How to Create Your Personal Marketing The Right Way

Whether or not you have done something to build your personal marketing, your brand, or improve your online presence, it is not easy to reach the best of it. Unless you take control and make things the way you like them, third parties may not present you in the best way to other people’s eyes.

These days you can find out all you need to know about a person by doing a quick Google search and browsing through their profiles on social networks. It has become quite easy for recruiters to get extra information on job applicants with so much available online.

To start talking about improving your personal marketing, let’s first give you the meaning of it.

Here is what we will talk about in this article:

1. What is Personal Marketing?
2. What’s an Online Presence?
3. How To Write A Personal Marketing Plan?
4. How To Do Your Personal Marketing?

What is Personal Marketing?

Personal marketing is the process of building your image and brand. It’s the practice of marketing yourself and what you do (your business) so that you can gain respect, be noticed, and reach your specific goals in life.

Doing your personal marketing is similar to doing a company’s marketing. You will need to be in many channels, build credibility, an audience, and be respected in a niche before becoming known by a mass audience. For some, just being well known by a specific audience is more than enough.

Now let’s focus on the digital side of all this. The Internet is such a big part of our daily lives and business that online presence is more important than ever.

What’s an Online Presence?

Online presence is the group of identities you create and the relations you have established with them online. It can be a blog, your business page, or your profile. An online presence helps portray why you, your service, or your business are different from the others out there or why you and your website are worth the time of your users and readers.

Most people have remote teams, connect with influencers without ever meeting them in person, and build a name for themselves with every action they take online. By doing so, you’re preparing your personal marketing. So let’s make the most of that.

Here’s what you can do today to improve your personal marketing and start building your brand to be at the top of your game.

How To Write A Personal Marketing Plan?

Before starting to develop your personal marketing, it’s recommended that you write down a plan.

Your personal marketing plan, like a marketing plan, needs to have the following steps:

Define your Unique Selling Propositions

Are you a specialist in link building? Are you the best at building marketing funnels? A Unique Selling Proposition (USP) refers to what you have different from the others that will benefit your audience. Usually, to prove your point, you will have case studies to convince people.

Decide A Target Audience

If you create your personal marketing around Amazon, you have to define your audience with people and companies that sell their products on the Amazon Platform. If you are a specialist in Google Adwords, you need to focus on the PPC campaigns audience or just those searching for quick traffic growth.

Establish Your Goals and KPIs

Where do you want your personal brand to be in a certain period of time? Use SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, And Timely). We are not entering details about the SMART methodology, but check this article to learn more about it.

Create A Budget

Of course, there is a cost, especially initially, if you want to have your brand growing fast. There is a say that you have to spend 20% of your time creating content and 80% promoting it. So if you want your content to reach your audience, you will have to reserve a budget for it most of the time. Especially in current times, when social media giants are limiting your reach even more.

Define Your Marketing Promotion and Communication

Here is the time to decide where your budget will be invested. You will have to decide your media plan, creative, artwork, and USP to be communicated, among other important promotional factors.

Define Your Tasks and Timelines

Establish tasks to achieve short and long-term goals. This is time to put your to-do list of all tasks with a timeline to perform them. This way, you feel accomplished when you finish your tasks and achieve these small milestones.

Follow Up

If established your SMART goals, you have resources to follow up on the KPIs established. To follow up means to check on the KPIs and take action when needed.

How To Do Your Personal Marketing?

Here we will present twelve steps that will help you advance your personal marketing with practical examples. Without further ado, let’s get into them.

1) Start Looking At Yourself As A Brand

First and foremost, take things seriously. You won’t just build a site and leave it like that or follow some people on Twitter and wait for them to contact you. And keep in mind the fact that all this is a process.

Instead – just like with anything you want to achieve in life in the long-term – you’ll have to stay consistent. Personal marketing and networking should even be part of your daily work, especially if you have a digital business of some kind.

Understand that from the moment you go online, you’re creating a name for yourself. So make it positive, professional, and successful.

Brian Dean, from Backlinko, became well known by creating unique methodologies to improve SEO and by giving this away from the knowledge to other SEO marketers. It made him famous within the SEO community and helped him build his brand. He produced content for the influencers within his niche and made his name know between bloggers and marketers, who helped his name be known. Is there any better way to make a brand?

2) Build Your Blog

We just spoke about Brian Dean, who has his own blog and showed us that this is a clever way to build a brand within a community.

The truth is, your personal marketing won’t be effective if you don’t build an online place where you can show your expertise.

We recommend a blog just because you will own your audience and not a social media channel.

Neil Patel is another very well-known marketer who started his own blog, which has millions of visitors today. By having this popularity in the marketing community, he mentioned that he had received three digits job offers many times. But the thing is, he has a very successful marketing agency and keeps his personal marketing by having his own blog.

You can purchase a domain to a website in the style of yourfullname.com and optimize it to rank high on your niche keywords. When somebody searches the topics of your work, expertise, and even your name, you should be easily found.

With the number of internet users dramatically increasing by the day, your blog must stand out when somebody Googles your name.

Add up-to-date contact information on your sites so that you are reachable and share information related to your specialty and industry on a blog, website, or through your social pages. It lets potential employers know your stuff.

3) Establish Yourself As An Expert

By just talking about your passions or expertise, people can discover you and what you do.

You can try using alternate social media sites to do this too. They’ll get to know what you’re good at, and you’ll build up trust with your audience. If you have a low budget, try to avoid the monster sites like Facebook, which are crowded and losing their audience.

If you’re not the most excellent writer, it’s not the end of the world. If you’re not the most excellent writer, it’s not the end of the world. Establish a blog or use LinkedIn to talk about whatever your skillset allows you to talk about. Have another person, an employee, or spouse read it out loud to you so you’ll immediately hear the awkward parts. Practice being a copywriter.

4) Practice to Be a Great Copywriter

Most of the time, since you’re doing your work from your laptop, you don’t have many chances to present yourself personally to people. So it’s better to master the art of copywriting from the get-go.

You don’t have to be a writer or anything. But it would be best if you defined your strongest sides, what you want others to know about you, and your primary goals.

If you’re looking for a job using social media or connecting companies directly, you will have one email (or profile) to present yourself accordingly.

That means that you have to market yourself as the best person for a specific position in just a few sentences. Not an easy task.

So start reading about copywriting. It will help. And get clear about your strengths and weaknesses and what exactly you want to achieve.

5) Build Your Portfolio

If you’re a freelancer or anything else, actually, you can’t go without this one.

A decade ago, just a CV was enough. Not anymore. People want to see samples of your work and to see new stuff too. So the best portfolio you can offer is a site of your own. If you’re a writer, create a blog and update it frequently. That’s a must-do in your personal marketing strategy.

But even if you’re not, write about yourself. Use it as a diary to share things relevant to your field of expertise, and keep in mind that potential employers may read it.

Another part of your portfolio is past clients. Having the endorsement of your satisfied clients will be vital for your credibility and brand.

Also, with the high competition in the digital world, the best way to become known in your industry is by offering your services for free first.

Types of portfolios

Let’s give a quick explanation about the types of portfolios that you could create:

• Working portfolios: usually, it’s formed by your best case studies, where you can list your projects and work in progress. It represents a collection of your best jobs and what you brought of return on investment.
• Display portfolios: The display portfolio is a selected list of the best visual works. Those that make you proud. It’s recommended for specific situations when you need to be fast and straight to the point. Usually, it’s full of visuals to highlight your creative skills.
• Assessment portfolios: it’s recommended that students show the curriculum outcomes and demonstrate the master on a particular topic and knowledge. Not necessarily artistic or visual, since it depends on the career specialization.

So if you’re a designer or programmer, for example, find clients who don’t have a big budget or even those who do but who can also connect you with the right people once you do an excellent job for them to start building your display or working portfolios. And do your best. Then use this work to prove who you are and what you do when looking for clients who will pay.

We have listed you some of the best portfolio websites in 2020. If you are interested, find them here.

6) Be Active On Social Media Channels

Making your mark online requires creating a website and setting up profiles on popular networks like Facebook, Twitter, and, most important, LinkedIn.

Use the Internet to create awareness of your brand. Social Media is a great tool that helps you promote your business and generate interest from the public.

How do you create your audience’s awareness? Do you post content entirely related to your business? Do you like or respond to comments?

When establishing your brand online, remember to vary your content. Don’t post content that is all directly related to your product or company. Post content from other sources that are related to your niche to build credibility.

But you can break this rule by posting relevant but not related to your niche, such as holiday greetings for your fans. Remember to like the comments of your fans and interact with them because this leads us to.

If you want to be found, you need to set your social profiles (primarily LinkedIn) to public. Creating a private profile on LinkedIn will prevent you from coming up in search results. If you want users to discover you online, then be visible.

Create a profile everywhere and spare a few minutes daily to post an update (something inspirational, something you read that’s related to your field, or else). Social Media is one of the main ways to improve your personal marketing.

Build Up Your LinkedIn Profile

A LinkedIn profile is the equivalent of an online resume. According to a recent survey by OfficeTeam, a third of companies surveyed feel that profiles on social networks will eventually replace resumes.

Take advantage of LinkedIn’s features and make your profile pop by showing things you can’t have in a paper resume. Add videos and images of your work or links to a recent project you did. You can also link references for your work and accomplishments from your company site or a local newspaper.

You need to be present on several Social Media websites to improve your personal brand online. LinkedIn is the most known business-related social network, but you also have other kinds of targeted social networks for different needs.

Use Facebook

Using Facebook for your personal marketing plan is not just a good idea but essential for someone who wants more visibility for their product, service, or cause. Especially when you have your own business or when you are a freelancer or professional selling your services.

A solid Facebook marketing plan can help you attract followers and gain loyal customers. Aside from that, you won’t be wasting your time and money on traditional advertising. Your brand confidence can also improve, and you can establish authority in your niche.

But to show that you care, to stand out from the crowd and be taken seriously, invest some time and money into shooting professional photos, thinking of your descriptions, making a logo, adding a business email, automating what you can, and using tools to build a following.

Why is Facebook Unique In The World Of Personal Marketing?

Facebook is just a universe of people. The social platform has 200M businesses there! Last year, 2.74 billion people accessed social media at least once a month, and 1.82B accessed it daily.

Besides the impressive quantities on the social platform, Facebook is also an outstanding targeting tool. With Facebook ads, you can find the audience you are interested in reaching with your message. Besides the demographic information, such as age, income, or gender, you can reach people by their interests and preferences.

Also, the algorithm already optimizes your organic posts to reach interested people and engage with them. Although it also substantially limits your reach.

7) Focus on Personal Marketing Details

You take years to build a brand but minutes to lose it. If you heard this before, you know that details matter. Pay attention to details; they will pay off. Here we list just a few reminders, but you can think about many others yourself.

Keep Your Profiles Up To Date

LinkedIn is proving itself to be a cornerstone of recruiting strategies in the corporate world today. Whether or not you are looking for a job, you need to optimize and polish your LinkedIn profile. The same happens to any social network.

It represents your professional persona online, affecting business opportunities and career advancement openings alike. Always keep your profile updated with the latest experiences and achievements, and don’t be afraid to ask your contacts for endorsements and testimonials to give your profile that added edge. Good luck!

Create A Professional Profile Image

No matter the platform, profiles with photos get more clicks. According to research by LinkedIn, profiles with profile pictures are 14 times more likely to be viewed than others. So don’t hold back on uploading a professional-looking profile photo.

The best option is to get the photo taken by a professional. A cropped image from a group shot or a selfie from your phone isn’t going to make an excellent impression.

If you find hiring a photographer is expensive, then borrow a good quality camera from a friend and use the following tips to take a good photo yourself:

• Your face should take at least 60% of the frame. Job recruiters want to see what you look like, so crop the picture from the top of your shoulders to just above your head.
• It appears warm and friendly. Just don’t look like a creepy serial killer! Smiles always look good, but if you’re uncomfortable showing off your teeth, then a neutral expression will be exquisite.
• Select a photo that looks like you daily. Keep the glasses and put on the amount of makeup you usually wear day-to-day.
• Although not much of your outfit will be seen in the photo, pay attention to your clothes. Wear formal attire, which is work-appropriate, and prefer solid colors than prints; it looks better in pictures.
• Choose a neutral background, which isn’t distracting. After all, you want your face to be the focal point.

Use a Professional Sounding Email Address

Drop the funky email address you made in high school and create a professional email, incorporating all or parts of your full name.

Sticking with [email protected] will not impress potential employers and only give an immature impression to those dealing with you.

8) Cultivate Relationships

Social is spelled as relationships. With social media, you’re not only building authority, but you’re also creating and cultivating relationships.

Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn are excellent venues for that. How do you cultivate relationships? It can be as simple as liking or commenting on your fans’ posts or replying to their comments. But don’t just say, “Great post!” Expound what they said about it.

Interact with them, laugh with them. React in the way humans would. When you do this, you’re adding more value to their comments. You’re adding more value to fans. With Facebook, you can further extend your relationship with your customer and your personal marketing plan.

9) Attend Your Followers Needs

Big brands such as Starbucks, Air Asia, and Walmart use Facebook for customer support. These brands understand the value of social media when it comes to customer service. And you should too; this good practice will undoubtedly improve your professional reputation or your small business image.

How you respond to your client’s needs through social media will make or break your business. Especially now that words spread quicker than you ever imagine. Through your Facebook page, answer customer inquiries and complaints and solve their problems right then and there.

Here’s an excellent tip for you: respond within 24 hours and keep a super friendly tone when you do it.

10) Use Word of Mouth as a Personal Marketing Tactic

Great conversations on social media are key to free publicity, which spreads like wildfire. A few bad experiences can ruin your reputation. So, how do you increase your reach on a positive note? We’ve mentioned strategies that you can use earlier. But to recap, share content that your audience would love, engage with them, and look after their needs.

Besides social media, another way to get word of mouth to work for your personal marketing is giving speeches.

The bottom line is providing high-quality information that will add value to your audience; share with them what they want.

11) Boost Your Posts

Social media is a cost-effecting marketing solution for your personal brand. Compared to other forms of advertising, it is cheaper and more targeted. You’d be surprised how far a budget of $1000 a month can stretch.

With this amount, you can typically achieve more than 100,000 targeted impressions. Unlike in local publications, you would be paying more for a less targeted audience.

If you wrote an excellent article and want the content to spread, why not investing a little money to increase your reach? The current social media platforms allow you to target the people who want to buy your product, avail of your service, or help you with your cause.

With all of the target audience information available, you can reach almost anyone, anywhere, anytime.

In traditional media, paid advertisements in print or broadcast, the communication is one-way. You pay for your ad to be run by media outlets then your target audience consumes it. And it usually ends there. You sent your message, and hopefully, your target audience received it.

But with social media, you can run paid ads and still engage with them. You can further improve your engagement. We discussed the importance of engaging with your fans earlier.

In conclusion, think about boost some of your best content when planning your personal marketing plan. With social media marketing, you’ll be able to gain loyal fans and customers. Big brands or small brands are using Facebook to increase their sales and profit. And so should you.

In Conclusion

If you’re in the job market and looking to impress potential employers or clients, polishing your online persona should be a cornerstone of your job search strategy.

There are a couple of effective ways to boost your personal marketing and catch the attention of prospective companies looking to fill a vacancy.

The article approached several ways about how you build a personal brand. Start doing it today and take a small action every next day so that you can see results.

Once you’ve created a name for yourself out there, people will start contacting you personally, and opportunities will come from everywhere. What do you think? What else can you do to improve your brand?