It’s not enough to just work hard. You have to work smart.
A personal brand is the embodiment of your identity and how you want to be perceived.
It can include everything from your values, beliefs, personality traits, skill sets, and more.
Self-promotion means highlighting what makes you or your services unique to make a connection with others!
And while there are countless books, articles, and websites on the subject of how best to market yourself, these 6 creative ways will help you stand out from the crowd and achieve success:
1. Create a blog for your personal brand
Blogs are a fantastic way to promote your personal brand.
A blog is really just another type of online journal, but it’s also an opportunity for you to share information with others and give insight into who you are as an entrepreneur or coach!
Your blog can be used in a variety of ways: from sharing thoughts on industry news or answering thought-provoking questions in your niche.
Blogs are also a place where you can share your expertise as an authority in the industry.
You could offer advice on how to launch a business or maintain a work-life balance, for instance!
Plus, this is another opportunity for you to promote yourself and your services by adding links back to them from your blog posts.
Don’t stop at one blog post, either.
Creating a series of posts on the same topic can help you gain traction and increase your credibility as an expert in that industry.
It might take longer to publish this many posts but it will also result in more exposure!
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2. Make sure it is optimized for search engines
Whether you’re creating a blog or an e-book, make sure that it is optimized for search engines.
This means including keywords and phrases in your post titles, meta descriptions (the snippet of text that appears below the title on Google), images, headers, and intro paragraphs.
It also means researching to see what is ranking well right now and then creating content to match those keywords (or topics).
For instance, if you’re blogging about “self-promotion” your keyword might be “tips to successfully promote yourself”.
So when people are searching in Google for that phrase or close variants of it, they will find your blog post on the first page!
In addition to optimizing text-based content for search engines, the same concept applies to visuals.
For example, if you’re creating a video on “personal marketing” your keyword might be “creative ways to market yourself”.
So when people are searching on YouTube for that phrase or close variants of it, they will find your video!
Plus once again, this is another opportunity for you to promote yourself and your services by including a link back to them in the video description.
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Keep this thought in mind: people are lazy!
If they have to work hard to find what they’re looking for, chances are they’ll just go somewhere else.
However, if it’s easy-peasy lemon squeezy and they find what they’re looking for in seconds, then chances are good that you’ll have a satisfied customer on your hands!
This is where optimizing text and visuals for search engines comes into play.
It’s not enough to just create content; it needs to be optimized so people can easily find it when they need it!
3. Publish content that entertains as well as educates your audience
A blog post can be just a few paragraphs or it could include a series of video tutorials.
If you’re looking for ways to market your personal brand, then an interesting and informative blog is the answer!
You need to develop content that’s not only educational but also entertaining in some way shape or form.
For instance, if you’re a fitness coach and want to share your expertise on how to maintain a work-life balance, not only should you provide some solid advice that will help people with their lives but also give them something else in return for reading it.
For example, if they read the full blog post then they could be entered into a monthly drawing for free coaching with you!
This is a great way to show them that not only do you care about their lives but also the time they’re investing in reading your blog.
It’s like working on building long-term relationships rather than just trying to sell something, which can be good for business growth down the road as well.
Pro tip: You can use research tools like Google Trends or BuzzSumo to find what’s trending in your niche.
4. Use social media to share your content with friends and followers
Once you have your content created and it’s all optimized for search engines, the next step is to share it on social media.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a fitness coach or a marketing consultant; every industry has its own specialists with their own followers who are looking for helpful tips that they can relate to everyday life.
So don’t be shy!
It’s time to go out there and promote your personal brand by sharing helpful content on social media.
The choice of social media depends on your niche and the type of content you’re creating.
For instance, if you are in the fitness industry then Instagram would be a good choice for its visual nature; whereas Facebook might be better suited to an informative blog post with links back to your website.
When it comes down to it though, find what works best for your content and use it to promote your personal brand.
5. Establish a relationship with other bloggers in order to cross-promote each other’s sites (and thereby increase traffic)
Cross-promoting your content with other bloggers is another way to increase traffic.
It’s not just about you and your blog, it’s also about all the blogs that are out there!
So when someone clicks on one of the links in your post to visit their site, they might find something else interesting while they’re browsing around.
And if they do, who knows? They might be more inclined to subscribe to your blog as well!
If you can establish a relationship with other bloggers then that will help tremendously in sharing each other’s content.
They may have a following and readership that complements what you’re trying to accomplish so it makes sense for you to team up.
It’s like a win-win situation for everyone!
And if you’re going through all the trouble of creating content, why not share it with as many people as possible?
The more traffic your blog gets, the better your personal brand will be represented and recognized in this day and age when digital marketing is everything.
6. Stay focused by following an editorial calendar that outlines your content strategy
One of the easiest ways to stay organized and focused is by following an editorial calendar.
It’s like your own personal assistant who will remind you of all the things that need to be done daily so there are no missed deadlines or lost opportunities for content creation.
Just think about it this way – if you’re trying to write a blog post every day, but you don’t know what the next one is going to be about yet, it’s easy for your mind to wander and get distracted.
But if you’re following an editorial calendar then that won’t happen because everything will already have been planned out so all you’ll need to do is fill in the blanks.
There’s no time wasted on wondering what your next blog post will be about because it’ll already have been outlined in a spreadsheet or Google Doc that you can access anytime and anywhere.
And once you start following an editorial calendar, more things will just fall into place without any effort needed from you!
Conclusion:
Don’t just sell your digital products or services, market yourself.
This means providing value to people who are not your customers as well as those that are to build a reputation for quality and trustworthiness.
If you provide enough value to the right audience, they will find out about what you do from other sources and come back to become paying customers when it is convenient or necessary.
Ali is a digital marketing blogger and author who uses the power of words to inspire and impact others. He has written for leading publications like Business2Community, Inc. Magazine, and Marketing Profs. When not writing, he enjoys spending time with his family.