HOW A STRONG PERSONAL BRAND CAN HELP YOU NETWORK BETTER IN PERSON

​Growing your personal brand is crucial and powerful in succeeding. 

​It leads to connections, growth, and a wealth of knowledge about your place in the industry.

To understand how a strong personal brand helps you network better in person, here are four ideas to start with:

1. Be Unique and Visible - You must think outside the box and incorporate new things or improve on existing ones to make you different from the rest.
   
   For example, Airbnb became an incredible success because they are different. They provide a local place to stay for travelers at their holiday destinations at unbeatable prices.
   
   But what sets them further apart is the long-stay discounts they offer for extended travelers. By providing this, it sets them apart from hotels. Their prices are more competitive, and the places provided are generally bigger with more amenities than hotel rooms. 
   
   Think of your personal brand as the same way:  How are you drastically different than everyone else in the marketing industry, or real estate industry. What's your unique, innovative opinion?
   
   
2. Understand Your Industry - By understanding your industry, you can use it to your advantage in branding yourself.
   
   What are the positive and negative appeals in the industry? And how can you reach out to the masses with your positive qualities?
   
   ​For instance in the hotel industry, the competition is fierce and everywhere. Large chain hotels like Hilton Hotels have established a reputation and brand. 
   
   They understand their competition and the industry. They provide free memberships and loyalty benefits that appeal to customers, such as discounted stays and free nights, complimentary upgraded WiFi in room, and express and late check-outs. 
   
   And because of this, Hilton has returning customers desiring to build on their loyalty points. This model works for them because they understand what they're up against and what their consumers want.  
   
   As a personal brand, if you can blog in specific about these topics, networking in the tourism industry would become very easy.  I bet Hilton would even want to be featured on your blog.  
   
   
3. Provide Something Different From Your Competition - What is your competition doing that is a success? Can you do it better? What do you have that is different and can play to your own success? 
   
   Let's take another look at the hotel industry. When people travel, they like to shop around beforehand, searching for the best deals on hotels. If they see a hotel providing luxurious comforts at better rates than, say, the Four Seasons, it's more likely the shopper will take a chance, given the reviews are top-notch as well. 
   
   The Nadler Hotel is one example of a hotel that's gaining popularity and returning customers because of this offer. As a 4-star boutique hotel that's up against large chain hotels, they provide a luxury stay at affordable prices. 
   
   And this has proven to work, improving on their brand and allowing them great success to branch out.
   
   What does this mean for a personal brand? Provide a lot of value and worry about that until you figure out how to monetize your startup, or what amount to set your rates.
   
   
4. Grow Your Brand - Once you figure out what you stand for, you'll want to reach your goals and gain prominence. To do so, you must build your brand. 
   
   There are many ways to improve on brand, but it's good to note that some options are superior in excelling your success. 
   
   In today's modern world, social media is influential in gaining attention. Use popular and trending tools like Instagram to gain positive exposure, market yourself on LinkedIn, apply your brand online and use a personal website to do so, and reach out to more people with a personal approach by starting a blog.
   
   

Once you tackle these building blocks to help brand yourself, you'll develop a strong personal brand that helps you network in person. And with this comes confidence and opportunities. Competition won't seem as challenging and impossible anymore. Often times, there are more collaborative opportunities than competitive worries.

But it takes originality, exceptional standards, and execution paired with ambition to become a brand of one. 

Though creating a strong personal brand takes tremendous work, you don't have to do it alone. Handshakin' knows how to help you achieve your goals by empowering you to develop your brand and go beyond your needs. For more information on our services geared at helping you achieve your brand, contact us, and we can help you drive more leads. ​