If there's one thing that I hear constantly as a young professional, it's this: "You need to build your brand." I'm going to be real here: I have no idea what that means.Searching for answers, I attended an event in New York City hosted by Brand Human— a business-consulting firm that seeks to amplify the human elements in personal brands. The dimly lit room was filled with around 40 men and women — most of whom were creative professionals (there was a filmmaker, a jewelry designer, and an artist). At 28, I felt like one of the youngest people there.
The workshop was different from what I had envisioned. We didn't just sit and take notes. We had partner discussions, and speakers who talked about auras and energies. I'll admit that I walked away from the event feeling light, airy — maybe even uplifted. I felt more confident in my knowledge of what branding is and what it means for me. But the next day, I panicked. The more I thought about what I had learned at the event, the more I realized that something was still missing. Yes, I knew what personal branding should feel like, but it still seemed like a vague, intangible idea.
So I started looking for another branding expert — who didn't draw solely from creative industries, and who could offer another perspective. I found Emmelie De La Cruz, a personal-branding strategist and founder of The Branding Muse. Her website shares information about branding basics, hustle hacks, and strategy tips to get hired — specifically geared toward twentysomethings. She also has books, checklists, and guides to platforms — like Periscope, Instagram, etc. — available online as pin-able and printable assets.
I talked to Brand Human founder Jasmine Takanikos and De La Cruz to get their insights on branding, authenticity, boundaries, and more. Ahead, I break down exactly why you need a brand and how to get on that in a way that feels authentic. And while I don't yet have thousands of Instagram followers or a side hustle that rakes in millions, I have found a starting point for building my own personal brand.
So where did this obsession with branding come from? Does anyone remember “branding” being a part of the career conversation in the 1990s? It seems like it sprung up overnight, along with Snapchat, memes, and Netflix.
“Competition is fierce and information is readily available,” says De La Cruz. “Before people work with you, they will most likely google you, and without a brand, what relevant information will they find?”
Good point. If you don't shape your narrative, someone is going to build one for you, based on bits and pieces of information that they glimpse from your Facebook posts and tweets. There’s also a cultural aspect: a shift in our collective mindset that makes it important for you to market yourself in the way a company would choose to market its latest innovation.
“We’re all overexposed,” says Takanikos. “There’s this fascination with what is authentic, because we’re all...shouting at each other all the time in different ways, through social media.”
Takanikos thinks that this negative “shouting” is our way of trying to differentiate ourselves and get attention, in a world where anyone can have attention at any moment. But newsflash: We're all different. There's no need to shout once you step back and strategize.
If you're like me, you probably need a little convincing that developing a personal brand is worth your time. I flat-out asked, "What's the value in this?" Because aside from gaining social media followers, and maybe having a future as a talking head on CNN, I just didn't see how it could affect my career.
According to De La Cruz, branding "truly makes you more marketable and mobile as a job-seeker." She adds, "In building your brand deliberately and strategically, you have an immediate competitive advantage over your peers."
This gave me a flashback to last summer, when I was job-hunting. After sending out a few résumés, I asked myself: If I want to show that I'm creative and interesting as a writer, how does my boring white résumé accomplish this task?
It didn't. So I looked into buying and building my own personalized résumé template. My dad was pretty skeptical when I told him about the idea. And my friends straight-up thought it was silly. "You'll get hired for your work, not your résumé," was the general consensus.
Just one day after creating the new template and sending it out, I got several responses, including one from Refinery29. I know that I wasn't hired because I had a spiffy résumé. But because it was representative of my "brand," it got attention.
I know what you're thinking: Great story, but I'm not in media, so I'm not getting a crazy résumé with colorful boxes, and I'm not sure if this even affects my life.
In De La Cruz's experience, it doesn't matter if you're a carpenter, lawyer, or journalist. “Any professional can benefit from a personal brand and use it to expand their reach, exposure, and even develop multiple streams of income as a speaker or consultant.”
When I told Takanikos that some of my friends (cough, me, cough) are intimidated by branding, she reassured me that I don't need to be terrified: "Everything you need to put out into the world is already preexisting within yourself."
Well, that sounds fantastic — doesn’t it? But what exactly does it mean?
It means that you already have a brand — regardless of whether it’s conscious or subconscious — because you’re already engaging on a number of platforms. Yes, your brand probably lacks cohesion and a strategy, but you're not starting from scratch.
Takanikos notes that people are already following you, and they're receiving messages you put out to the world — on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and personal blogs. So the smartest thing to do is to build on what you have.
According to De La Cruz, finding and understanding your niche is the very first step to successfully crafting your brand.
“A personal brand can only be successful if you are very specific in the people that you help," says De La Cruz. "After you know who your audience is, you can begin to become an influencer and thought leader in the places where they already seek information.”
There’s something about the idea of “branding” that makes it seem fake. Like you’re playing pretend or masquerading online as someone you’re really not. And in the search for your brand, you run the risk of coming across as inauthentic. How do you avoid that trap?
De La Cruz suggests using tools like Periscope to get comfortable with telling your story and sharing your personality.
“Blogging, website copy, and social media posts can all be over- thought, edited, and filtered, but a live video can't. You are your most vulnerable and authentic in that way,” she says.
I've tried Snapchatting with this thought in mind. I like to talk to my followers, and share the weird inner monologue in my brain. It has made me more comfortable at telling my personal story. It's also helped me establish a flow: I go to an event and offer my personal take on it. My small Snapchat audience seems pleased.
Just remember that part of being your authentic self means avoiding over-curating your online presence. Yes, you can add filters, and use special lighting. There are tons of Instagram hacks to grow your list of followers. But at the end of the day, that branded person online still needs to be you.
“We’re living in a trust economy. So I need to have that same experience I have with you online when I meet with you and have coffee,” says Takanikos. “Otherwise, you lose my trust. There’s too much curation going on, and I don’t [always] know who I’m getting.”
The easiest way to avoid muddying the waters? “Don't shy away from who you are as a person,” says De La Cruz. "Infuse that into your personal brand.”
Here's a confession: I hate Facebook. And if I could live a life without it, I would. Unfortunately, that's not a thing. At least, not in 2016. And especially not when you work in media. I know it breaks Takanikos' rule to think of using platforms as "have to" or "must-do," but I have to use Facebook.
So if you're like me, and you don't like using certain social media platforms (I'm also terrible at Twitter and Instagram), how are you ever going to garner "likes"? Isn't that a problem? Don't "likes" matter?
Yes, they do. Takanikos says there's something called "'perception value' — having [many thousands or millions of] followers shows some kind of engagement that’s worth money, that’s worth commerce, that’s worth recognition.”
“Likes” translate into dollars — and speaking engagements, partnerships, and anything else an influencer gets when their brand is top-notch. But "likes" are not the be-all, end-all measure for brand success — the engagement of your audience is.
“Think, Who’s engaging with me? Are they like-minded?” says Takanikos. “I believe in quality versus quantity. I don’t believe that [a 'like' from] ‘Alien123’ helps your brand or your bottom line."
It's especially important to weigh "likes" against engagement based on your niche. If my niche is discussing and collecting Corona typewriters, then maybe "likes" aren't as important for me. My audience would be smaller, but engagement could be big since I'm servicing that specific niche. The number of "likes" needed to prove that my brand is of value would be less than for someone who live-blogs NYFW and has backstage access to Yeezy Season 3.
Because everyone wanted to see Yeezy Season 3. Except for me. Not really my brand.
The biggest fear I have about building my personal brand revolves around boundaries.
Can Ally Hickson "the twentysomething Black feminist who loves pop culture" also post photos of her incredible pancakes just because they tasted like heaven and were fluffy like clouds? Should I be sharing photos of my little cousin at Christmas dinner on Instagram? And if I do, does that mean I'm now expected to share more and more of my personal life? Is there a line between my personal and professional lives when it comes to my brand?
“This is literally the most asked question by my clients,” says De La Cruz. She’s been asked it so many times that she wrote a blog post about it. “My response is that it's possible to be professional, share a few personal things, and maintain your privacy all at once. You can make your lifestyle public, and keep your life private by being mindful of what you share.”
So maybe I share the pancake photo because it shows what I do, but I think twice about the little cousin image.
Here’s my next question: Does building boundaries make you less authentic? Does it mean that you’re not being entirely transparent with your audience?
Takanikos doesn't think so. In fact, she points out that when you cross boundaries it can affect your work negatively. Who cares about authenticity when something is negatively affecting your life? So, you have to draw a line.
You're the only one who can determine these boundaries, though. According to both of our experts, they won’t break your connection with your audience. Instead, drawing boundaries will help you yield better quality work, making your brand smarter and stronger.
If you’re seriously thinking about investing time and energy into solidifying your personal brand, you’re probably wondering how expensive it is to hire an expert.
This might be a turnoff, but branding can be a big financial investment. You’ll need photo assets and website development. You might also have to invest in copywriting and creative direction. Of course, as De La Cruz points out, there are free platforms such as LinkedIn. But it isn't cheap to hire a professional consultant.
De La Cruz's services start at $150 an hour. Takanikos offers individual assessments starting at $350 an hour, but retreats and insight sessions can range from $4,000 to $10,000 depending on the scope.
The main question to ask yourself is why you're building a personal brand. Are you hoping to transform your side hustle into your main source of income? Or are you just fixing up your personal online presence before your next job search? These individual needs will affect cost.
In my case, I'm not promoting a side hustle; I'm just trying to streamline my own brand. I wouldn't need a three-week service, or to pay a few thousand dollars for a retreat. But a few hundred dollars for insight and an evaluation might be worth it in the long run.
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