Personal branding for female entrepreneurs is so important. Take Sharvette Mitchell: She has 25 years of working experience in corporate America, but now works as an online marketing strategist and brand consultant helping others build their own personal brands to supercharge their businesses. A good product or service without a strong personal brand won’t get noticed. If it doesn’t get noticed, your voice won’t be heard and no one will benefit from what you have to offer.
Here are Sharvette’s top 6 “must-haves” for your business brand:
1. A Clear Brand Offering
What do you have that nobody else does? That’s not always an easy question, but you have to be able to provide an answer to succeed. Your product or service might not be that different from others on the market at first glance, but there is something that makes it totally unique, no matter what it is…
You. There’s no one else like you, so no matter what you’re offering, you can without a doubt bring something to the table that no one else can.
Find the unique flavor, the essence of your brand, that makes it your brand. What do you offer? What problems do you solve? Be specific. Know your value by heart and be ready to tell it to anybody, anywhere.
2. Visual Branding That Shines
Visual branding is like the suit you wear to your first interview. Whether they know it or not, images always create a powerful emotional response in people. Images are processed 600 times faster than text, which means they’ve already made a snap judgement before they’ve even had time to realize it.
Take a good look at the images associated with your brand. That means:
- Color palettes
- Logos
- Website layout
- Photographs
- Font style and text sizes
- Social Media graphics
- Signatures on emails and business cards
- Company brochures
Every bit of it affects your customers’ emotional response, so leave nothing to chance. Powerful and consistent visual branding both online and offline shows attention to detail, which builds trust and recognition over time.
3. A Unique Brand Voice
There’s a pattern here that’s starting to emerge if you’re paying attention: Don’t be boring. Keep cookie cutters in the kitchen and far away from your business. That goes double for your brand voice.
Brand voice is your opportunity to tell, not just show, others what makes you unique. Your content marketing will potentially take many different forms depending on your business. You might use:
- Social media sites like Instagram or Tiktok
- Video marketing on YouTube or other sites
- Live-streaming on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, or Amazon Live
- Email marketing
Essentially, wherever your customers spend their time, that’s where you need to be. One of the advantages of social media posts is that you can easily repurpose them into full-length blog posts that further illuminate your unique qualities.
4. Public Speaking Events
People love doing business with those they know and respect, and cultivating your speaking acumen is one of the best ways to put yourself out there. Your speaking engagements can also be filmed and broadcast online, making it a spectacular source of networking and organic lead generation for your business.
How to get started? Do it yourself and create your own opportunities. You’re not limited to your physical surroundings in this day and age. Take full advantage of the internet by hosting your own webinars, virtual summits, and live conferences to become a thought leader and recognized expert in your industry.
5. A Media Presence
As with public speaking, it’s necessary here to take some initiative and create media opportunities yourself. There are three kinds of traditional media: regional, national, and international. Difficulty of access scales with the size of the expected audience, but don’t let that discourage you. As long as you have a relevant message and a desirable offering, you can find ways to get on camera, get behind the microphone, or get featured.
Audience size matters, but also look for niche outlets and new media that speak to your industry. It’s a great way to build your authority and establish yourself as an in-demand thought leader.
There’s a specific form of media presence that’s easy to forget about: podcasts. There’ll be more than 132 million podcast users in the United States by 2022. Find podcasts relevant to your niche and make arrangements with their hosts to be interviewed or start your own podcast.
6. A Published Book
Few things build authority quite as naturally as publishing a book. Most people say they have a book in them, but actually putting your intellectual property into writing and featuring it on your website and on store shelves puts you a cut above the rest.
While self-publishing, book collaborations and anthologies are an easier and more affordable book publishing option, make sure to hire a skilled editor to help you get the most out of your manuscript. If you can get yourself on high-trafficked platforms like Amazon or Barnes & Noble, it’ll increase your brand’s digital presence and give you well-earned bragging rights amid all your other marketing efforts.
Ready to Get Started?
Personal branding can feel overwhelming, but there’s no need to go it alone. Mitchell Productions offers Sharvette’s Platform Builder Program, an intensive 12-month program for growing and maximizing your very own personal brand. Take the Personal Brand Quiz and find out where you are with your personal brand and get a few tips to help your brand propel forward!
