Your personal brand defines who you are and what you want to be known for. It helps to influence your reputation. Richard Branson says, “Reputation is all you have in your life.” This is important for network marketers because it helps people to want to do business with you, but that’s a topic for another day.
Personal branding is important in the network marketing industry because there are so many others doing exactly the same thing and different companies offering the same types of products. How are you going to stand out from all the others? Why should I do business with you versus someone else from your company or from a different company? What added value do you bring?
We all know network marketing can and has had a bad reputation. It is our job to portray ourselves and this industry in a way that conveys what it is all about – heart, service and helping people.
So how are you going to do this? By having a clear and powerful personal brand. The way you present yourself, your core values and the foundation of your own business all affects the way you are perceived by potential customers or clients.
Follow the steps below to start defining your personal brand as a network marketer, plus download the 10 Ways to Stand Out Online As A Network Marketer.
Your Ideal Customer
Who do you want to work with? Many network marketers fall into the trap of thinking that their products can help everyone and so they try to market to everyone. But the truth is, not everyone is interested or can buy your products.
It's important to narrow down your ideal customer, particularly when it comes to personal branding because it then helps us create specific content that speaks directly to this type of person. In the competitive world of network marketing this helps you cut through the noise and get noticed!
Here are some of the questions you can ask yourself to help narrow down your ideal customer:
Is your ideal customer male or female?
What is his or her name?
What is their age range?
What do they do for work?
What are their hobbies?
What keeps them awake at night?
What are their goals, dreams, or aspirations?
What are their core problems?
Your Personal Brand Values
Next, ask yourself about your personal brand values. I'm talking about the ones you make priorities – your core values. These are the heart of who you are, they determine how you make people feel about you.
Values are important in network marketing, particularly as it gets a bad reputation. Showing your personal values allows your potential clients to see that you are genuine, you do care, and you believe in your products.
Do this by picking 3 to 5. You don’t want to have too many core values; otherwise, you won’t be able to focus on what really matters. Here are a few examples:
- Family
- Honesty
- Integrity
- Contentment
- Consistency
- Open – Minded
- Caring
If you are having a hard time narrowing it down, ask a friend what they think your core values are. I asked my husband and he said one of mine was cautious. Um, I don’t think that one is a core value.
You can also think back to when something or someone made you angry. Chances are you were upset because it went against one of your core values, or because it was not genuine.
Remember, your core values have to be truly yours. If you’re not genuine, people will see right through you, and your plan to land more sales and customers will plummet to the ground.
What Topics Do You Want to be Known For?
The topics you create for your personal brand should provide value to your audience. These are topics you can create content around to help attract your ideal customer. Always keep referring back to the customer profile you made and ask yourself, would my ideal audience read this?
Cover the topics that are the most relevant and avoid trying to branch out too far or you could dilute your messaging. Some of the topics you could look at include:
- Fashion
- Clean eating
- Meal prepping
- Fitness
- Health
- Family
- Organization
- Crafty
- Handy
Your Online Presence
Your social media accounts should support your personal brand narrative and the core values you promote as a network marketer. A common mistake network marketers do is to try and post often, but the content isn’t always working best towards what they are trying to say! It’s best to publish less, but powerful and impactful content on social media that is targeted exactly to your ideal customer. Rather than appeal to the totally wrong audience with wishy-washy content you put out daily.
Take an assessment of your social media accounts now to see what you're currently doing and where you want to be. Ready to take action now? Click here to join the FREE 5-Day Bootcamp.
If you're just getting started with social media, I recommend starting with one to two platforms to focus on.
We’ll use Facebook as our platform example.
Business Page
On your business page, have a clear profile picture of you. You can include a cover photo with more about you or a call to action, which can lead to your website, Facebook group, sign up for your next support group, email list, newsletter, etc. You can also lead your page’s call to action to one of these.
*Just be aware that if you’re planning on running ads on Facebook you need to keep the ratio of text in your picture low otherwise Facebook won’t approve the ad.
About section
Have your personal profile linked to your business page.
On your business page, use your about section as another place for a call to action. This can lead them to request a free sample, join your free Facebook group, etc.
Below are some social media post examples:
Clean Eating / Meal Prepping
Customer, products, or service testimonial
Lifestyle Post (post when you are out and about with family or friends)
Conferences You Attend or Industry Relevant People You Meet.
Branded quote (quotes are really popular on social media)
Share a post from a person or page that you like (those with a large audience or a lot of engagement is a great place to start)
Do a Facebook Live (This is a great way for your audience to get to know you better.)
Your Latest Blog Posts
As you can see there are a variety of ways to keep your personal brand consistent throughout your social media while still coming up with unique and engaging content. As a network marketer, establishing your personal brand is essential if you want to find success. Be the ‘it’ person your ideal customer goes to and thinks of and you’ll find you have recommendations and referrals flooding in.
Check out 10 other Ways to Stand Out Online As A Network Marketer by clicking the image below:
