9 personal brand tips for your business
Everyone is talking about personal brands these days. If you ask the marketing industry, a personal brand is the only real way to achieve long-term success on social media. At least if you define success in terms of impressions, followers and sales figures. The term is used across the board, but what is a personal brand really? Christine Schneider, a German artist who, like me, lives in Mallorca, is a great example of this.
As a personal brand photographer, I have been working for years with people who sell products and services through their simple presence on social media. This article looks at the secret behind this seemingly easy strategy and explains how personal branding really works. It also ends with my best personal branding tips - from my own experience and from working with strong personal brands.
What is personal branding?
Before we dive into lengthy descriptions, a simple example: Kim Kardashian. JLo. Lady Gaga. All of these women are artists, but also strong personal brands. Most of us have automatic associations with each of these names. Kim Kardashian stands for glamour, luxury, social media presence and the creation of a billion-dollar beauty and fashion empire. Jennifer Lopez (JLo) embodies success, sporty chic and an unrivalled career as a singer, actress and entrepreneur. Lady Gaga is immediately associated with creativity, the courage to be different, provocative style and an enormous influence on pop culture and social justice.
These women have managed to define their personality and style so clearly that their names evoke images and emotions worldwide. This is exactly what personal branding is: the strategic development of a personal brand in which an individual positions herself like a company. A brand consists of a clearly defined identity, values and a unique message that is communicated through consistency and authenticity across multiple channels. Personal branding is about using these elements in such a targeted way that associations with certain qualities and competences are anchored in the minds of the target group. A challenge that Christine Schneider has mastered with flying colours.
About Christine Schneider
Christine is an artist, interior designer and nature lover. Like me, she lives between Germany and Mallorca, after a medical diagnosis of "terminally ill" 23 years ago prompted her to finally follow her dreams. The artist draws her inspiration from interior design, fashion and nature. Both her art and her interior design follow simple, minimalist lines. With elegant, timeless and sculptural elements, her art creates spaces that feel like authentic homes for her clients. Creating beautiful things always brings a smile to her face - an underlying creative cheerfulness that is reflected in all her work, just like her deep connection to the universal force of origin.
Christine consciously seeks quiet harmony and avoids loud colours. Her preference for natural and soft colours such as beige and brown creates calm, minimalist compositions that captivate with their attention to detail. Excitingly, this is also reflected in her clothing style, which forms a unity with her artworks. This was particularly exciting for me as a photographer - a holistic brand design that appears again and again not only in branding colours, but also in Christine's work and natural surroundings.
The shoot with Christine in Mallorca in September also resulted in some very special pictures for me. As a mixture of lifestyle and business shoot, we travelled to various locations together. Thanks to her uniform clothing style, the pictures actually correspond exactly to Christine's personal brand - a result that we created together almost effortlessly, in contrast to other shoots.
You can find her on Instagram at @christineschneider.art.
Personal brand tips: How personal branding works
With strong personal branding, many self-employed people avoid the nerve-wracking task of customer acquisition. Anyone who is known to the audience for a service or product automates so-called inbound enquiries: people approach you independently to buy without any acute advertising measures. Christine shows us a personal brand that presents itself coherently and consistently. But how do you get there? Here are my best personal branding tips for you!
- Self-analysis and goal setting
Think about what you want to stand for. What are your strengths, values and unique skills? What message do you want to convey? Define clear goals: What do you want to achieve with your personal branding (e.g. new customers, professional positioning, expert status)?
- Define target group
Determine exactly who you want to address with your personal brand. What needs and interests does your target group have? Your content and messages should be aimed at these specific people. A solid target group analysis is the basis for the content you will publish.
- Develop a unique value proposition (USP)
Formulate what makes you unique and why someone should choose you. Your "Unique Selling Point" (USP) is the centrepiece of your brand and helps you stand out from the competition. In my case, this is my very specific image style for personal branding photography: my presence on LinkedIn ensures that my images reach people who resonate with them. The community then stands with many comments as a sign of trust, and people contact me directly for a shoot.
- Define visual and verbal identity
Develop a consistent visual style (colours, fonts, logo, profile pictures) and a clear language. Your visual and linguistic appearance should be consistent and reflect your brand in all channels to create recognition. Christine is a great example of this recognition value - her colours are recognisable everywhere.
- Establish an online presence
Optimise your social media profiles (e.g. LinkedIn, Instagram) and create a personal website or portfolio. These platforms serve as a central point of contact for your target group and should clearly communicate your brand message. Start with one platform and don't try to use everything at the same time. Once one channel is up and running, you can expand.
- Consistent content creation
Regularly share valuable content that demonstrates your expertise and appeals to your target group. This can be blog articles, social media posts, videos or podcasts that support your topics, values and messages. Provide real added value that helps your followers, but also insights into your personal life. There are many who offer a similar service, but you are unique as a person.
- Networking and increasing visibility
Take an active part in conversations, comment on relevant posts and build targeted relationships. The more visible you become in your network, the more your personal brand will be recognised. Create a database of comment buddies and potential customers. Check them regularly to stay present.
- Obtain and adapt feedback
Listen to your target group's feedback and regularly evaluate how your brand is perceived. Adapt your strategy and content to ensure that you always remain authentic and relevant. Your personal brand grows with you.
- Long-term consistency and patience
Stay tuned! Personal branding is not a one-off process, but requires constant maintenance. Stay consistent in your appearance, content and messages and continuously build your brand. Not every post will go viral, but your perseverance will pay off.
For a uniform presentation across all channels, you need good image material. The more professional, the better. The shoot is in line with your personal branding - even better! Sooner or later, you will definitely need a professional shoot - if you want it to take place on Mallorca or in Frankfurt, I will be happy to support you!
More from us
You can find more business pictures and advertising photos in our extensive Portfolio or on our Instagram page.
