5 Ways Professional Branding Can Transform Your Small Business
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Perception and recognition are powerful factors that can help you grow your business. And it's not just about creating a shiny image for you and your small business. Professional branding requires much more strategy and effort.
You need to know your authentic self and what you can confidently offer prospective customers. This means identifying your strengths and values and packaging them in such a way that clients can easily understand.
Most people may be familiar with the branding of products, services, places, organizations, etc. But branding can also be applied to professionals, including business owners, remote talents, freelancers, and so on. Professional branding can be a game-changer for you and your business when done well. But what exactly is it, and why should you invest time and energy in building your professional brand? Let's dive in.
What is Professional Branding?
Professional branding is one of the many keys to business success. It involves creating and managing a distinct image, identity, and reputation for yourself in the professional world. This means showcasing your expertise, values, personality, and even your "je ne sais quoi."
With solid professional branding efforts, you show potential clients and those in your network exactly what they can expect from you and how doing business with you is the best choice. When you consistently communicate this professional brand, you're better positioned to create stronger connections and find new opportunities for success.
5 Ways Establishing a Professional Brand Can Impact Your Business
Professional branding goes beyond the aesthetics and buzzwords. A well-established professional brand can help you with the following:
1. Improved Recognition
Your unique strengths, combined with a strong personal brand, make you easily recognizable, setting you apart from the competition. When you're more memorable, you'll always be top-of-mind whenever a client or collaborator needs any of the services you offer.
2. Build Trust
Trust is the cornerstone of any professional relationship. It can take a while to earn but is as valuable and powerful as any big contract. To strengthen your trust-building efforts, make sure to stay consistent in your communications, from your tone to the branding elements you use.
When you have an authentic personal brand and continue to deliver on what your brand promises, you can slowly but surely earn the trust of both customers and peers.
3. Save Time
You only have so many hours in a day. And if you're a small business owner or solopreneur wearing multiple hats, those hours will seem even more inadequate. By having a consistent professional branding strategy, you can save more time in two ways.
First, you don't have to spend extra hours crafting an outreach email in the right tone or looking for imagery that fits your brand personality. Ideally, you already have a personal brand toolkit with useful templates and photos that represent the brand you want to put out into the world. This toolkit can save you from the hassle of scrambling to find files and adds more order to your routine.
Second, a well-established professional brand can save you time explaining what you do and why you should be chosen for a certain project or contract. With the right branding efforts, you can reach the right people who will then be quickly familiar with your unique strengths and professional identity. This saves you more time and allows you to dive into deeper and more meaningful discussions.
4. Attract More Clients
An effective personal brand helps you attract the right opportunities. When executed well, your brand will be able to help you reach your target audience. You become a magnet for projects, partnerships, and endeavors that are the best fit for your skills and aspirations.
5. Value Perception
It's difficult to predict just how others can perceive you. But putting your best foot forward with the right personal branding efforts can help.
In fact, a well-executed branding strategy can heavily influence how others perceive the value of your professional services. Packaging everything, from your technical skills to personal values, in an easily digestible packet can make your audience more willing to invest in what you have to offer. Offering the cheapest rates doesn't always attract the right audience or can even harm your small business financially. So, instead of marketing your low rates, consider using more impactful messaging like "value-adding" or "high-quality services."
Conclusion
Establishing your professional brand doesn't have to be complicated. But it does have to be truthful and accurate if you want to reap these five benefits. Make sure to only promise what you can deliver. Or, in other words, walk the talk. And just like brand marketing for products and companies, you must be consistent. This is crucial if you want to improve recognition and stay on top of the minds of prospective customers and collaborators.
Of course, it's important to note that while professional branding can be transformative, it's not smart to rely solely on this one strategy to succeed. In a sense, your reputation and professional brand can get you that introduction or the meeting. But it's still up to the person behind the brand to seal the deal.
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This post was contributed by Katie Pierce. Katie Pierce is a teacher-slash-writer who loves telling stories to an audience, whether it’s bored adults in front of a computer screen or a bunch of hyperactive 4-year-olds. Writing keeps her sane (most of the time) and allows her to enjoy some quiet time in the evening before she walks into a room of screaming kids (all of whom she loves dearly) the next morning. Check out her portfolio here.
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