The Solopreneur – how to build your personal brand#DearTanya

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Tanya

Hello Tanya,

I just started my practice as a success coach and I am a bit confused – is it better to brand myself asa solopreneur or is better to create a brand which represents me? #DearTanya

Andrea Viczian, Success Coach

Hi Andrea,

Thank you so much for taking part in the #DearTanya blog feature. I chose your question because I know many ofour blog readers are solopreneurs and they might find this questions interesting.

Just to clarify – solopreneur = an entrepreneur who is running solo.

The predictable answer to your question (and the one you would hear from most marketing ‘gurus’) would be thisone – create a brand. The reason – when you create a name for yourself, you are the brand. If one day in the futureyou leave the industry, there is nothing you can leverage from. If you create a brand which you represent, you cansell the brand (as you have developed brand awareness) or you can merge the brand with another agency andleverage from that, too.

However, in industries such as consulting and coaching, creating a name for yourself is much more important thanthe brand name you represent because your clients will want to work with an established knowledgeable expert theycan trust. I suggest that you brand yourself as a solopreneur since you work in the coaching industry.

How to build your personal brandHow to build your personal brand Click To Tweet

Here are some tips which will help you develop your personal brand in the right direction:

1. Know your brand voice

What do you bring to the table? What are your core values? What should people expect from you? What are thethings you can teach someone to help them be successful?

The more you build on what you can bring to the table, the more people will believe that you are a knowledgeableexpert they can consider working with.

2. Keep your message simple

The coaching/mentoring industry can be tricky as mentors and coaches normally have so much information which

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they want to communicate at once. In reality, you need to keep your messages simple and consistent so people doremember you and what you stand for. Putting too many messages with conflicting ideas will only confuse yourprospect clients.

Putting too many messages with conflicting ideas will only confuse your prospect clients. Click To Tweet

3. Be authentic

Being authentic means allowing yourself to be who you are instead of pretending to be who your audience wants tosee. Say the things you believe in with confidence – this will make people feel like they know you on a personallevel. When someone feels like they know you on a personal level, they feel this connection which makes themcontact you and ask for your coaching services.

4. Know your audience

Having information about what your audience wants to know about you is essential because this is the first step ofcreating the interpersonal relationship which leads to a new customer.

Coaching is a very diverse industry which leaves you with a wide choice of topics to talk about. A good idea is to goon social media websites and ask your audience what they want you to talk about. Your tribe will feel acknowledgedwhile you find helpful topics to cover.

5. Be consistent

Be consistent with your message but also be consistent in terms of marketing yourself. Make sure you update socialmedia and your blog on regular basis so your audience knows when to expect new content from you.

Make sure you update social media and your blog on regular basis so your audience knows when to… Click ToTweet

The don’ts of personal branding

1.Don’t try to be too many things to too many different people

Choose your niche and stick with it otherwise you might come across as a jack of all trades, master of none. I knowwhen you want to attract new clients you feel like broadening your scope but my suggestion will be not to do that asyou may lose your credibility.

A common mistake with solopreneurs is that they brand themselves with so many titles. It is common forsolopreneurs (especially on Linkedin) to brand themselves with all these long ‘grand’ titles – An international author |An award winning consultant | An entrepreneur | A mentor | A wellness coach…This is a recipe for disaster as peoplewill most likely perceive you as someone who is not en expert but wants to appear as one.

2. Don’t try to copy your competitors, find your personal niche

Knowing what your competitors are doing is fine. As a success coach you are probably involved in social mediadiscussions on various topics. However, don’t try to copy what your competitors do. Instead, find your Unique Selling

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Points and try to communicate these to your potential customers. Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery butit will not communicate a genuine uniqueness which is what normally makes solopreneurs successful.

Here you have it – a guide on personal branding to help all solopreneurs out there.

I hope this was helpful. Don’t forget our feature #DearTanya is about your questions so please keep them coming.We had over 120 requests last month so please be patient with our replies.

Are you a solopreneur? What are your secrets to marketing yourself? Tell everyone in the comments section below.#DearTanya

Tanya

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