What Is A Personal Brand & Why Is It Important?
You keep hearing that you need a strong personal brand—but what does that even mean?! 🤯 Don't worry, it's really not that complicated. We're here to clear things up and fill you in on what a personal brand is, why it matters, and how it's different from personal branding.
What is a personal brand?
Your personal brand is the impression people get from you—your personality, values, style, and expertise all wrapped up. It’s shaped by how you show up, both online and IRL.
What's the difference between a personal brand and personal branding?
The shortest answer? Your personal brand is the result of your personal branding efforts.
Some say your personal brand exists whether you shape it or not—because like it or not, people will form an impression of you based on what they see online and in person.
Personal branding is when you decide to take your image into your own hands and shape it yourself. Instead of leaving it up to chance, you get intentional about how you show up, so you can refine and promote who you are and what you stand for.
It's all about showing that you're more than just your title and achievements.
Why should you care about your personal brand?
Your personal brand is an essential part of marketing yourself.
When a client’s choosing between freelancers with top-tier track records, what's gonna make them pick you? At the end of the day, they’re hiring a person, not just a resume—so your personality, values, and the way you make them feel can sway their choice.
That’s where your personal brand does the talking.
And even if you're a creative working in-house, having a strong personal brand can give you the little confidence boost you didn't know you needed. And who knows, maybe also the reputational edge you need for a promotion.
What are the parts of your personal brand?
Your personal brand's built from two halves: your visuals and your brand character.
Your visuals include everything you can see: your logo, colors, fonts, and design style. It can be sleek, modern, and monochrome, elaborate, pastel, and quirky, or anything in-between.
Your brand character is the harder-to-grasp part:
- your brand personality traits,
- your tone of voice,
- and your USP.
How do I find my personal brand?
You could pay hundreds of dollars to a consultant to create your branding for you, or waste hours and go down the YouTube rabbit hole full of self-proclaimed branding gurus to try to learn how to do it yourself.
Or you could turn to your online branding coach, Brandi, who's available for you for free 24/7. Brandi lives inside Copyfolio and will ask you some questions about you, your work, and your goals.
The more you chat with her, the more you can unlock: she'll summarize and save a description of your brand personality, tone of voice, and unique selling point for you.
Once you've got it all figured out, you can keep chatting and ask for help to make your tagline, client pitch, or anything else on-brand for you.
Just create a free Copyfolio account, and you can start chatting with Brandi right away. And if you happen to need a website or portfolio to boost your online presence, that'll be right at your fingertips too.
