The 5 C’s of personal branding are:
Clarity
Cohesive
Consistent
Content
Community
Let’s dive a little deeper and take a look at what each word represents for personal branding.
Clarity
A personal brand must have clarity. Clarity, according to Miriam Webster is the quality or state of being clear. When you are creating a personal brand, you must have clarity on the following items:
What you do
Who you serve; who your ideal audience is
What problem you solve for your audience and clients
There should be no doubt on your part or the audience’s part about what you do, who you serve and how you will help them. This is especially true for people in service industries. If you do not have a product that has a specific use for a specific population, people will not understand who you are and what you do unless you represent yourself and your services with complete clarity.
Cohesive
Personal brands must be cohesive across all platforms, from websites to social media accounts. One simple way you can achieve a cohesive feel for your personal brand is to use the same profile picture, preferably a professional headshot, on each platform.
Your copy should also be cohesive. Think of your copy and images as the glue that holds all of your messages together to efficiently represent who you are, what you do, and who you serve so that the know, like and trust factor can be achieved. When personal brands are not cohesive, people do not get to know them, do not like them, and do not develop trust for them. Without trust, people will not purchase your service or product.
Consistent
Being consistent is similar to being cohesive. You want your messages, visual and copy, to be consistent across all platforms. In addition, you want to show up consistently. You cannot expect to grow a personal brand if you are only showing up some of the time. Your audience cannot get to know you, like you, and trust you if you don’t show up on a regular basis. Realizing this is time-consuming, prioritize the platforms you believe your ideal audience is on and focus your efforts on those platforms. You can repurpose content from week to week so that it isn’t so overwhelming. For example, what you post on Instagram today, can put be on Facebook next week. You should also publish a blog post at least once a week. Your blog posts should be 300 to 900 words for the best chance of Google finding them.
Remember that you own your blog so it is very important to have your valuable content housed there. If you are only going to post one place and only once a week, post to your blog and then share the link on your social media pages. Once you have created a blog, you can easily repurpose the content from the blog for mini-posts on social media. I am also a firm believer in sharing your content on LinkedIN. You can repurpose your blog posts as LinkedIn long posts. Also, be sure to share your blog posts on Pinterest. You want to take advantage of as many eyes seeing your content as possible.
Content
Content is queen! The 4thof the 5 C’s of personal branding is content. I’ve hinted at this above, but you need to have valuable, consistent and cohesive content. Your content should help your audience understand what you do, what problem you solve, and who you solve that problem for. Content is the end all be all for creating an emotional connection with your audience and developing the know, like, and trust factor.
You need high-quality visual and written content. Professional photography demonstrates to your audience that you care about quality and professionalism. Good lighting and smiles can make all the difference in connecting with your audience. Written content should be engaging and valuable. You are an expert in your niche. Share your expertise to build a foundation of trust with your audience.
Community
Your personal brand will not be a success without your community! I am not talking about your neighborhood, but your online community. Yes, of course, your neighbors and friends are important, but are they the people that are going to buy from you? Maybe, but eventually, when they have all purchased your services you will need to find more clients. Where are you going to find more? By growing a community online.
Let’s face it. We live in a digital world where most of our introductions are done online. All of the first 4 C’s of personal branding will help you create a community that engages with you, knows you, likes you, and trusts you. This community will ultimately be your paycheck so be sure and nurture them. Provide valuable information for them, show them that you are the expert in your niche, and get to know them as they get to know you! Communicate with them, engage with them, and build relationships with them so that they will not only become clients but referral sources.
If you would like to learn more about the 5 C’s of personal branding and how you can apply them to your brand, schedule a free strategy call with me. Or, to learn more about the attributes of personal branding read this recent blog post.
