How to grow your personal brand as a PR professional
How To Grow Your Personal Brand for PR Pros Webinar Recap
"If you don't build your personal brand, someone will build it for you."
Ronke Lawal, Chair of our Black Women In Comms community, led a personal branding workshop, and this quote has stayed with me as it highlights the importance of developing a personal brand.
Personal branding is about actively presenting yourself, showcasing your skills, experiences, and personality, and intentionally shaping how others perceive you in your industry. It empowers you to take control of your narrative and ensures that you define your story.
Some common challenges many face when building their personal brands include:
Experiencing burnout while managing an online presence.
Expanding your network and reach effectively.
Ensuring that your brands reflect your identity and cultural background.
Fears of failure and concerns about racism and discrimination, particularly for Black women in communications seeking greater visibility in the industry
To develop a strong personal brand, it’s essential to identify your story, strengths, weaknesses, and how you want to be perceived. Ronke introduced a helpful framework summarised as CRAUT: Credibility, Reputation, Authenticity, Uniqueness, and Trust. She emphasised the importance of being disruptive and embracing your uniqueness to stand out from the crowd.
A key aspect of personal branding is staying intentional by considering the Five Ps: Purpose, Position, Progress, Profit, and Passion. First, identify your position and progress in your career (e.g., graduate, senior-level). Reflect on your past experiences to help envision where you want to go, which ties into your purpose: what do you hope to achieve in building your personal brand? Next, think about profit: how can you monetize your brand to attract clients if you're self-employed, or how can it aid in securing promotions or job opportunities? Lastly, consider your passion: what interesting topics can you discuss to engage your audience?
When defining your purpose, clarify your values and ensure they align with your goals. Determine your boundaries: what are you willing to do or not do for your personal brand? Reflect on your principles and consider the legacy you want to leave.
Personal Branding Tactics:
The following are some practical tips for developing a personal brand.
Become your own PR person: Treat building your brand like running a campaign for yourself
Say yes more often: Be an ambassador for your work and seize opportunities
Engage in public speaking: Participate in panels, podcasts, and keynote speeches to advocate for issues you care about
Expand your influence: Consider opportunities within your industry e.g. through trustee roles in organisations
Create content: Overcome your fear of being “cringe” and start creating instead of just consuming
To effectively build your personal brand, stay intentional about your long-term goals and visualise where and who you want to be. Your personal brand represents your story — what do you want to be known for? What would the title of your life's book be? On your personal branding journey, it's important to balance the effort you put in and avoid burnout, as well as between what you share and what you keep private. Building a personal brand isn't about sharing everything all the time; the key is balance and strategy.
Don't be afraid to start small and try different things as you discover what strategy works best for you. You'll surely achieve your goals as long as you remain intentional and purposeful.
If you missed Ronke’s personal branding workshop you can watch the replay here on our member hub.