All too often the word ‘brand’ is only associated with big, established companies or particular types of businesses and industries, when branding is an essential key to success no matter how big (or small) your business is.

We explore why even as a solo-flying freelancer, it’s important to build and maintain a strong personal brand.

What is a personal brand?

Your personal brand is essentially your business’s personality and identity. It’s rather like the way you choose what to wear, speak, and conduct yourself in order to convey a particular image to the world.

Much like with regular business branding, a personal brand is the culmination of your unique selling point (USP), your values, and your position in your market.

It’s all about constructing and communicating how you want to be perceived by your customers, competitors, and business partners.

Why is having a personal brand important for my freelance business?

You can start and run a freelance business without first establishing a personal brand, but there are a whole host of ways in which personal branding can boost your success. As a freelancer, you are the business, which is why perfecting your personal brand is so important.

According to a report published by LinkedIn on the value of personal brands, 70% of hiring managers agreed that a solid personal brand is more critical than any CV.

Passive promotion

As a freelancer, you don’t have the luxury of a dedicated sales and marketing team working away in the background to drum up business.

While you’re servicing clients and doing all the other things freelancers do, your personal brand can act as a way to promote your business through things like your website, social media platforms and ads.

In other words, your brand can speak for you about who you are, what you do, and who you work with – at least until you’re available to elaborate in conversation.

A competitive edge

Your personal brand is what is going to help you stand out from the crowd in your competitive landscape.

Even if you offer exactly the same services as somebody else for pretty much the same prices, your brand can be the deciding factor for a new customer choosing you over them.

If you have a strong, memorable brand that resonates with the customer, but your competitor doesn’t, the customer will more than likely spend their cash with you.

That’s why, when building your personal brand, it’s essential to check out your competition. Figure out what you do and don’t like about their brand and then use that to gauge how you can differentiate yourself.

Reaching the right people

A strategic and well-executed personal brand will ensure you’re reaching the right customers and making the desired connections.

For example, if you’re an alternative wedding photographer who specialises in a quirky aesthetic, your branding will tell couples looking for a photographer if they’re in the right place or not.

Your personal brand will also help ensure that you’re working with the right business partners and investors for you.

Plus, if you ever get to a point where you need to hire employees, your personal brand will help you connect with the right kinds of people in that sense too.

A stronger reputation

A personal brand will make you more recognisable and memorable and according to the same LinkedIn study, 92% of customers have a desire for relatability when it comes to the brands they align with.

A strong personal brand will also boost your reputation and credibility. People can be guilty of thinking that you’re ‘just a freelancer’ but a clear and consistent brand can enhance how professional and trustworthy you are perceived to be.

How do you build a personal brand?

A key thing to remember when building your personal brand is that it needs to be something that can be translated into lots of different formats. This includes digital, print, moving image, static image, small business cards, large posters, written word, scripts – the list goes on.

Where branding is concerned, consistency really is key.

Another super important thing to realise is that branding goes way beyond the name of your business and the colours in your logo.

Sure, those things matter but for a personal brand to be built on solid foundations, you also need to go deeper and consider things like your goals and your business mission too. This will help you tell your full story and produce the authenticity and relatability that customers are looking for these days.

What components do I need to build a personal brand?

Below are the most significant pieces of the personal brand puzzle that you’ll need to consider.

Your USP

What makes you different from everybody else in your industry, and why? This is the first question you need to answer before crafting your personal brand. The answer will help everything else fall into place.

Find the reason(s) that somebody should choose you over any of your competitors and then devise a way to reflect this in how you portray your business to the world.

Brand values

Brand values are guiding principles that influence everything else you do, from how you communicate to customers and how you present in public speaking, to the quality of service you provide and your marketing approach.

Think of them as your core beliefs and refine them into three or four pillars. You can share these in your brand guidelines, but you could also consider communicating them publicly as part of your pitch for work, or on a website.

Examples of brand values from some big names you might recognise:

• Nike: Empowerment, performance, and inspiration.
• Patagonia: Environmental responsibility, sustainability, and social justice.
• Coca-Cola: Happiness, optimism, and shared experiences.
• Apple: Innovation, simplicity, and elegance.

A consistent tone of voice (TOV)

A brand tone of voice describes the way in which you communicate, whether it’s written, spoken, or copy-led visuals. Your TOV encompasses:

• Language (the words you choose)
• Communication style
• Emotional tone

Below are some examples of brand TOVs that demonstrate how voice and tone can differ depending on the business and its product, values, market position, etc.

• Nike – The way Nike communicates is inspirational, motivational, and empowering. You’ll notice it uses short, punchy sentences to encourage action.
• IKEA – IKEA’s language is always simple, straightforward, and practical. This is to reflect its mission to make life as simple and helpful as possible through easy-to-build, everyday products.
• Mailchimp – Mailchimp uses laidback language with a casual tone and hints of humour, which helps the brand make complex marketing tools feel more accessible and user-friendly.

A clear visual identity

As well as what your brand stands for (your values) and sounds like (your tone of voice), it’s also important to consider how it looks. This is known as your personal brand’s visual identity and includes things like your logo, your colour palette, the type of imagery you use, etc.

Just like your TOV, you need to ensure that your visual identity is clear and consistent whenever you’re communicating with customers so that your brand is recognisable and familiar.

Do I need to hire a professional brand expert?

No, you absolutely don’t need to hire a professional to build a personal brand. If you’ve got the skills and the desire to do it yourself, go for it. But if you do have the budget then getting an expert to help could boost things to a whole new level.

Either way, the great thing about building a personal brand is that you’re in full control and you can exercise complete artistic license.
 
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