Branding & Writing - Elevating Authors in the Digital Era to Stand Out

In this vast and oversaturated global marketplace, where thousands and thousands of books appear daily, we can not overlook the importance of personal branding as an author and how it can make you stand out. Regardless of your profession, but especially in professions related to creativity, marketing, sales or management, if you want to be successful, it is important to build a quality personal brand. Your image in the world and in society is very important just as it is valuable to have a clear view of your strategy,  your skills and abilities.

Branding vs Personal Branding 

A brand represents the totality of perceptions that people have about a business. Typically, a brand is recognized by its style, packaging, name, slogan, logo, smell, taste, etc. To become a strong brand, the most important thing is to have a good product, a great service, or a remarkable idea.

A personal brand is a widely recognized and largely consistent perception or impression of an individual based on their experience, expertise, skills, actions, and/or achievements within a community, industry, or marketplace.A personal brand is your story. It communicates the talents and values ​​you represent to clients, colleagues, and other professionals. It is the culmination of what you do and what you stand for. It exists not only in your online presence, but also offline. In short it’s who you are. 

Let’s go deeper

Whether we are aware of it or not, each of us carries an image of our own person. Sometimes it appears to us unclear, with blurred contours or, at other times, it is simply not conscious, being present within us down to the smallest detail. The author of Psychocybernetics, Maxwell Maltz, discovered phenomena that confirm that the image of one's self, the psychic and spiritual "picture" of oneself represents the key to one's best qualities and behaviors.

The self-image also determines the limits of a person's possibilities, that is, the things that he or she is or is not able to accomplish. If you move the boundaries of this image, you expand the field of possibilities. Creating an adequate and real self-image opens the way for a person to new abilities, new talents. In other words, this is how failures can be transformed into successes.

The first step on the path to success is to create a personal image that reflects your commitment to achievement. Your personal image is both the message you send and the message others receive about you. It is reflected in your words and actions. It is how you want to stand out and be remembered. You want to be known as a problem solver, an outstanding team member, and a diplomatic change agent. You want to be perceived as polished, professional, and friendly. Such an image cannot be faked. It must be real and authentic, based on the creation of a personal vision statement.

To form a personal image, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

• What qualities or characteristics differentiate me from those in the same field?
• What is my strength, seen from the perspective of colleagues or clients?
• What exactly in what I do can remarkably, significantly and distinctively increase the value ?

Regardless of age, position, field in which we work, we all need to understand the importance of promoting personal image. We are our own directors in our own company. To maintain yourself in the professional field, the most important mission you have is to promote the product that is You, what we synthetically call the concept of brand.

Including Branding in Writing and Defining Author’s Personal Brand 

We live in a time where everyone is overly focused on their branding and not enough on their brand. Branding is superficial, where a brand is an emotional connection. Anyone can write a manuscript and hire a great designer to create an eye-catching cover for instance– but that’s just surface-level branding.

The truth is, few people take the time to focus on their authentic message and build a real brand. We believe you can build a personal brand without compromising your values ​​or changing who you are. In fact, we believe that’s the only way to do it. Building on your values ​​and who you truly are is the only way to build an authentic personal brand.

Before we discuss building a brand, it’s helpful to establish what contains an effective personal brand. While everyone’s brand is unique, there are a few components that are integral to any good brand.

1. Authenticity. You can’t fake your brand. Doing so will only lead to inconsistencies in how you present yourself, which people will catch on to sooner or later. So always start this process from a place of honesty.

2. Values. Your brand values ​​are the characteristics and traits that people associate with you. Depending on your genre, style and audience, these characteristics may be certain aspects of you that you want to amplify. For example, a public speaker may want to enhance their fun-loving nature. Meanwhile, a businessman may want to appear smart and ruthless. Conversely, an influencer may want to build a reputation for being trendy. What do you want as an author? What do you want your message to be?

3. Integrity. Building a personal brand is not just about achieving success. It also means defining and adhering to your principles and not allowing external forces to compromise your integrity. When you speak clearly about what you stand for, you can base your decisions on more than just monetary value.

4. Charisma. A good brand should make you stand out from the competition. After all, many people are good at what they do. So you have to ask yourself, what is it about your story that makes you unique? It may seem like a difficult question at first. Only you have lived your life, and only you bring specific experiences to the table.

5. Trust. You will build trust in those around you when you do the work you say you can do and stay true to your values ​​and principles. The result is better opportunities in your professional and personal life.

How do you build your personal branding? 

1. Know Who You Are - Figuring out who you are might seem like a strange proposition. But how well do you know yourself? Unfortunately, in today’s fast-paced world, many of us forget to take the time to reflect and focus on ourselves. To build a strong personal brand, a little introspection is vital.

Here’s a simple exercise to help you in this process. Grab a piece of paper and write down the answers to the following:

• What am I struggling with?
• What motivates me?
• What kinds of tasks drain my energy?
• What do people compliment me on?
• What inspires me?

As uncomfortable as it may feel, honesty and deep thought are key here. If you’re struggling to answer these questions, try asking your friends and family for their opinions. Of course, none of the answers to these questions are set in stone and will change over time as you learn and grow. 

2. Think about how you want to be known - Once you’ve established who you are today, you can start to focus on who you want to be tomorrow. Try not to focus too much on the things you want in life, but on the habits needed to be the person who gets those things.

You can start by looking at the industry: what knowledge, reputation, and talents are needed to succeed there? Think big, but break down your bigger goals into small, achievable steps. That way, you can measure your actual progress more easily later.

3. Define your niche - Your goal should never be to try to please everyone with your brand. It’s a waste of energy and resources. Instead, focus your efforts on defining your niche and working to appeal to your specific audience.

Think of it this way: if there’s a leak in your house, who are you more likely to call: a technician or a plumber? Sure, it’s good to keep working on building your broader skills, but a well-defined niche can help you focus on taking control of a specific section of the market.

4. Optimize your social footprint - Once you’ve focused on your specific audience, ask where these people can be found and what they’re looking for. Once you’ve answered these questions, start building your online presence to answer them. Join groups, forums, discussions and track what everyone is looking for and how you can fill that void. 

5. Networking is your best friend -  The point of networking is not to try to amass a following. As impressive as it may seem, having thousands of followers won’t do you any good if no one is interacting with you. Your real goal is to create connections and foster communication.

The digital and professional worlds are constantly changing, and your brand will need to evolve with them. As your body of work grows and you grow as a person, you’ll need to adjust your brand to represent who you are. But always remember to remain authentic and unique. Once you learn to harness the power of a well-cultivated brand, you’ll be able to move forward in your career with clarity and take the steps you need to succeed.

Final thoughts 

People's needs and desires, addressed through brand communication, are both logical or rational and emotional or spiritual. Trust, integrity, pride and passion are the four emotional elements identified by William Mc Ewen as parts of the emotional capital of a brand and which directly influence the loyalty of "consumers". Therefore, the brand indicates the existence of a strong relationship between the entity owning the brand (you)  and its audience, and in branding we work, in fact, to continuously build this relationship. 

In conclusion, personal branding helps us develop as people, but also the field of activity in which we are present. Show everyone that you are a professional in what you do by telling them who you really are and what is the vision behind the message you want to convey. 

Be consistent and don't forget to remain natural, because people attract people, and the public will only follow you if they feel that your mission is above advertising.

Do you feel everything is overwhelming? At PubliWrite, we not only provide modern, built-in writing and publishing tools, we also want to help you overcome any block you encounter and get you and your work out there to the right people. Do you want to discuss more about your branding and your presence? Contact us at info@publiwrite.com and let’s get your branding to the next level!