Build Your Personal Empire

PUBLISHED: November 26, 2016

If you are an entrepreneur, then you know that everyone is a potential client and that reputation matters. We have seen a person’s name turned into a verb, former models design furniture, or singers pitch perfume, all of which add millions of dollars to their overall wealth. You are your own brand at the most basic of levels. How you grow that brand, well, that’s marketing.

Personal branding is the combination of people, their success, and their personality marketing themselves as brands with self-packaging.

For example: Former basketball player, Michael Jordan’s net worth was $1.14 billion as of March 2016, reports Forbes. The former Chicago Bulls star earned a meager $93 million in salary during his playing career. Most of his fortune now comes from endorsement deals with his biggest sponsor, Nike, along with his 80% ownership of NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats in 2010. Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, could also be seen as the most entrepreneurial sports star of his day.

Awhile back, I had the pleasure of hearing mega-entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson founder of Virgin Group speak at a conference in New York City. Not only has he taken his personal brand to a global level, he has done it with style. The message that resonated was one of challenging what’s normally done. He said that he was able to break into industries with a simple mantra of “break of rules, challenge status quo.” He starts by asking, ”what is the market missing or what’s not being done well?” His company’s commitment is about doing things differently.

Why think of yourself as a brand? The short answer is that people will recognize your work. The more recognizable your work/product is in the marketplace, the more value it has. When you can transcend industry boundaries with consistency of quality and service, you build trust. Trust is a sought-after quality in almost all service industries and yet the most difficult to build.

Whether you strive to be a household name or the go-to source for whatever you sell, you are intricately woven with your brand, so make it stellar.

Published online at Community Newspapers.

About Brand Poets

Founded by Tana M. Llinas, Brand Poets is a collective of strategists, storytellers, and digital artisans crafting smart, poignant campaigns that command attention. www.brandpoets.com

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