Personal Branding E-Kit

Now, before we dive deep into the art and techniques of how to win journalists, podcasters and influence their audiences, let me ask you this very important question.

How many of you agree with me that many of you are lacking of personal branding? Be it your company or even yourself? 

As you guys know, today is the era of personal branding. Each and everyone of us must regard ourselves as a brand and we should always strive to be known in the industry or our niche and sub-niches. Before building a startup or even your own company, it is important to create a brand for yourself and influence people with your thoughts. Becoming a thought leader or an influencer within your industry enables you to bring your business to the next level.

Whenever anybody hears about a company for the first time, one of the first few things people do is to search about the founders of the company. When they search your name on Google or Bing or Baidu, there should be sufficient data about you, such as newspaper or video interviews, to prove your identity and authority on the subject as an expert and an influencer. 

However, that wasn't the case when I first stepped into the world of branding and marketing. I was just this boy at the age of 22, who has no goals, no dreams and I was clueless of what branding is all about. I was always so astonished and fascinated about bigger players in the league who has been featured in every big media and getting themselves as the ambassador of big brands like Armani, Tissot and etc.

So I thought by joining an MLM company, I could learn a lot about sales and persuasion. Even perhaps mixing with the stars and getting the quick buck will be one of the 'rewards' that I will get after joining them. The thing was that I did learn them but I learnt it the HARD WAY. I was facing these problems which I believe some of you might be facing still.

I was having the problem of branding myself among all 'my colleagues' and getting influencers to 'buy' into my products and services. I was even told by some of 'my friends' that I should fake it till I make it and not show my true self at all because people will sabotage me and make use of me.

Guess what? Over the year plus in that company after listening to 'my friends', I only earned 10 bucks. Can you believe that? That's even worse than any other profession that's out there. What did I do wrong then?

First and foremost, I was very needy. I was in need of sales hence, I will always 'have the agenda' of just meeting my friends and try my best to close them. You know what? After doing that, some of my friends just decided to ignore me. Brutal? No. There's even worse. Some of them even unfriended me on social media and told some of our common friends not to respond to my messages.

Next, I even tried cold calling people especially influencers on social media. Did my technique work? Of course not. What I did was that I just used a set of template (huge chunk of words) and edit the names and just sent to them. No wonder I could only earn 10 bucks after a year plus in there and having to spend more than SGD1000 to be their 'member.'

Last but not least, I did not have a mentor or coach to show me the direction and guide me. I only listened to the uplines (whom I thought was very successful because of the exotic cars and lavish lifestyle that they have) and 'colleagues' who were working extremely hard in bringing more customers and 'members'.

So what should you do then? I believe in order not to earn 10 bucks year, you should K.I.C.K.A.S.S. instead of kissing ass. What does it mean? Well, it means that you have to be Knowledgeable in what you do, be Innovative, Collaborate with people, rather than competing with other people, be a Keen learner and also be Authentic whenever you deal with people especially when it comes to your staffs and customers. Not forgetting being shameless (which I will discuss in the next article) and solution focused are key to your success.

Get on social media, make relevant connections, be consistent and provide value. Contribute articles for prominent publications, go to meetups and speak in the industry events. Remember, lack of personal brand creates chaos around the credibility of your startup, and it takes more time than usual to build a brand. Hence, building your personal brand before going to start your company is essential.