4.05 – Balancing Personal & Business Brands
Many people build two brands simultaneously: one for their business and one for themselves personally. It’s crucial to maintain a balance between these two.
To evaluate your personal/business brand balance, consider these questions:
- Is one of your brands—either personal or business—significantly more visible and credible than the other, both online and within your community?
- If you sold your business or left your current position tomorrow, is your personal brand strong enough to open new business opportunities for you?
- If you own your business, is your business brand strong enough to thrive without relying on your personal brand?
Based on your answers, take the following steps:
Strengthening Your Personal Brand
If your personal brand is weak compared to your business brand, consider these actions:
- Develop Your Personal Brand: Follow the six brand management steps to enhance your personal brand alongside your business brand.
- Increase Personal-Brand Awareness: Promote your personal brand within your business, industry, and community, especially online, where most brand research starts.
- Create a Personal Online Home Base: Establish a personal website, blog, or social network profiles.
Strengthening Your Business Brand
If your business brand is overshadowed by your personal brand, try these strategies:
- Enhance Your Business Brand: This is particularly important if you plan to sell your business or develop it into an enterprise that can function without you.
- Improve Online Presence: If your business doesn’t have a website or doesn’t rank well in search results, work on expanding its online visibility.
- Diversify Representation: Allow other team members to become more visible with clients, on projects, in media, and within your community and industry. Create separate social media accounts for yourself and your company, and encourage team members to contribute to the business blog and social media pages.
- Direct Personal Interest to Your Business: Feature your business prominently in your personal communications and introductions. Consider using your business logo instead of a personal photo on your personal online pages where business contacts may search.
Balancing your personal and business brands is essential. Strengthen your business brand if you’re planning to grow or sell your business. Enhance your personal brand if you want to pursue personal career opportunities or humanize your business. The best approach is to maintain a balance between the two.
