority and credibility

People pay attention to you when they think you know what you’re talking about. Establish a reputation for doing that by… genuinely knowing what you’re talking about!

Whatever your field, chances are there are things about which you have an expert opinion. Whether that be writing blogs (oho!) or making the perfect double ristretto or the mysterious intricacies of manufacturing helicopters: there is likely something you are an expert in, and you should lean into that with enough confidence to construct your content around it.

2. Specificity: keep it niche

You can’t be all things to all people and it looks a little silly if you try. Not only is it likely to detract from any appearance of authenticity, it also means you’ll be making shallow, vapid content and commentary on topics about which you know little.

High specificity is your friend when it comes to personal branding. It supports your claims to credibility, authority and authenticity. It also means that the people you’re engaging with know what to expect from you—they’re not going to be blindsided by a sudden lurch into content they don’t care about.

3. The packaging is vital

Which means you have to think about it and plan for it. Your authority, skills and expertise are important, but for the purposes of personal branding, the way you represent those to others is equally critical. That means you should consider things like:

• The literal appearance of your content, including factors such as colours, fonts, tone and expression
• Storytelling and narrative—what story are you telling with each piece of content and how is it going to flow? A good story is compelling.
• Consistency in your content, branding and scheduling, both because your audience will appreciate it and because platforms ranging from Google search to Twitter to LinkedIn will typically rank your information higher in response to consistency.

If you have a coherent strategy, no matter how simplified, your packaging and content are going to be a lot easier to manage.

4. The (fake) problem of authenticity

It might seem hard to be authentic when you’re talking about a carefully and intentionally constructed perception you’re trying to deliver. You might wonder: is something like that not inescapably synthetic? Well… yes. And no.

The truth is, figuring out your personal brand is a “the clothes make the man” kind of situation. Here’s an unrelated example: dressing up in a suit to go to a wedding isn’t disguising your true and authentic self just because you don’t wear one to bed every night. Rather, putting on the suit is just responding appropriately to the social situation in which you find yourself—a trait which one might hope is part of your authentic self.

So the problem of authenticity is resolved like this: your audience doesn’t need to know everything, but you have to keep it real. Stick to your own skills and strengths and be honest, but make sure your audience is getting the best version of the authentic you.