Most small business owners are aware of the importance of having a business brand, but many are not mindful of their personal brand.
A business brand and its owner’s personal brand are closely intertwined. In fact, for really small businesses, they might be the same thing.
Nonetheless, many entrepreneurs dismiss the importance of a personal brand, due to some misconceptions about personal branding.
Here are some personal branding myths that need to be clarified:
MYTH 1: Personal branding is for reality television personalities, celebrities, all-star athletes and rock stars
A personal brand is, quite simply, what other people think of you: it’s your reputation.
So if you own and run a business, and you want to be seen in a certain light, you need to have a personal brand. You don’t have to be famous or insanely successful. You just have to know how you want to be seen in the business world.
A common personal branding mistake is when a business owner unintentionally brands themselves as an employee of their own company. For example, a fitness expert who owns a chain of gyms might still see herself as a personal trainer, because that’s what she was when she started her career many years ago.
If she’s perceived (branded) as a personal trainer but not as a savvy business owner, she might have a hard time building credibility and finding investors to expand her business.
MYTH 2: Personal branding is just pretending you’re something you’re not
There is nothing phony about personal branding when it is done correctly. Actually, it’s quite the opposite.
Personal branding is about finding out who you really are (what makes you unique, what your core values are, and what drives you to succeed at your business) and then projecting certain aspects of yourself so that other people see you a certain way.
In the case of the gym owner, we have an entrepreneur who started out in the industry as a personal trainer, learned how to run a gym at a grass roots level, and then eventually launched her own business. Her knowledge and experience came from working her way through the ranks, and she doesn’t have to pretend otherwise. But she does have to acknowledge that she has left her personal trainer role in the past and is now an entrepreneur who functions in the business world.
In other words, the gym owner’s personal re-branding isn’t changing who she is at all, it’s just bringing to the forefront an aspect of her multifaceted character.
MYTH 3: Personal branding is just about looks
Personal branding is as complex and interesting as you are. It’s in the way you dress, speak, write, post on social media, treat your customers, support causes, and interact with your community.
Our gym owner may have shown up to work wearing spandex and sneakers back in her personal training days, but now as an entrepreneur, she might opt for business attire. Perhaps she is also an advocate for the environment and so has recycling initiatives in her gyms for discarded water bottles, and water refilling stations for her clients who bring their own water bottles. Perhaps most of her clientele are young mothers from the local neighborhood, so she posts prenatal and postnatal health tips on her blog and social media accounts. Maybe she supports nearby libraries and sponsors local events aimed at small children and their families.
Her appearance, her social conscience, her credibility as a health expert, and her community support all work together as part of her personal brand. Her personal brand reflects on her, and ultimately on her business brand.
There’s nothing elitist, misleading or superficial about personal branding. Personal branding entails managing your reputation by being self-aware and true to yourself, and communicating your values and interests to others in the business world.
Need a hand with your personal brand? Call Kim Speed at Purple Moon Creative today!
