What is personal branding?

Let’s head back to a time before social media and the internet, when only global celebrities, politicians and actors had personal brands. There simply weren’t the tools available for individuals and small business owners to develop and communicate their personal brand.

But times have changed and it’s never been easier to develop a personal brand within your own sector or niche.

So to get started, let’s get a couple of definitions out of the way.

First of all, a personal brand is the perception of an individual based on their knowledge and expertise in a business community or market. You may have also heard a personal brand described as “what people say about you when you’re not in the room!”, but let’s not get too paranoid!

If we dig into this a little deeper we see the use of words like “knowledge” and “expertise” which suggests you’re skilled in your chosen profession and you know what you’re doing. So it’s fair to say you don’t create a personal brand overnight. It takes time to earn trust and build your credibility through the daily actions you take.

Personal branding on the other hand is the process of influencing how others see you and this can be achieved by the way you communicate and promote yourself.

Personal branding photography is one of the most powerful ways to communicate and promote your personal brand, primarily because we can gain so much information from an image. We can use personal branding photography to share visual stories that allow our audience to get to know us better.

However, while personal branding photographs are incredibly powerful, they’re one part of your personal brand.

To have a truly rounded personal brand everything you say and do should feel aligned, so you should consider using your personal branding photography along with…

• Your values
• What you say and how you say it
• How you look
• How you sound
• Your words
• Your reputation
• Who you work with
• Who you don’t work with

As you communicate and reinforce your message with personal branding you’ll also want to inject your personality too. This is what makes you an individual and helps you stand out from the crowd.

So don’t be shy when it comes to showing your personality – if you want to be memorable let the world know what you believe in and show them what makes you different.

If you’d like to find out more about creating your branding photos, I’ve written a series of personal branding photography FAQs. Clients often ask me these questions, so I hope you find them helpful.

Would you like to book a call to discuss your personal branding photography? If you’d like a chat you can book a complimentary consultation call here.

Maybe my free guide will help? Download it below!