\u201cPersonal brand\u201d is a fairly new term, but the concept of building a media presence and social profile has been incredibly important in maintaining a successful career before social media came along and provided even more platforms from which to extend your profile.<\/p>\n
When people hear the word \u2018branding\u2019 they instantly think of the logo, the colours; how a brand looks. But personal branding is, if you like, the heartbeat behind this. It\u2019s about the messaging, the values; your expertise shining through.<\/p>\n
When clients ask me what personal branding is, I tend to reference Jeff Bezos who said: \u201cYour brand is what people say about you when you\u2019re not in the room\u201d. Personal branding is your tone of voice, your authoritative voice within the media alongside your personal style and social media.<\/p>\n Whether you\u2019re the owner of a spa, an inventor of a product or a medical professional, people – and indeed businesses – seen as authorities trusted by the media – tend to get the lion\u2019s share when it comes to sales and profit.<\/p>\n However, creating a personal brand can be a daunting, mythical task. And one of the easiest ways to get lost in the process is to not actually know where to start.<\/p>\n Even Oprah Winfrey began by going through several style iterations on a small local show before defining her voice into one of the most influential personal brands in the world.<\/p>\n Here are my 8 top tips for building a successful profile within the media.<\/p>\n Carve a niche, and then carve a niche within your niche. The best personal brands are very specific. Too many people are unfocused when it comes to press and coverage, trying to be “everything to everyone.” Keeping your message focused for your target demographic will make it that much easier to both create content around your personal brand and importantly, have others define you.<\/p>\n Whenever I take on a client, I find myself forcing them to ask this question a lot. They will often say, \u201cI want to be in the national press as a leading fertility expert.\u201d And when I ask \u201cwhy\u201d I often receive a look of bemusement. But, after a little digging, the \u2018why\u2019 would transpire to be \u201cI want to break the stigma surrounding recurrent miscarriage\u201d. Something that\u2019s incredibly newsworthy. Think about what you\u2019ve been through, your experiences and what you want to help people with and connect with that.<\/p>\n Once you send that pitch out, consider yourself on-call\u2014especially when pitching yourself to broadcast outlets or working with a PR consultancy to do so. One way to not make friends with the booking department? Pitch yourself as an expert on a story, like a global pandemic, and then not make yourself available for interviews when the pandemic actually happens.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not always easy, but the more adaptable you are, the more likely to be approached again. Journalists invariably work to incredibly tight deadlines and studio schedules offer little flexibility, so be prepared to interrupt your routine. As a PR I can say that this is the most frustrating thing to deal with and clients who are able to juggle opportunities invariably achieve more press coverage than those who expect the media to bend for their needs instead.<\/p>\n So many people make the mistake of creating a single person monologue and then shouting this again and again into the social media void. Create a story around your brand that your audience can actually engage with instead.<\/p>\n Journalists want to see what you look like (current stills and video, if possible) get a sense of your expertise, personality, style and ability to respond and interact. A website can rarely do all this. There\u2019s no need to be active on every platform, but actively engaging with others online will help you get noticed.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve landed some great pieces relatively early on \u2013 be that an interview with the BBC, the Evening Standard or The Times. Fantastic. But one piece \u2013 even a brilliant piece in a top tier publication like this \u2013 does not make a profile. Having a profile is about momentum and consistency with new ideas that are relevant for the news. Make sure that your PR team knows about any new launches you have in the pipeline, new ideas, and potential talking points that the broadcast media may be interested in. But remember, keep circling back to the \u2018why\u2019 and don\u2019t chase coverage for the sake of it. You have to demonstrate consistency across your communication, gravitas, and appearance. Don\u2019t underestimate how tiny inconsistencies can derail personal brand effectiveness.<\/p>\n Advertising is not in any way, shape or form the same as having an earned profile within the media. There\u2019s an old saying: \u201cif advertising is what you pay for, then PR is what you pray for.\u201d PR is the most authentic way to ensure a solid foundation for your personal brand. You are, in essence having a trusted media platform suggest that you, out of everyone else in the world, are the voice of authority on a certain topic. No advertisement can summon this level of trust with your consumer.<\/p>\n When we think of ourselves as personal brands, it\u2019s easy to think of ourselves as the main character of the story. But, by complete contrast, it\u2019s actually vital to flip that on its head and think about your ideal community member, audience, customer, client or indeed employer as that main character and use them as a guide. Consider what stage of life they are at, what they are interested in, what keeps them up at night, what kind of things they are googling. Your personal brand is often based on your own experience, so connecting with your audience is very important as it allows you to really get into their minds and understand what they want to hear from you.<\/p>\n About the expert<\/strong><\/p>\n Sophie\u2019s unique perspectives on successful brand launch, growth and development, coupled with an impressive client success track record and strong network of national journalists and production teams, now make Sophie one of the most highly sought-after consultants; both by profiles and brands from within the industries in which she specialises and journalists alike.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Sophie Attwood, leading PR consultant specialising within the health, wellness and medical aesthetics industries. \u201cPersonal brand\u201d is a fairly new term, but the concept of building a media presence and social profile has been incredibly important in maintaining a successful career before social media came along and provided even more platforms from which to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":40358,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"loftocean_post_format_gallery":"","loftocean_post_format_gallery_ids":"","loftocean_post_format_gallery_urls":"","loftocean_post_format_video_id":0,"loftocean_post_format_video_url":"","loftocean_post_format_video_type":"","loftocean_post_format_video":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_type":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_url":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_id":0,"loftocean_post_format_audio":"","loftocean-featured-post":"","loftocean-like-count":0,"loftocean-view-count":999,"tinysalt_single_post_intro_label":"","tinysalt_single_post_intro_description":"","tinysalt_hide_post_featured_image":"","tinysalt_post_featured_media_position":"","tinysalt_single_site_header_source":"","tinysalt_single_custom_site_header":"0","tinysalt_single_custom_sticky_site_header":"0","tinysalt_single_custom_sticky_site_header_style":"sticky-scroll-up","tinysalt_single_site_footer_source":"","tinysalt_single_custom_site_footer":"0","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sloanmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PIC-Sophie-Attwood-landscape-.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sloanmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40357"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sloanmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sloanmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sloanmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sloanmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40357"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.sloanmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40363,"href":"https:\/\/www.sloanmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40357\/revisions\/40363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sloanmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sloanmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sloanmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sloanmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sloanmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PIC-Sophie-Attwood-landscape--644x376.jpg\")
1. Have a focus<\/h4>\n
2. Find your \u2018why\u2019<\/h4>\n
3. Be available at short notice<\/h4>\n
4. Create a story, not a message<\/h4>\n
5. Social media is vital, but it doesn\u2019t need to take over your life<\/h4>\n
6. Be consistent<\/h4>\n
7. Advertorials won\u2019t create an authentic profile<\/h4>\n
8. Place the consumer as the main character – not yourself<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sloanmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/PIC-Sophie-Attwood-portrait-113x170.jpg\")
Sophie Attwood is a PR consultant specialising within the health, wellness and medical aesthetics industries. Her PR consultancy, Sophie Attwood Communications (www.sophieattwood.co.uk) represents some of the trailblazers within these industries; looking after leading physicians through to skincare heavyweights, wellness experts and pharmaceuticals.<\/p>\n