CPD tips - How to improve your personal brand

A personal brand is something we all have which can be developed and improved to benefit both our personal and professional lives. In this CPD article, we explore the importance of developing a personal brand, and give you some practical tips and ways on how you can improve your own.

What is a personal brand?

Everyone has a brand, not just social media influencers or business owners. A personal brand can be defined as who you are and what you stand for, how people would describe you when you’re not listening. It’s a public image that defines and demonstrate your values, your reputation and relationships. Social media profiles, websites, digital portfolios, blog articles, and the various ways you communicate online all contribute to your unique identity and personal brand.

Why is developing your personal brand important?

Developing a personal brand in your professional life is extremely important, as it allows you to showcase your talents and skills and distinguish yourself from the competition. When done effectively, a strong personal brand leads to new opportunities and connections. It is an asset that shows the world your reputation.

The most effective brands are unique, authentic, and trustworthy. If you’re a social media user, people can see what you’re like and get a glimpse into your personality by looking at what posts you share, what you say. They can get an impression of you as a person, without even knowing you, without ever having spoken to you. So, for that reason, it’s essential to take the time to build a personal brand that resonates with your values and how you want to be perceived.

Let’s take three examples, Donald Trump, Richard Branson and Greta Thunberg. Three people in completely different fields, three people most of us will never meet. But, despite what we all think of these people, the important thing is that we have a good idea of what they’re like, what they’re known for. This is led by our perception of their personal brand.

So why would someone want to improve their personal brand?

Not all of us are in the public eye, we’re not ‘celebrities’. However, that doesn’t mean that potential employers and future connections can’t find out a little about us and build their own perception based on our personal brand. Here are some points to take note of in your own life when looking to improve your brand:

Focus

In your professional life, working on developing your own personal brand will help you focus on your career goals by honing your skills and interests. You can focus on sharing the skills and knowledge that you have and what you’re passionate about. It can help you narrow down your work to a chosen speciality.

Control

Developing your personal brand means that you are in control. You decide how you want to be perceived by others. You can choose what you want to post on social media, what you put in a blog post or what you wish to share online.

For example, if you work in healthcare, you could use social media to share your expertise. If you work in marketing, share the latest tips on how to do things online. This is something you can develop and build up over time and can do, even if you’re still in university, about to embark on your professional path. You can tell the world what you’re interested in and how you can make that area better. You can become a Thought Leader, someone whose opinion is valued.

Consistency

It’s important that you are consistent. Potential employers and viewers of your content want to know that you are consistent in your field and your content. Not every tweet has to be about sustainability, for example. 

Personal branding isn’t only something in the online world. If you want to be perceived in a certain way, you need to show that in the real world, you are the same person. You want people to say that you are the same in real life as you are online. If you help others online, help them in the real world. Consistency over time in sharing your knowledge and skills can be achieved by using your authentic voice. Fads and trends come and go, long term consistency in your field is key.

Credibility and Value

Using your authentic voice comes back to focusing on your goals and passions. When you are consistent, talking and sharing content in relation to a field, it’s easier to build credibility and value as you can contribute to the conversations being had. You want people to trust what you say, but, you have to earn trust over time. 

You can’t have the type of connection needed with your content and what you’re sharing if you are not being authentic. Passion for a topic shines. One way of building on this credibility and trust is to collaborate with your peers.

Build Your Network

Whether it’s on LinkedIn or in real life, you want to mix with the right people. The relationships you build in your area of choice can help in the future with job or speciality recommendations. Be open to group projects, organise events, share your peers’ opinions. If they are in line with your values, add your voice to the conversation.

Partake in seminars, workshops and events. Make sure you attend the right webinars, you are seen in the right places. Go to where your peers are and introduce yourself to others. It helps when everyone is in the same space for the same reason.

Confidence

Taking yourself out of your comfort zone is a challenge for all of us. By adding your voice to conversations and collaborating with others, you will find it easier to have confidence in yourself and in your strength and skills. It can take time to build this up and to eliminate ‘imposter syndrome’. Adding knowledge and skills and getting to know those in your area of expertise will give you a confidence boost.

5 simple ways to improve your personal brand

It’s critical to craft your personal brand strategically and build one that helps advance your career and your life. Making a conscious decision to develop your own personal brand can be daunting. But it doesn’t need to be. Here are 5 tips and ways to help get you started:

1. Find a CPD course on personal branding. Our emotions and doubts can cloud what we want to achieve. Having guidance from professionals is a fantastic way of getting us on the right path. They know the pitfalls and challenges you will face and will be able to help you achieve your goals.
2. Align your personal values to your goals. This will give you the opportunity to shine and to truly acknowledge what your goals are and professional plans for the future. It will also allow you to focus on what’s important to you and let you look at how you can incorporate these into your professional life.
3. Showcase your talents. Showcase what you know about, build a website, YouTube channel or whatever platform that is relevant and you enjoy. If you don’t enjoy it, you won’t engage with the platform long term. Make yourself a content strategy plan. Decide in advance what you want to share, ensuring your content adds value.
4. Build your community. Sharing your content to relevant audiences is a must. Every interaction is a potential employer or customer. Treat others how you would like to be treated. Share your peers’ work also, this will introduce you to their audience. Connect and build relationships that matter.
5. Be the authentic you. Be the real you online. Sharing your knowledge, opinions and expertise in your own voice cannot be faked. This will build trust and credibility within your field of expertise. This will help you to become a valued member of the community.

We all have a personal brand whether we realise it or not. If we look at a personal brand as a reflection of ourselves, it should be easier to want to develop this so that it has higher value to us in the future. We can’t decide what other people think of each of us, but we owe it to ourselves to highlight our own skills and knowledge to add value to the conversation, our workplace and our audience.

Where to find CPD courses on building a personal brand?

We hope this article was helpful. Established in 1996, The CPD Certification Service has over 27 years’ experience providing CPD accreditation. With members in over 100 countries, our CPD providers benefit from the ability to promote themselves as part of an international community where quality is both recognised and assured. We host a range of certified courses on behalf of our members that offer insight and practical steps to help you improve your own personal brand.

Our CPD Courses Catalogue has thousands of training courses, conferences and events, workshops and eLearning available from a variety of CPD providers. If you are looking to become a CPD Provider, please contact our team to discuss your requirements in more detail. Alternatively, if you want to record your CPD, please go to the myCPD Portal where you can manage, track and log your learning in one simple place.