Personal Branding was the reason why I got started online and, in fact, I have talked a lot about it from time to time in my blog posts.
Some of you have asked if personal branding has tangible rewards, and if somebody can make money through it. Well, I am here to tell you that, in most cases, you will not make any money to personal branding in the short-term.
However, the long-term rewards of personal branding are tremendous and you can benefit from this phenomena in more than one way.
Here are some of the ways I have personally benefitted or I have seen other people benefit in their careers through personal branding:
1. Employment Through Personal Branding
Technically speaking, your resume is also your brand statement. When you upload that resume on a job portal and open it up for potential employers to view, in a traditional way, it is your personal brand that you are exposing to the world.
But, if you take your personal branding a little more seriously, the rewards can be spectacular.
Your resume is not trusted as it once was because of so many people abusing it. Every resume today is seen with skepticism. Every employer asks for references for verification of your skills; since they are not sure if your resume fully states your skills and your experience.
People who have a solid personal brand established on the Internet, do not need a resume to market themselves. In fact, opportunities come to them, employers come to them and offers come to them. I remember checking on the Internet (along with my manager,) on the candidates who I was going to interview and interviewing only those whose web presence indicated mastery of their skills.
Personal branding will work for you in the employment field if you work it the right way. If not, your resume is the only thing you have.
2. Landing Clients Through Personal Branding
When I started working on my personal branding, I had no idea if I was going to start a business or if I would continue to look for jobs like many other IT professionals.
Eventually, I started Krishna World Wide and then started offering web development services, social media marketing services and also fully managed premium WordPress hosting service.
As a matter of fact, most of my clients came to me because of my personal branding. I always remember these words from bestselling author, Bob Burg:
All things being equal, people do business with and refer business to those they know, like and trust.
Personal branding helps create a sense of knowing because they see me and my posts all over the web, it also tells them that I know what I’m talking about and therefore, when I undertake something, I have the ability to deliver.
Nobody likes to do business with those they don’t like. My clients come to me because they like my work and what I share through my personal brand. They find a connection and therefore they feel comfortable doing business with me.
Speaking of trust, it is built over time. People will trust you after they begin liking you. Your personal brand will help you create an aura around your name that fosters trust.
3. Making Money Through Affiliate Promotions
I still remember purchasing the book, “Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World” just because it was an email from John Maxwell that promoted the book. If I didn’t know about the personal brand of John Maxwell, I wouldn’t have even bought the book since I had no knowledge of Michael Hyatt.
If you have a strong personal brand, which takes time and effort in building, your voice has a value. When you promote something, people go for it. The bigger your brand value, the bigger the money.
4. Speaking Engagements Through Personal Branding
If you are a good public speaker and you look forward to paid speaking engagements, your personal branding goes a long way.
The better your personal brand value, the better your audience responds to you and the more money you make which, in turn, also expands your brand value further. It is very important to capitalize on these opportunities to make money while expanding your personal brand.
On the other hand, I have seen good public speakers who really have the ability to inspire an audience and move them to action. But they starve for engagement because their personal branding is so poor that they have nothing to show for. The only people they do business with are those who personally happen to know them.
5. Attracting Investors Through Personal Branding
There was a time when I had to fund everything from my pocket because I did not know who to turn to if I needed some financial help. I funded all my projects, did everything myself, kept doing it and made no money.
Today, I don’t have that problem anymore. Today, people approach me to invest in my business, to partner with me in new ventures and they’re willing to invest money.
When I look back just three years ago, I didn’t have anybody who was willing to put money into any project of mine because my brand value was in that strong at that time.
You build a personal brand identity, you stay consistent and persistent and you will reap tremendous benefits of your work down the line.
If you already have built your personal brand, I am sure you are already reaping some of these benefits and you can probably add some testimonials through your comments 🙂
Conclusion
Yes, it is true that you will not make money while you are doing personal branding. How long it will take for you to build your brand value really depends on your work ethic and the market in which you are establishing yourself.
However, once you establish your brand identity, the possibilities are endless. By branding yourself you can make money in more ways than any of us can probably imagine.
Your Turn Now, Share Your Thoughts
What comes to your mind when you think of personal branding? What are you doing for your personal branding and if you already have established your brand identity, would you like to share some tips to help my other readers learn from you?
Kindly share your thoughts through your comments below. Thank you kindly!
Dear Mr. Kumar,
Well Written Post, Indeed.
Today, I have WHATEVER the confidence in business, its only because of my personal branding. I have learned so many important stuffs which are very require tools when we talk about personal branding like social media, personal website and real content.
Thanks for wonderful post.
Warm Regards,
Rishabh Gupta
Awesome Rishabh! I know you have been working hard and that’s the reason your business is taking off!
I feel confident working with you because I have that same feeling of knowing, liking and trusting you and your team.
Keep up your good work!
Regards,
Kumar
Hi Kumar,
I have received more mileage from personal branding than any thing else. I do think it is the most important aspect of our business.
I see too many people branding affiliates. So what happens to them? They probably are not going to stay with that company forever or they will pick up some more affiliate products to promote. But who are they? What can they offer us besides a company sales page?
Even if one is an affiliate marketer, they need to brand themselves. It could be any thing like an ebook or a digital product to introduce what they are doing. “I will help you….” That’s a brand, the know like and trust factor comes in there.
What I think the best thing to do to brand oneself is to create a product. It doesn’t have to be a huge investment of time. A free ebook can do well. As long as one over delivers, people will recognize that person as some kind of authority. This is where branding comes in.
Also, while branding, it goes beyond our blogs and into the social media platform. Everything we say there must be said properly from our personal brand in mind. I even can comment on a cute little dog, but in such a way where I’m friendly and positive.
The objective of personal branding is to be seen by others as the go-to person of the brand. It is just like when I think Kumar I think Krishna Hosting. You have done a great job with that one!
Have a great week ahead,
-Donna
Vary valuable comment Donna. I totally agree when you say that even affiliate marketers need to have their own brand. Otherwise the question comes, “Who is promoting?”
Again, you already said it. Personal branding isn’t just about having a website or a blog. It’s about creating that buzz around your name, creating that trust factor, having a few people who can testify, promote you. That is a big deal for sure.
Thanks for your appreciation of my hosting company. You always have been a great supporter! My goal is to live upto that expectation.
Warm Regards,
Kumar
Hello Kumar, Personal Branding Oh Yeh I have found out you will not go far in this business without it. The first 14 months of my online journey was promoting my company’s affiliate link. Yeppers I was branding them. I do know now that this was not such a great move.
Nope it didn’t get me very far either. Now this is what I teach others not to do LOL
The only way you will succeed in this business or should I say any business really is to BRAND YOU! You are so right people do not join your business, they join you..
Awesome post my friend. Thanks for sharing… Chery :))
Hi Cherry,
Yes, people don’t join your business, they join you if you are talking about network marketing opportunity. People like to work with people they like, know and trust. It is specially way more important in network marketing line of business.
It’s all about relationship building and if you have a solid personal brand identity, it becomes even much more easier to build that relationship.
I am glad that you have finally started focusing on brand YOU and that it’s working for you. Way to go!
Regards,
Kumar
Hi Kumar,
I’s true that “Nobody likes to do business with those they don’t like”. However…
Maybe you’ll remember my article “Do People Really Buy From Sellers They Know and Trust?” I wanted to link to it in the sig line, but the article isn’t one of my latest 10 blog posts. Anyway, the point is that it is also true that tons of people buy from strangers. (There’s a difference between not liking someone and not knowing someone)
And the third truth is that a good branding strategy will help you a lot to make money. Sometimes branding helps too much LOL There are many garbage physical or digital products sold by brands or famous IMers – they were sold due to branding & previous successes 😉 So, yes, definitely branding makes you money, I agree with you.
Hi Adrian,
I just hyperlinked your post in your comment because it has a good perspective of and I wanted my readers to go to that link if this would desire.
However, liking and trusting a service provider is not necessarily a function of relationship building and engaging with prospects on social media or using any other way. As far as I see it, yes, we buy from strangers. However, we do not buy from strangers we don’t like or have a feeling of trust (if not exactly trust).
Yes, spam exists because it works. However, if we look at the spam which works, it really has a solid value proposition with a solid branding, testimonials and all other stuff to add credibility to the person or the company who send their spam.
Personal branding even helps people who do Internet marketing using the spammy methods and that is what my point is. I am not a big fan of relationship building with everybody because I do understand it’s a lot of work with very little return.
On the other hand, personal branding requires us to have at least 5 to 10 solid relationships with people with a solid brand identity because those relationships add credibility to our personal branding and helps us expand it further.
Thank you for dropping by and adding an interesting perspective to the post. You have a wonderful rest of this week!
Regards,
Kumar
Thank you for adding the link, Kumar. It busts myths like the one mentioned by Sylviane, “if one doesn’t know how or refuse to work on personal branding, they are bound to fail.”
While I disagree with such myths like the one above and I’m not very sure that I agree 100% with your spam-branding point of view, what I want to emphasize is that if some people can succeed without any personal branding, then personal branding could get you a way much bigger potential gain. Why is that? It’s simple math. Branding gives you access to more categories of buyers. [Please note “could/potential” – there’s nothing sure in this world, other than taxes and death LOL]
Agreed! It isn’t true that people who don’t pay attention to personal branding are bound to fail. Personal branding is not a requirement for being successful. It is just another tool to expedite the process and help everything else.
I didn’t notice that statement from Sylviane until you pointed out 🙂 you have a keen set of eyes 🙂
Thanks for pointing that out!
Regards,
Kumar
Hello Mr. Kumar
This post inspires me to continue to promote who I AM along with my coaching business.
You are a awesome example of a person that it diligent in your business and it’s paying off.
I am so glad that your company Krishna World Wide Team is servicing my blog. Thank you
Gladys
Thank you MS Gladys for your kind words of appreciation. I feel privileged to serve you and I am so happy to know that you are happy as a customer.
Personal branding, as you and I have discussed many many times, definitely adds tremendous value to our businesses and am so glad to know that you are making it happen to your persistence and consistency.
Thank you for being a great example and to have a wonderful rest of the week!
Regards,
Kumar
Hi Kumar,
Personal branding is very important, indeed. As a matter of fact, if one doesn’t know how or refuse to work on personal branding, they are bound to fail. I’ve seen that happened before my very eyes.
Anyone would rather do business with someone they know and like than anyone else, that’s just the way it is and that’s why building those bridges (relationships) is so important.
No matter what we do or sales online these days, we need to invest some time in personal branding.
Thanks for bringing out this very important point.
Hi Sylviane,
Thank you for stopping by and adding value to this discussion and sharing your experience with us.
It is true that a lot of people do not understand the real power of personal branding and that is why some people do it for some time and then either they give up or just get distracted. In return, can ever make it to the level they want.
I have seen people who get all fired up about personal branding and they give it all the have got for a few weeks or months. And then, something happens and they either slow down or completely give up thinking that it is not generating cash flow for them. Sad.
On the other hand, I also know people who kept on keeping on for maybe a year or two or three and then, eventually, their businesses exploded because their personal branding value was so big that your products just took off.
Thank you again and you have a wonderful rest of the week.
Regards,
Kumar
Great post! It is great information. This is the most effective way to learn and know that you can make money through personal branding. These ways is very helpful and useful using personal branding. I will definitely share this article to my friends. I learned and many great insights here. Thanks for sharing this article.
Hello Kumar,
Welcome back. I do sincerely hope what took your time was done perfectly?
Personal branding has numerous benefits – which you have exhaustively discussed. Once the world has placed a premium on you (because of what you stand for), your mere presence makes money.
Not just money – tons of it!
Here in Nigeria, actresses, musicians and actors are paid up to a million dollars to be brand ambassadors. And you know what they do?
Nothing! The power of branding you’d be correct to call it.
Be all means, do have a very great day!
Always,
Terungwa
I agree with this Kumar. I always give more emphasize on personal branding than business branding. If your personal branding is solid, any kind of business you will begin, that has greater chance to go hit.
Also, if you personal branding online or offline is good you can get good job offers as you stated in the articles. I have got benefited many times because of personal branding even it is not that strong but it worked many times.
Hey Kumar,
I learned this pretty early on that if you want to build a business online then you have to brand you. You really don’t want to be known for the product or service that you promote unless it’s your own.
I agree that your brand is like your online resume. Anything though can be doctored I’m afraid but when other people are saying things about you that’s a little harder to ignore. There are a lot of really yucky products out there today being sold all because of someone who is well known in the industry. But at the end of the day they have to live with themselves for promoting such junk and in my eyes, that’s seriously hurting their brand.
I’ve gotten clients as well because of my brand and what people have said about me and I’m not surprised at all that your business is growing because of the people that you know and are servicing as clients.
I can only seeing it growing from here too.
Great post and thanks for reminding us all how this is done. This is our reputation that we all need to uphold which is why we need to always do the right thing.
Hope you’re enjoying your week.
~Adrienne
Hey Kumar,
I heard the saying that it’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know. But in this case, it’s about who knows you well enough to do business with you. Personal branding goes a long way if you really want to establish yourself and start attracting money.
If Michael Jordan were to start up an ice cream parlour and I myself started one a couple of blocks down the street from his, then who’s going to get the most business. Me of course j/k LOL.. nah but everyone knows Michael Jordan and his personal brand would be the reason why my business would probably not last too long.
Building your personal brand tied with relationship building lays out the foundation of your business. If this foundation isn’t strong, then all other strategies, products, services, etc won’t matter too much.
Thanks for the share! I hope you have a great rest of the week!
Hi Kumar ,
i m first time visit your blog Great post! It is great information. This is the most effective way to learn and know that you can make money through personal branding. These ways is very helpful and useful using personal branding. I will definitely share this article to my friends. I learned and many great insights here. Thanks for sharing this article.
Hi Gauraw,
Wonderful post again. I love to read your posts towards personal branding. I am still trying to build my personal brand more better. And your article would help me to improve a lot.
I liked and agree with your all 5 points specially “Landing Clients Through Personal Branding” and “Attracting Investors Through Personal Branding”.
Blogging helps a lot to establish personal brand. I am in the way to setup my personal brand and hope will success soon and would start landing clients through my personal brand.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful tips and your past experiences with us. Have an enjoyable week ahead!
Hi Kumar, I really need to work on branding myself more. I preach about the 80/20 rule but I think I practice the 90/10 rule 🙂 I’m always afraid to push too much out. I know a few bloggers who do that and I find it a real turn-OFF. I’m going to have to analyze it more in the coming months.
I find it’s great for employment or if you are looking for a new job. What better way to show what you know than via your blog? I’ve learned so much from it myself over the years. I think you can also make money with it via sponsorships as people get to know you more and trust you more.
Thanks for the tips too Kumar, enjoy your weekend!
Mr. Kumar
First of all I would like to thank you for this amazing helpful post, you have really helped me a lot to understand the worth of self branding, which I never took seriously till date, all because of your shared words about the importance as well as management of your self brand image…
will thank you again for the post and will wait for next rewarding post from your side till then take care sir!!!
Thanks and regards
Hi Kumar,
I’m sorry I’m late to the party, but better late than never. Just been SO involved in the new blog community and forum at my blog 🙂
I believe in personal branding, though it is something that I didn’t go for fully. But I guess once you become successful, you by default and automatically create your personal branding. People know you by your name, you become a synonym of something, for eg. blogging or commenting, your name is enough for people to trust and follow you, and you’re seen as an authority.
When you gain the attention, admiration, respect, and loyalty of others, it becomes easy for you to use your influence and make money if you want to. However, I agree with you that this doesn’t happen in short-term.
I liked the way you’ve pointed out the importance of personal branding in employment – so true that your personal branding can speak for itself and get you a job!
Now that I’ve started a community over at my blog, people are coming to me because they know me and they closely associate me with blogging and relationship building. (I haven’t yet publicized or invited anyone as yet, but they are joining because they believe and trust!) So, it’s easier for me to build and expand the community. I know that if I hadn’t had the advantage of personal branding, building such a engaging community would have been difficult.
I may not have made good money with my personal branding because that wasn’t my aim earlier, but I totally agree with you that once you attain a brand value, the possibilities are endless.
Thank you for such a useful and thought provoking post. Happy weekend 🙂
Hi Kumar,
Make money through personal branding is not easy, specially for newbie who wants make money online.
You mention here some great points and find some new idea here.
I already make some money from online through Affiliate Marketing. I promote products from Amazon using my blog. Hope your idea will help me to increase my affiliate earnings.
i think personal branding is the way through which you reach to several people and of course to your clients..but personal branding should be done in a effective way so that whoever see it can’t resist himself from that stuff that you want to show or share.
Hi Kumar,
Good to see you back. 🙂
It seems lately, I’ve been reading blogs about personal branding more and more. As it becomes evident that it is not as simple as it seems and it requires all the right ingredients, many of them coming to me now.
Every time I learn something new I make an adjustment to my personal branding and pretty much figured out lately that I have not quite figured it out. But I got it now and am working on a strategy.
Personal branding is critical to online marketing and this is a good article for newbies and oldies alike.
Thanks for the info.
Regards,
Barbara
Hi Kumar,
I will say personal branding is a very good way to make money. Make yourself a sell-able brand is a good way to get advertisers as well as connect well with others,when anyone wants to connect with you and see you as a brand icon, you can easily be trusted and Jobs can be offered to you as well with fear. I started working on myself a long time ago and i think its paying off little by little. Lovely tips i must say. Thanks for sharing
You are so right, having a personal brand can have it’s powerful effects. I love how you mentioned how although having a personal brand when applying for employment is good, but it has much greater effects when taken seriously. I love how Jim Rohn says it, “If you work hard on your job, you’ll earn a living. If you work hard on yourself, you’ll earn a fortune.” Personally I’d much rather work hard and focus my brand on myself and my own business. Thanks for sharing, this is such a valuable and helpful article!
You are so right, having a personal brand can have it’s powerful effects. I love how you mentioned how although having a personal brand when applying for employment is good, but it has much greater effects when taken seriously. I love how Jim Rohn says it, “If you work hard on your job, you’ll earn a living. If you work hard on yourself, you’ll earn a fortune.” Personally I’d much rather work hard and focus my brand on myself and my own business. Thanks for sharing, this is such a valuable and helpful article!
thank you for the information you have provided to us, I saw this includes a great article, may still exist in providing a good article for us all, greetings from me
Thinking about this again – really motivated to put some of your tips to work. Thanks again for all of the advice!
Thanks for the advice again – looking forward to your next article!
Your site is a great example of how personal branding can be successful – you just have to be persistent and consistent in your message and personal message. Thanks for all the advice and motivation!
I have been really thinking about this for sometime now; and I know the dedication and the time input needed, for results to show. The belief in one’s abilities is also very essential. Just before that first client appreciates you and gives someone else your number, you need to be your own fan, cheer yourself on until it gives back.
Hi Kumar,
I have received more mileage from personal branding than anything else. I do think it is the most important aspect of our business.
I see too many people branding affiliates. So what happens to them? They probably are not going to stay with that company forever or they will pick up some more affiliate products to promote. But who are they? What can they offer us besides a company sales page?
Even if one is an affiliate marketer, they need to brand themselves. It could be anything like an ebook or a digital product to introduce what they are doing. “I will help you….” That’s a brand, they know like and trust factor comes in there.
What I think the best thing to do to brand oneself is to create a product. It doesn’t have to be a huge investment of time. A free ebook can do well. As long as one over delivers, people will recognize that person as some kind of authority. This is where branding comes in.