How To Build Your Personal Brand [2020 Personal Branding Tips]

Your personal brand will either magnetize or repel potential coaching clients & students, and there’s a lot more to it than you think!

 

Today I’ll be giving you some actionable personal branding tips to implement so you can build your personal brand in your online coaching business starting right now.

 

Coach, personal branding is SO different from 5 years ago, or 3 years ago, or even ONE year ago. The rules have completely changed, and basically been thrown out the window. Which is a good thing! 

 

In 2020 your personal brand goes well beyond a logo, trendy script fonts, or an on-point color palette. Not saying those things don’t matter, because they do.

 

>> However, your personal brand is personal which means it’s a reflection of you as a human!

 

It gives off a feeling and it’s your version of creative expression that inspires your peeps to vibe with you and your offers.

 

And you better believe that potential clients & students are online stalking you on multiple platforms to learn about you.

 

Here’s the thing, friend.  Every time your show up online or in person you showcase your brand --> because YOU are your brand. 

 

Yes, that means posting a political rant on your personal FB page, or liking that cat video in your feed that everyone can see.  Whether you realize it or not, everything you do online ripples out into your personal brand. 

 

It’s how you create influence, which then leads to impact and ultimately income.

 

Now, there are a lot of coaches, consultants, and strategists out there, so your most valuable asset when it comes to standing out from the crowd, is that you’re you!  And here are a few simple tips to support you in expressing your you-ness out into the world.

Personal Branding Tip #1-

YOUR STORY  

The foundation of your coaching business is your story of triumph.  This is how you moved through challenges, mindsets, experiences, and blocks to get to where you are today. 

 

Your story is how you’ve come to:

• Cultivate your faith in yourself
• Develop your expertise
• Sharpen your strengths
• Tap into your genius

 

And THAT, my friend is 100% authentic and unique to you, and can’t be replicated. 

 

You see, your story of triumph not only supports your potential clients in seeing themselves in your results (meaning.. they’re thinking to themselves “If she can do it, then so can I”), it also helps them to relate to you because you’ve been where they are and felt the way they’re currently feeling. 

 

Ultimately, sharing your story helps to position you as an expert, and that’s when your ideal clients and students begin to see you as a solution to their problems.

 

Personal Branding Tip #2-

YOUR VIBE 

YOU have a vibe and so does your brand… Ideally they are the same vibe! 

 

Your personal brand vibe is a combination of:

1. How it feels
2. How it looks
3. How well it’s communicated

 

>>> Start by clarifying how it feels.

This is what I call your brand essence. The definition of the word essence is soul, spirit, and core.

 

How cool is that?! Your coaching business brand has a soul! 

 

Just like the soul expresses in personality through humans, it also expresses in personality through your brand!

 

So think about it.  If your brand was a human, how would it show up? 

• Does it have a quirky personality?
• Is it more authoritative?
• Would you say it’s playful? 
• Or perhaps it’s inspiring.

 

Essentially, your brand personality is going to be YOUR personality, and it’s important to really think about it because the soul of your personal brand awakens a feeling, impression, and overall experience within your audience. It’s how people INTERNALLY experience your brand.

 

So, let’s get into the soul of YOUR brand. Take a moment and imagine that someone who’s never seen or experienced you before has found you either through social media, your website, or a google search. Imagine they’re snooping around on your page to see what you’re up to. 

• How do they feel? 
• What’s their facial expression after seeing your images and videos?
• What’s their gut telling them after experiencing your copy?
• What is their mind telling them after engaging in your brand personality?
• What is the immediate first impression they have after experiencing your coaching business brand? 

THIS IS YOUR BRAND ESSENCE! 

 

Next, get a sense for how your brand looks. This part’s fun. You want to choose a look and feel for your brand so that it’s recognizable. The goal is that when people see certain colors, fonts, or filters, and immediately think of you.

 

And this isn’t something you just pull out of your tushie. These are colors that you naturally gravitate towards. 

 

You’ll probably find yourself wearing clothes or jewelry in these colors. Maybe your bedroom or home decor already showcases these colors.  Maybe these colors show up in your physical features.

 

For me, I have green eyes and I’ve always worn a lot of black clothes with gold jewelry (I don’t know, maybe it’s the New York or Italian in me).  So, I wasn’t surprised that I gravitated towards black, gold and green in my personal branding.

 

Take a moment and look around your environment and see what you're already naturally gravitating towards because it just might be part of your brand vibe!

 

Okay, now that you have a cohesive look and feel for your personal brand, it’s time to get clear on your personal brand messaging. Know that I’m not talking about the content that you’re sharing at this point.. that comes later. 

 

To start, I’m talking about your You’isms.  These are: 

• statements
• catch phrases
• slang words 
• one-liners

...you say in your everyday life.

 

Coach, you know yourself better than anyone (obviously), but do you articulate that? Take some time to sit down and write out all the things that really make you, YOU.

 

Don’t worry about what this coach over here is doing, or what that strategist over there is saying. Put on some blinders for a minute and focus on yourself. 

 

There are no wrong answers, and there are definitely no rules.

 

Some of the things you can write about are your:

1. Mission or “I help” statement 
2. Personal and professional obsessions 
3. Values 
4. Non-negotiables 
5. Role in your family 
6. “Why”

 

It’s also important to think about the specific language you’re using. So, are you cool with cursing or does that feel inauthentic to you? Do you say “ya’ll” a lot in real life?

 

Start including your little catch phrases or slang words into your copy and people will start associating you with a particular “style.”

For me, I say:

• tush or tushie a lot
• I’m okay with saying “shit” or “ass” but F-bombs aren’t authentic for me
• I also say, “Hi Friend” and Let’s do this

 

Then on the personal side of personal branding, I call myself a tea snob.  I’m rose obsessed. Like seriously, I use rose essential oils, I drink it, I wash my face with it, and I have rose lip balm. And, friend, I share all that info with my audience!

 

Then, professionally I’m a total organization nerd (I think it’s the Virgo in me), and I’m legit obsessed with Kajabi as well as other business tools. (and you can learn why I’m so obsessed with Kajabi, here).

 

So, you can see that these are the things that make me, ME… and I bring that into my copy all the time which helps people to relate to me and then move forward with a coaching relationship in some form or fashion.

 

Once you have this list of “you-isms” you can start narrowing down your voice which will help you in your content marketing (which we’ll be talking about in just a few minutes). 

 

Personal Branding Tip #3-

YOUR SEARCHABILITY 

This is how you get known for what you do!  Ya know how people go into google, pinterest, or youtube and search for topics? Maybe they’re trying to solve a problem, or learn how to do something, or find an answer to their questions… regardless, the goal is for YOU to show up on the front page!

 

When I’m talking about searchability, I’m talking about making it easy for people to: 

1. Find you.
2. Know who you are and how you can support them
3. Know where else they can learn from you

 

Here are some of my personal examples:

• I share my Instagram handle in the bottom left corner of my Youtube videos.

 

• My instagram has a clear, optimized bio and content around similar topics (I’m always talking about mindset, digital products, building and monetizing an online coaching business) 
• If you were to “friend” me on facebook, you’d see a banner that encourages you to join my private FB group.  

 

 

You can see that I’m making it easy for people to find me and learn from me on multiple platforms!  Your job is to do the same.

 

Personal Branding Tip #4-

YOUR INFLUENCE - 

Your influence is the amount of authority you have online.  

This is referring to things like:

• Showing up on the first page of google, youtube and pinterest for certain keywords
• Increasing website visitors per month
• Consistently engaging your community of followers on social or in a FB group
• Nurturing your growing email list

 

You get this by creating opportunities for people to follow you, oftentimes through posting consistent, valuable content people that want to share.  And also by YOU sharing content everywhere. 

 

Here’s an example of a simple piece of sharable content that I use on Instagram and Pinterest. 

You’ll notice that the color choices are simple.  It’s not heavily branded and it doesn’t include images of me. 

 

People are sharing it BECAUSE it’s simple and has great content that they either relate to or think it could support their followers.

 

Once someone shares this content, my reach has just dramatically increased.  Oftentimes my follower count will increase, or I’ll get more views on my website (which includes a ton of testimonials), and I’ve even had people buy into digital products… All from one piece of content that got shared!

 

Personal Branding Tip #5-

YOUR CONTENT MARKETING FLOW 

By showing up in a variety of places online you’re making it that much easier for people to find you. I love using content marketing because there’s a lot you can do with organic strategies. 

 

Here’s what my weekly content marketing flow looks like:

1. I start with writing a youtube script based off keywords that I know my ideal clients are searching for.  
2. Then I film, edit and launch the video on youtube. 
3. During the video launch I’ll share that video on my personal FB page, Business FB page, private FB group, & IG.
4. The next day I’ll turn the youtube script into a blog and send out the newsletter to my email list.
5. Lastly, I’ll have my Pinterest Manager create pins for pinterest

 

 

With this strategy I’m getting that good SEO juice from youtube, google, and pinterest (which is going to work for me forever). And I’m also utilizing social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. 

 

Now, I know this can sound like a lot, especially if you’re just starting out! 

 

When I first started I focused solely on my blog and FB.  So my recommendation would be to start with ONE searchable platform like google, youtube or pinterest, and ONE social platform.  Then when you get into a flow you can expand!

 

Branding Tip #6-

YOUR OFFERS 

Be the brand that talks about their offers.

 

There’s a reason you’re branding yourself, and that reason is that you’re selling something! Make selling part of what people can expect from your brand.  

 

I see it a lot where coaches are scared to talk about what they’re offering because they don’t want to sound sales-y. But friend, NOT talking about your offer is doing a disservice to people! 

 

Your coaching offers have the potential to support others on a massive scale and help them get results fast, so tell people about them… often!

 

Your audience oftentimes has to see your offer at least 5 times on average before they will be inclined to take an action so the more you talk about it the better.

 

How you want to do this is up to you, but some places you can talk about your offer are:

• On your Instagram feed
• In Instagram stories
• On Facebook Live
• In Facebook Groups
• On your YouTube channel
• Through Pins on Pinterest
• On a Podcast

 

And it’s also important to mention that you need to know who you’re talking to!

 

Do you know who it is, specifically, that you’re talking to? Creating a detailed client avatar will help you create the kind of content that is speaking to the right people.

--> RELATED POST - Create Your Ideal Client Avatar in 5 Simple Steps.

 

Basically, by following these tips you’ll be able to build a personal brand that attracts your dream clients, and inspires major growth in your business. 

 

And if you want even more on this topic and are looking to join a free community of online coaches who are navigating this whole online coaching world just like you, I’ve created a Facebook group to help support your journey and connect you with likeminded people.  CLICK HERE to join it now!

 

Lastly, if this blog/video was just what you needed in your coaching business, please let me know by sharing it with your coach friends. 

Until next time, keep building your empire!

XO, KellyAnne

 

 

PIN FOR LATER