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How to build a purposeful personal brand.
- Thread.
- Thread.
Before we get to the meat of this thread, thereâs a few misconceptions about personal brands Iâd like to clarify , a lot of people donât believe personal brands exists, some think itâs inauthentic and misleading, however at the heart of personal branding is narrative.
A narrative of a brand that isnât controlled by its owner will be told and controlled by others, in todayâs digital landscape thatâs a risk I believe no one should be taking.
So how do we define a personal brand? Throughout my years of being a designer and building strategies for clients thereâs two key elements that I always come across: Voice(messaging) & Tone. These two touch points that help define corporates and organisations also form part of
a personal brand. Every human being youâll meet will have a voice thatâs authentically theirs, this voice is recognized by the people they surround themselves with, however within their voice, there are many different layers which is their tone. Tone is essentially how you
Interact with all the humans you surround yourself with, so a brand that speaks to a child will have a different tone compared to one that speaks to an adult, and this is evident even within our personal spaces. The tone in which I use to communicate with my friends has
a different context & objective compared to when Iâm speaking to an elder where I might want to demonstrate say.. respect.
So your voice remains true to you but your tone changes based on time, purpose and audience.
Now, a personal brand is the touch point between perception & reality: A mistake a lot of people make when building a personal brand is completely focusing on perception. A brand that is only built on perception will not be sustainable and overtime become un-relatable.
Reality needs to constitute the other half of your personal brand, reality is authenticity, realty is you. Youâre at the heart of your personal brand, itâs led by your narrative, your voice and this needs to be connected to your personality, passions & interests.
This is where the humanisation part of your brand comes in, your personal brand needs to be emotive & not superficial. People buy into people first and then everything else theyâre selling.
So how do we go about actually designing a personal brand?
1. BE TRUE TO YOURSELF: Embrace who you are, your story, your process, your progress, your diversity, be vulnerable. As a Congolese born creative I was always afraid that no one would work with me or respect my ideas or work because Iâm not a native or speak the language.
Being able to fully embrace myself, while opening myself up to learn and grow has molded me into a multicultural creative with a very different perspective and only then did people know who I am. Your narrative is the fuel to your personal brand.
2. CREATE: Create work that matters, create value for your audience. A personal brand needs to curate great and relevant content. In 2018 I decided to start putting out threads on branding & design, by 2019 I had over 15 threads and had connected with thousands of people, some of
which are on a global scale & impacted them through my insights & work, so create with the intention to impact. Create with the intention to add value. Have a reason to speak. Have a reason to drive the conversation and dialogue.
3. NURTURE RELATIONSHIPS: Itâs not about how many people you know but who you know and how well you know them. Focus on building and nurturing the relationships around you: online and offline. Engage with your audience, share great content and advice, host the people you care
about. I personally host amazing creators and humans at the @subtlemeetup who are inside and outside my industry, nurturing relationship makes for easier financial transactions as well 
. My mentor always says business deals are signed over meals.
. My mentor always says business deals are signed over meals.
So now that youâve survived this super long but insightful thread on personal branding. I want you to think of 6 words that define you as a professional but also as a person. Write them down somewhere then live & build through them. Those are the foundations to y/ personal brand.
END.
