How to sell yourself? It’s that question – a little odd, perhaps? – that we are going to ask ourselves in this article. In the age of social networks and digital communication, where image reigns supreme in both the professional and personal spheres, personal marketing is becoming an essential discipline, especially in certain trades.
If you want to learn more about this personal image enhancement process, and you want to receive valuable tips for successful personal marketing, you’ve come to the right place. Do not hesitate to read the article to the end: we will give you the 4 key pillars for success in your personal marketing!
What is personal marketing?
First and foremost, a definition is needed. What is personal marketing?
Create a brand image
You may have heard of it as personal branding: literally, it’s making a brand of yourself, developing your image strategically. This is what we call, in common parlance, branding.
If the term personal branding was used for the first time in 1997, it is a concept as old as the world! This is what ancient philosophers already called ethos: building an image of oneself, in one’s speeches, and one’s behavior.
Today, personal marketing is truly part of our society, and it concerns every individual, not just the professional sphere. By taking care of our image, we develop our reputation in the sense that suits us, we create an image that we choose to send back.
Think about it: isn’t that what we do on social media every day? When you choose to post photos of your colorful plate full of veg and your workout, but you are careful not to share your burger and Netflix marathon from the night before, you are building a picture of yourself- same: that of a person who leads a healthy life. It is from the same idea that personal marketing works: the fact of building a personal brand image to highlight your professional activity.
Personal marketing: a professional tool
The example of social networks is one way of illustrating the principle of personal marketing. But it’s important to understand that over the past decades, the role of personal marketing has grown tremendously as digital communication has become the primary way businesses market themselves. At the same time, the world of entrepreneurship has witnessed an exponential growth in the number of self-employed businesses. Personal image has become closely linked to professional life. To sell, you have to know how to sell yourself.
Indeed, personal marketing has become a very useful, if not essential, tool when it comes to nurturing your professional reputation. A brand, or a company, if it is associated with a face, must be able to rely on what this face brings to it in terms of reputation.
For example, if you sell online training, it is essential that you put forward a personal image of a specialist, an expert in your field, and that you insist on the solidity of your knowledge. Another example, if what you sell is linked to ecology, you must at all costs show consistency between the guideline of your company and personal commitments that you take and display daily.
But, in the professional sphere, it is not only the self-employed who must sell their image, far from it! It is no longer a secret that a recruiter places a great deal of importance on personality when choosing between several candidates. Developing strong personal branding can also be a way to get your resume to the top of the pile!
In short, personal marketing is all about including your personal image in your business strategy. It is about adding value to his professional activity, by creating a brand image around himself. This image, to be effective, must be strong, authentic, and consistent. From a marketing perspective, it must allow your business to stand out from the competition, to stand out from the crowd, by associating your business with a face and a personality (and therefore something unique).
This will have, in the best case, two positive effects, or in any case two objectives to be achieved:
– Increase the visibility of your company with its targets;
– Increase your customers’ attachment to your business and generate a community effect.
Now that you understand what personal marketing is, and how it can be applied to your business strategy, let’s get to the heart of the matter: how to get the most out of your personal marketing strategy. ?
How to succeed in personal marketing?
Are you interested in personal marketing? Do you want to embark on the adventure and set up a brand image to associate your face and your personality with your professional life? It’s a very good idea. But for this to be effective, and not become counterproductive, you have to do successful personal marketing.
Rather than giving you a list of tips to apply, we invite you to organize your reflection around four words, which will correspond to the four pillars of the effective development of your personal branding: authenticity, lucidity, coherence, and network.
Authenticity
This first pillar answers the question: “Who am I?”
When an image is artificial or created from scratch, it shows. An image can be beautiful and eye-catching, but if it lacks depth and authenticity, it will fail to attract public sympathy. You need to be able to balance the two in your approach to your personal marketing.
Whatever platforms you communicate on (which must be adapted to your target and your activity), the image of yourself that you send must be faithful to who you are. Take the time to ask yourself who you are, and what you want for your business. What are your values, and the values you want to inject into your business or professional life? What are the things that are important to you? What aspects of your personality are the most essential in building your professional project? Authenticity, accompanied by certain transparency, is what will reach your prospects and retain your customers, more than an only apparent image.
Lucidity
This second pillar answers the question: “What can I do?”
You are who you are, with your strengths and weaknesses. It is very important to be aware of both. Take the time to identify your weaknesses and strengths. Once you are clear enough about your abilities, and what you bring, as a person, to your professional project, play your best cards. Showcase your skills.
It is from this work of taking a step back on yourself that you will be able to determine how to distinguish yourself from the competition: what do you have more than the competition? How can your brand image get you ahead of the competition? Play on your peculiarities.
Consistency
This third pillar answers the question: “ Why? ”
Why use personal marketing? If you think that developing your brand image and focusing on personal marketing can have a positive effect on your work, it is because you see consistency, a continuity between your person and your professional project.
How you will develop your brand image ( your personality and your values ) must be consistent with your professional project ( your objectives, your target, your corporate identity ).
You have to build a communication strategy around your identity and your personality that is coherent with your overall business strategy, and which brings something more to it.
Network
This last pillar answers the question: “ Who to reach? ”
You need to use your personal marketing to reach as many people as possible. Network as social networks, and network as a network of contacts.
You’ve probably already understood that developing personal marketing goes hand in hand with developing your social networks. Whatever platform you prefer, whatever your preferred network, social networks are the best way to build a lively and authentic image, while being close to your community of consumers, your customers, your prospects. , or even your partners.
Use personal marketing to build professional connections. Expand your network. Get in touch with the people who can help you. To do this, use the first three pillars: make yourself appreciated by being authentic, gain the trust of others by highlighting your skills, and being consistent.
Here! Arguably now you know the theory for successful personal marketing! If you always keep these four pillars of personal marketing in mind, you should be successful in building something effective. The most important thing is to always keep your goals in mind and to make sure that your goals are well aligned with your vision of your professional future. Be true to yourself and your goals.
Let’s close this article in style: let’s move from theory to practice, by giving you some tips on the little details to take care of for successful personal marketing!
4 ideas for successful personal marketing
Take care of your written communication
Spelling mistakes cannot be forgiven. Aside from stories and other types of oral communication where you will address your community directly by speaking, you will primarily communicate in writing. If you want to be taken seriously, and convey the image of an expert, it is important to think about taking care of your written expression (spelling, syntax, conjugation, precise and adapted vocabulary, etc.). If you know that spelling is one of your weak points, do not hesitate to use an online corrector: there are very effective ones!
Standardize your image on the different networks
Still, on the idea of consistency (our third pillar), make sure that the image you build on your different networks is uniform. For example, use the same profile photo on your different networks, or be faithful to a graphic charter, to consistent color codes… It is an effective way to anchor your image, with all that it conveys, in the minds of individuals who follow you on multiple networks at the same time.
Be consistent
Consistency is an effective way to establish yourself in the minds of your followers. Remind them of your existence regularly, don’t give them time to forget about you – without doing too much either, you have to know how to find the right balance!
Stay accessible
One of the biggest advantages of personal marketing is that it connects the human with the professional. You are a person, a human being. You need to use this indisputable truth to appear accessible to your prospects. For example, why not take advantage of your networks to show behind the scenes, and share the way you work daily?
You now have all the keys in hand to succeed in your personal marketing or personal branding. Good luck in the future!