How to Build a Personal Brand That Breaks Through the Digital Noise

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Why do most personal brands fail? It’s not, as you might assume, because the brand is not good enough, or because the person who runs it is not intelligent enough. Most personal brands fail because they get absorbed into the noise—the noise created by the industry, by their competitors and even the noise brands create for themselves.&nbsp;



The first and hardest battle for all entrepreneurs is building a unique brand that can break through the noise. Most brands struggle to be noticed and <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/5-instagrammers-who-are-crushing-the-personal-branding-game/">remembered in our overly saturated digital age</a>. But business leader and best-selling author Scott McCain explains that “mindshare precedes market share.” In other words, your brand must occupy space in someone’s mind before they will ever even consider taking out their wallet and buying your product or service.&nbsp;



So how does a personal brand break through the noise?&nbsp;



It is not just a random roll of the dice; there are straightforward tactical strategies you can use to stand out and become a leader in your field. Rory Vaden, serial eight-figure entrepreneur, New York Times best-selling author and co-founder of <a href="https://brandbuildersgroup.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Brand Builders Group</a>, outlines the step-by-step process required to create a remarkable personal brand worth talking about in his upcoming course, Building Your Brand Identity.&nbsp;



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He offers these tips for those trying to create a personal brand worth remembering.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-1-break-through-the-wall">1.Break through the wall.&nbsp;</h2>



In any industry there are two groups of people: the unknown beginners and the well-established leaders. What separates the two is an invisible wall that Vaden and his colleagues coined “Sheahan’s Wall.” Most fledgling personal brands try to break through the wall by throwing everything they have at it—a YouTube channel, a coaching business, an app, you name it. But “diluted focus yields diluted results,” and most of these brands bounce right off the wall.&nbsp;



What yields power is focus. The sun’s rays filtered through a magnifying glass create fire. In order to break through Sheahan’s wall, you need to find your magnifying glass.&nbsp;



<ul>
<li>What is the one small area you can become an expert on?&nbsp;</li>



<li>What specific problem can you solve for others?&nbsp;</li>
</ul>



Identify your niche and put in the work to become an expert in it. Once you do this, all the surrounding noise will dissipate, and finally, you see that a small opening in the wall has appeared—an opening that is ready and waiting for you to walk right through.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-2-find-your-uniqueness">2. Find your uniqueness.&nbsp;</h2>



Identifying your uniqueness as a brand is often easier said than done. Try approaching it from an extremely personal angle: “You are most powerfully positioned to serve the person you once were,” Vaden says.



Your uniqueness lives at the intersection of who you are called to be in the future and who you have been in the past.&nbsp;



<ul>
<li>If you could give yourself advice 10 years ago, what would you say?&nbsp;</li>



<li>How would you help that younger version of yourself become the person you are now?&nbsp;</li>



<li>How can you use what you’ve learned to guide others in a similar situation?&nbsp;</li>
</ul>



Use your answers to these questions to find your uniqueness.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-3-prioritize-your-reputation">3.Prioritize your reputation.&nbsp;</h2>



At the heart of your personal brand is your reputation. What comes to mind when people think of you? Are you proud of that image?



In his course, Vaden leads entrepreneurs through an exercise to help identify what they’d like the essence of their reputations to be, and how to go about building trust in that reputation with their audience.



In the age of social media, you can build trust with thousands, and even millions, of people around the world without ever actually meeting them. Use your social media presence to share your life and teach people what you’ve learned. If you show up honestly and regularly, your audience will, over time, learn to trust you and your brand.&nbsp;



Remember that <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-stay-true-to-your-personal-brand/">your personal brand is an extension of your reputation</a>, and the success of your brand hinges on the trust your audience has in the reputation you’ve cultivated. Focus on building a brand you can stand behind that honors your character and integrity.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-4-strategize-your-content">4.Strategize your content.</h2>



Often, entrepreneurs feel overwhelmed by the 24/7 nature of content creation, but you don’t need a huge production or a million followers to create great content—all you need is a little planning. You need to craft a killer content marketing strategy.&nbsp;



Not sure what to post? “Help, don’t sell,” Vaden says. <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/4-ways-storytelling-can-make-your-personal-brand-pop/">Commit to creating useful content</a> for your audience that adds tangible value to their lives.&nbsp;



Your content should center on the three E’s: is it entertaining, educational and/or encouraging? If it’s not, don’t post it.&nbsp;



Regular, useful content that teaches your audience is the best and fastest way to fuel your reach. One way to accomplish this is to automate your content to capitalize on your social media presence for maximum growth.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-5-monetize-your-brand">5. Monetize your brand.</h2>



You’ve identified your niche, grown your following and created a content marketing strategy, but how do you actually make a living off of your personal brand?



There are five ways to monetize your brand: the PAIDS.&nbsp;



<ul>
<li>Physical products</li>



<li>Ads and affiliates</li>



<li>Information products</li>



<li>Deals</li>



<li>Services&nbsp;</li>
</ul>



Each of these options has its strengths and weaknesses, but the key is to avoid diluting your focus by attempting all five at once. You need to act strategically when deciding which avenue to take and when to take it. For example, services like one-on-one coaching are often the fastest path to monetization but are also the least scalable. Third-party deals usually come later on in the life of a personal brand, but they are also of high monetary value.&nbsp;



In the beginning, focus on converting your followers into your first customers. Turn the reputation you have built into sales by leveraging social media relationships.&nbsp;



“The dollars are in the DMs,” Vaden says. Engage with your followers online and offer them free, useful content. In time, they will trust you so fully and find your content so useful that they will be excited to pay for access to more.&nbsp;



6.Commit to your calling.



What matters most when building a personal brand is that you put aside the workbooks, face your fears and take action. So many entrepreneurs are paralyzed by imposter syndrome. They think, I’m not smart enough, talented enough, or good enough. They feel afraid they won’t be successful, that their work won’t be valued and that all the strategies they’ve been taught won’t work. But they will; it just takes a little faith and a lot of time.&nbsp;



In his book, <a href="https://amzn.to/3jiuvBw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Take the Stairs</a>, Vaden writes that fear is ultimately a self-centered emotion. “You never feel fear when your mission to serve is clear.” Put aside your fears of inadequacy and focus on who you are serving. Commit to the calling you feel in your heart; there is someone out there who desperately needs your help, your message and your guidance.



You started your brand to change lives—not accrue a million Instagram followers or make $1 million. Even if you help just one person, your efforts will have been worth it.&nbsp;



Find your uniqueness, trust the process and focus on who you serve—people need to hear what you have to say.&nbsp;



Photo by @titovailona/Twenty20

It is not just a random roll of the dice; there are straightforward tactical strategies you can use to stand out and become a leader in your field.

It is not just a random roll of the dice; there are straightforward tactical strategies you can use to stand out and become a leader in your field. | SUCCESS

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Breaking Through Digital Noise: Building Your Personal Brand

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Brilliant Thoughts Episode 3: Inspiring People to Live Their Highest Vision with Jack Canfield & Patty Aubery

Business &amp; Branding

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Stay ahead in business: strategies and insights for success

Many entrepreneurs have great ideas, but how do they actually bring a great idea to fruition and then sustain it over time? In this episode of Brilliant Thoughts, Tristan Ahumada talks to Jack Canfield, co-author of <a href="https://amzn.to/3uvV7BH">Chicken Soup for the Soul</a>, and Patty Aubery, president of Canfield Training Group, about the lessons they’ve learned throughout their decade spanning business partnership.



<iframe src="https://omny.fm/shows/brilliant-thoughts-with-tristan-ahumada/inspiring-people-to-live-their-highest-vision-with/embed?style=artwork" width="100%" height="180" frameborder="0" title="Inspiring People to Live Their Highest Vision with Jack Canfield &amp; Patty Aubery"></iframe>



Jack and Patty first began working together when Patty responded to Jack’s advertisement for a secretary in the newspaper. Thirty years later, they have multiple billion-dollar companies, written New York Times best-selling books (such as <a href="https://amzn.to/3vOs24Q">The Success Principles</a> and <a href="https://amzn.to/33vDru4">Permission Granted</a>), and changed the lives of millions around the world with their training and coaching programs.&nbsp;



So what can today’s entrepreneurs learn from their journey? Read on for their top five tips to building a long-lasting and intentional business.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-1-understand-what-your-purpose-is">1. Understand what your purpose is.</h2>



Before embarking on your next idea, make sure you are clear on both what you want to achieve and why you want to achieve it.&nbsp;



Jack and Patty have always been united around a common purpose: “Inspiring and empowering people to live their highest vision.” Even as their businesses evolved, their purpose remained unwavering. Patty explains, “One of the things that's kept us together all these years is that we have the same why. What drives us, what gets us through, is purpose.”



A clear purpose will not only motivate you during the inevitably tough times but also inspire others to line up behind you and your business. As best-selling author and speaker Simon Sinek says in his now famous<a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action/transcript?language=en#:~:text=so%20he%20quit.-,People%20don't%20buy%20what%20you%20do%3B%20they%20buy%20why,who%20believe%20what%20you%20believe."> TED Talk</a>, “People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-2-hire-well-nbsp">2. Hire well.&nbsp;</h2>



What should you do when there are aspects of your business that don’t align with your purpose or your skill set? Patty’s answer is to hire well, adding, “I know what I’m good at, and I know what I’m not good at. So I try to surround myself with people who are really bright. I always try to be the least smart in the group.”&nbsp;



Although fledgling entrepreneurs may not be able to bring on full-time employees at first, there are ways to get creative—Patty offered to drive a marketing expert to and from the office every day in order to bring her on board when they were first starting out with the Chicken Soup for the Soul brand.&nbsp;



Ask yourself: which aspects of my business can I outsource in order to spend more time on the parts that align with my skills and my purpose?&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-3-go-where-no-one-else-is-nbsp">3. Go where no one else is.&nbsp;</h2>



When Jack published Chicken Soup for the Soul, M. Scott Peck, M.D. best-selling author of <a href="https://amzn.to/3y3bsjx">The Road Less Traveled</a>, instructed him to do three interviews a day for the first three years after the book was released. Jack and his co-author took that advice to heart; they spoke to any outlet or venue that would have them, sometimes doing as many as 10 interviews in one day.&nbsp;



“People can’t buy your book if they don’t know it exists,” he explains. Furthermore, Patty adds, in order to stand out you have to “go where no one else is.” She sold books at nail salons, grocery stores, and even out of the back of her car.&nbsp;



No matter what you are selling—books, products, or services—the same concept applies. Get creative; the more things you try the more likely it is that something will work. As Jack says, “You never know what will be your breakthrough.”&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-4-the-right-mindset-is-everything-nbsp">4. The right mindset is everything.&nbsp;</h2>



Jack emphasizes that “success is mindset plus skill set plus action… If you don’t have the proper mindset, you’re not going to take the proper action.”&nbsp;



We all have self-conscious limiting beliefs that play out in our mind: “I’m not smart enough,” or “Nobody will listen to my ideas.” We thwart our success with this negative self-talk, often without noticing we’re doing it.&nbsp;



In order to achieve our goals, we have to re-write the script. The next time you find yourself in a loop of negative self-talk, try replacing these limiting narratives with affirming ones.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-5-relationships-are-capital">5. Relationships are capital.</h2>



Every entrepreneur has heard the age-old adage, “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” However, in today’s fast-paced world, it can feel as though you are on an ever-spinning networking hamster wheel. Entrepreneurs are always off to the next conference, the next webinar or the next interview.&nbsp;



Patty reminds entrepreneurs that “relationships are capital.” She adds, “Pay attention to the people that are already in your community. Pay attention to the people that supported you from the very beginning, probably some even before you believed in yourself.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



Hop off the hamster wheel and take a moment to show appreciation for the people who have long been in your corner—it might surprise you to see just how much they needed to hear it.



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Brilliant Thoughts with Tristan Ahumada is no longer releasing new episodes on the SUCCESS Podcast Network, but you can still listen to the full conversation below.

Many entrepreneurs have great ideas, but how do they actually bring a great idea to fruition and then sustain it over time?In this episode of Brilliant

Many entrepreneurs have great ideas, but how do they actually bring a great idea to fruition and then sustain it over time?In this episode of Brilliant | SUCCESS

5 Tips for Building and Growing a Purpose-Driven Business

5 Tips for Building and Growing a Purpose-Driven Business | SUCCESS

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Grace Kennedy

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How to Build a Personal Brand That Breaks Through the Digital Noise

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