If you’re an entrepreneur looking for professional development, you are the only one who has the power to promote your skills in a beneficial way. Effectively marketing yourself and your products or services begins with personal branding. This refers to the way you want others to perceive you and your business. Use the following tips to improve this image.

A Guide to Personal Branding

1. Find Your Niche

When looking for a truly remarkable product, most people are more likely to visit a small store that specializes in that field rather than a superstore that sells a wide variety of items. Narrowing the focus can help you discover yourself and the audience you want to target.

If your services fall within the beauty industry, consider zeroing in on something more specific, like facials. This way, you won’t be in direct competition with all spas and salons. When clients are searching for high-quality facials, your business will come to mind. Picking a certain product or service also allows you to direct more time, energy, and resources into mastering it, instead of spreading yourself thin and failing to stand out.

2. Do the Research

Once you’ve identified your niche, do some research on individuals and businesses that are currently excelling in these—and similar—areas. Find out how long they’ve been honing their craft and what steps they took to get there.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for online, contact business owners and set up an informational interview. This gives you the opportunity to ask them questions about their success. You might find that you’ve been skipping over crucial personal branding steps, such as investing in continuing education, finding a mentor, or hiring licensed employees. Building this type of connection will simultaneously grow your professional network.

3. Visualize the Future

While you might not be able to achieve all your goals right away, manifest success by visualizing them, and staying positive. Use a journal to write down where you see yourself in one, five, and 10 years. Discuss what your office space looks like and how many people are on the team. Write about what you think the daily tasks will look like and how many hours you will put into a workday. These thoughts will influence everything from your website copy to social media posts.

Bring these ideas to life by creating a mood or vision board. Hang these visualizers on your office wall so you can continue to assess and manipulate the shape of your personal brand.

ACA Business Club St. Louis is dedicated to helping its members navigate today’s business world by cultivating interpersonal relationships. This private organization offers strategic and professional networking, as well as training and development opportunities, to entrepreneurs and executives throughout St. Louis, MO. Their inviting workspace will inspire you to grow your personal brand. Visit them online to learn more about their scheduled events and strategic resources, and call (314) 628-0690 to speak to a friendly group member.