Stand Out: Build Your Personal Brand
Get a Personal Branding Checkup!
Hey direct selling friend, tell me — what is your brand?
Nope, not your company brand – YOUR brand. What the what?! A personal brand within your direct sales’ company brand? That’s right. Let’s get to business.
Why would I need my “own” personal brand?
You want your customer to remember YOU. There’s many others selling the exact same thing and YOU want to stand out. The more you can connect with your customers, hostesses and potential teammates, the better. And, this starts with creating a solid brand image.
How the heck do I brand myself?
- Pick a business name. This could be your own name. For example, I am known as Becky’s Book Corner and my company is Usborne Books & More. In my most recent venture, I decided to just use my first and last name.
- Create a logo. You can DIY it in Canva. Or you can hire a graphic designer. You can even find a pre-made logo or moderately customized logo from a seller on Etsy.
- Create a look & feel. Know your colors and fonts. Pick 2-3 colors to match your logo and download the font so you can use it in other materials.
You want your customer to remember YOU and YOUR NAME, not your company’s name. That way, when they google it or want more information, they find YOU.
After you have your personal brand established, work it into everything you do! Here are other places you can promote your personal brand:
- Buy your name as a URL. You can redirect the URL to your cookie cutter corporate website.
- Create a Facebook Business Page: This is your virtual business card so you can be found when searching on Facebook.
- Create a website to represent your brand. People can find you and I was able to find my people better. I’m posting and engaging with them on a regular basis.
- Develop email campaigns. Meet people where they’re at. When they get an email from YOU (not your company), it feels personal and they will open it and read it.
- Put your face on everything. It is so crowded on social media. If you’re re-posting corporate images, they’re going to keep on scrolling. It feels personal when they see your face and you’ll get so much more engagement and connection.
- Brand your marketing materials. Let your personal brand shine through on all your marketing materials. Get a banner with your personal brand on it. Send thank you notes and mailers with your logo on it. Slap that brand sparkly new logo and contact information on your catalogs, too!
Watch my 11-minute video to learn more tips on personal branding and hear my story about how I attracted a new customer with my personal brand!
How do you brand yourself? What can you start doing now?
Get a Personal Branding Checkup!
Hi Becky! I found your website a while ago and am just getting a chance to really dig through everything here. I’ve loaded up on your free downloadables 🙂 I have felt in a rut since December with my business, feeling like the path I’m trying to carve for myself is maybe unrealistic for me or doesn’t translate that way I wish it did, etc. But reading this page just now and seeing you started with UBAM (as I have) and were able to grow above and beyond the company and grow into different pathways of helping and teaching others just lit up my heart! I’m stomping my inner critic right now and persevering!
Hi Kayla! Thank you so much for your sweet message! It made my day! I hope you’re fully out of your rut and pushing forward! I’m cheering you on and so appreciate your kind words! xx, Becky
I’m a consultant for two companies. Do you do a different website for each company or does it work to do one website and cover both companies?
Hi Lisa! Definitely double check your policies and procedures for both companies on this one! In most cases, you can create more of an “umbrella brand” or a lifestyle brand and promote multiple companies under that brand. 🙂
What if your company doesn’t allow you to do this? OR do most companies allow this?
Hi Theresa! Definitely make sure any branding is within the company’s policies & procedures. Some companies do not allow your own website or require a specific naming algorithm when promoting business to the public. That said, even within a social media channel or marketing yourself as an independent rep of the company at an event, you can brand yourself with consistent colors, messaging, look/ feel. There’s tons of opportunities to build a personal brand within the company’s brand. That will help you stand out and make it even easier for your customers to come back and shop with you. Hope that helps! -Becky
What is your favorite tool for email campaigns??
Hi Kate! Converkit! Check out our post where we talk about why we switched from MailChimp to ConvertKit here: https://moderndirectseller.com/switched-mailchimp-convertkit/