Importance of a Personal Branding

One of the things I learned as a freelance trainer is this thing called 'Branding'. Wikipedia defines branding in a few ways;
1. a particular product or a characteristic that serves to identify a particular product

2. a trade name or trademark.

Then, even though I acknowledged the importance of Branding, it wasn't enough to be part of my 'To-do' list. A mistake that costs me a fortune. While Branding has been a major concern by most entrepreneurs, it is often overlooked by freelancers from various industry and one of them is writing this blog.

The old ways of doing our best work and hope for the next project to fall on our laps is becoming an outdated, not to mention insufficient, practice.

In this century, we face global competition, companies can close down tomorrow. We are competing projects and jobs with providers from all over the world, as such we need to market ourselves strategically in order to maintain a decent market value and have a good flow of projects. Question to think about; Do we want to be a commodity or a sought-after asset?

The right branding strategy will keep us noticed
and stay ahead of the pack

Personal brand goes beyond doing an excellent work. It means we need to plan a strategy to market our excellent work. Staying employable is as important as staying employed, if not more. Personal brand represents a promise of service delivery and quality.

I spoke to several freelancers in mid 2013 from various industries. Some of those I interviewed are earning a six figure yearly income while some are struggling to make ends meet. Interesting findings, I must say..
Based on those interviews, those who have been earning a comfortable 6 figure yearly income has the following attributes;

1. besides being good at what they do, they follow up and follow through their projects. 

2. Has vested a lot of time marketing themselves as a product/service. 

3. Attended networking sessions and community of practices to showcase what they can do.
4. They have a positive online presence with lots of self promotion, testimonials and credentials.
5. They keep upgrading and improving themselves, personally and professionally.
6. Maintain themselves as a brand of service that they provide.
7. Those with personalized services tend to do a few pro-bonos while others set a premium price since they began and instead of lowering their service rates, they provide value added services.

Hey, these are attributes of entrepreneurs too, isn't it? Ahh... how interesting. What separates a top earner from the rest is really the entrepreneurship spirit and this applies not just to freelancers but to employees too. Why are some employees headhunted while others need to look for recruitment agency? It all lies in personal and professional branding.