How do you stand out in the internet when it’s full of clutter? Do you think your online identity will be just a disposable waste? Do you think it would be easily overlooked like many others?
 
The internet is filled with information, including information of different talented and able individuals who left their mark in the industry. Young or old, novice or experienced, it’s all there. You may think that the competition is stiff. So, how can you compete with all the impressive profiles online?
 
Creating your personal brand may seem daunting, but it shouldn’t be something you should think as impossible. It is highly possible if you use the right tools and if you drive your content towards success. There may be no fast and easy way but the journey but we can give you a few tips on how to start.
 

What is Your Personal Brand?

 
We all have something to offer to the world – including you.
 
Your profession may be part of your personal brand, or maybe there is something you are passionate about other than what you do in your 9-to-5. Technically, you can “sell” yourself out to many people out there who might just be looking for your expertise.
 
Creating your personal brand, first and foremost, is knowing what you want your online persona to be. Just like business brands, your personal branding is how you want to present yourself to the online world.
 
Your passion plays a huge role in that persona a.k.a. branding. It is the core of your online imprint. What you’re passionate about would clearly reflect on every information you add online. If not, it would make less believable and less reliable; hence, your personal branding would look like merely a front.
 
That is why it is important to identify what your passion is. Filter everything that you want to do and what you’re good at and focus on one specific point.
 
Let’s say you love food. Do you love food because you love to travel and discover the palates of the world? Do you love food because you like to distinguish flavors? Or do you love food simply because you love to cook? These are three different angles you can direct yourself in identifying what your passion is.
 
Then, if you can still narrow it down, the better. So, if you like food because you like to cook, which type of dish are you good at? Desserts? Pastries? Whatever it is, that is your focus.
 
Once you got that done, the next few steps in creating your personal brand is on how you ‘look’ and ‘sound’ online.
 

Your Online Voice

 
How you ‘sound’ online is another important decision you need to make in personal branding.
 
Your online voice would give your audience an impression on how you are like in person. If you want to be known as a fun, whimsical baker, then your online presence should sound that way. If you want to be known as a passionate, hardworking cook, you need to sound more serious.
 
So when we say ‘voice’ we mean how you sound like online. Whether it is through podcasts, videos, or posts, it should reflect your real character.
 
Unless you want another ‘voice’ online, choosing how you sound online is pretty much like how you talk.
 
Let’s take the foodie angle as an example. If you’re going to create a blog about food reviews, you write in such a way that you’re talking to a friend about your dining experience. If you’re going to do recipes, write as if you’re teaching your kids to cook.
 
Sounding more natural is important in your personal branding. Pretty much it’s that ‘voice’ that people can picture you out how you are when they talk to you.
 
However, that doesn’t mean you should be too informal, too. Remember, as much as you want to please an audience and invite a following, you goal in creating a personal brand is to attract clients and partnerships so you have to consider that, too.
 

Overall Look

 
Whenever people talk about branding, the first thing that would always come to mind is the visuals. Why didn’t we mention it first? Well, because knowing what you’re passionate about and deciding on your online voice are important considerations when you finally choose the aesthetic factor of personal branding.
 
Creating your logo, deciding on a color scheme, and even choosing a font typeface can make a huge difference in presenting your personal brand.
 
Just like creating your online voice, the way you look and art design can be played around depending on your interests. If you’d like to do an extensive research, you can look into the psychology of colors to choose the right color scheme for your design.
 

Choosing Your Platform

 
After identifying those three – your niche (aka your passion/persona), voice, and look – you have to choose your online platform.
 
This is both easy and difficult.
 
Easy because we know the usual: a website or blog plus social media. But you cannot just simply put yourself everywhere!
 
While it is okay to be present in all platforms, but you might just be spending too much time, energy, and resources to the wrong platform that won’t pay dividends for you. You might as well choose a few and focus on strengthening your online presence through these platforms.
 
But we’ll let you hang in there for a moment. Next week, we’ll discuss more on choosing your platform especially in social media, and which ones are more appropriate to use on which niche.