There are two common myths about building a personal brand.  The first is that a cursory look of your brand should tell your entire story.  The second is that it takes too long to build your brand. We say nonsense to both. Your brand is like a book. It’s designed to be unveiled…page by page and chapter by chapter. And it can be built much faster than you think. Here are five ways your brand is exactly like a book, and how to leverage it on social media so your customers eagerly turn the pages of your book, engage with you, and ultimately do business with you.

People Judge a Book By Its Cover

Let’s start by comparing your brand to a book cover. People do judge a book by its cover, just as they judge you by your brand.  When you browse through a bookstore, you naturally gravitate toward book covers that ‘speak’ to you through words or pictures. In branding, that’s the message and image you portray.  If your brand isn’t properly defined, developed, and displayed, it won’t carry the weight you intend, or perhaps worse, you’ll be invisible on the shelf containing thousands of books (who are trying to attract the same readers).  The same scenario exists on social media, and that’s why it’s critical to build your brand so that it stands out and helps you attract exactly the type of customers you seek.

You Can’t Show Everything At Once

Obviously, you cannot put the entire contents of the book on the outside cover.  However, the cover should be compelling and capture the attention of your prospects and customers in a way that encourages them to want to learn more. Consider posting on social media with the same thought process.  You can’t possibly put everything about you or your business in one post.  Your brand is revealed post by post. The look…the feel…your beliefs and ideals. They are designed to ‘crack open the door’ to your brand, but they are not intended to communicate everything about you at once. That’s why it’s important to have a clear strategy and be consistent in your posting efforts in order to take people along in your journey.

Brands Are Built By Exposures

Many people express concern about the amount of time and money it takes to build a brand. The growth of your brand is not necessarily defined by time or even expense, though. It does not take months or years to build a brand; rather, it takes exposure. Books are this way, too. It doesn’t matter how much time or money it costs you to write it.  It matters how many ideal people are exposed to it and read it. Each time someone is exposed to your branding elements on social media, it makes an impact.  Those branding elements include your brand images, brand logo, brand colors, brand identifier, photos of you, and most especially your brand messaging (the words that communicate what you stand for, or the promise to your customers). As it relates to a book, those are the sentences, paragraphs, pages…and chapters. There’s no getting directly from A to Z with one post or exposure.  Instead, your brand grows with each exposure.  The best part?  Many times, just A or B is enough to land your next client.  

The Goal Is The Next Page

You want your prospects to turn the next page…or take the next step. That could mean that someone sees your branding elements and responds with, “What does that mean?” or “Tell me more.”  Turning the next page could mean your prospects go from a social media post to your blog, then from your blog to your YouTube channel. So with every exposure, they learn more about you, and if they’re seeing things and hearing things that match their own ideals and needs, it leads to your main professional goal on social media: positioning yourself as an authority and encouraging prospects to engage with you outside the platform.

It Establishes Instant Credibility

When someone sees that you’ve got your message and image ‘put together’, it instantly elevates you above your competition.  It becomes obvious that you have spent time honing your craft, and that puts you in a more serious, noteworthy category.  It shows that you care about how you present yourself to your prospects. There’s an immediate attraction to a more professional appearance that can change a prospect’s mind in mere seconds.  And if you utilize and infuse your brand properly on social media with each exposure, that credibility can not only immediately impact your engagement, it builds over time to turn you into a recognizable, respected force in your industry and market.

Company name: BrandFace

link: www.discussyourbrand.com

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