Building your personal brand is a continuous process. It often starts with how you want to brand yourself and continues on a journey of content creation, promotion and personalization. Sometimes, you have to go back and redefine your personal brand after time. That's okay. If you think of personal branding as a cyclical process, you will always be fine-tuning your brand.
One of the constant struggles for entrepreneurs and professionals is how to make their personal brands even better. This question often springs up about 3-6 months into one's personal branding strategy. That's why it's imperative to re-evaluate your personal branding efforts every three months. Only then can you continue to improve your personal branding strategy.
Here are four elements of your personal branding strategy that you can re-evaluate to perfect your personal brand:
#1: Measure the results of your marketing plan
Every personal branding strategy needs a marketing plan. No exceptions. When you're creating your marketing plan, add metrics to see how successful your marketing efforts are. For example, if you plan on using a Facebook page for personal branding, create a spreadsheet of key Facebook Insights that you want to track, and evaluate your results at least once a month. Or, if you have a goal of growing your email marketing list, create milestones and dates to achieve them. Then, document your progress against your goals.
The idea is to stop, measure and assess all aspects of your marketing plan. Block out time every three months to look over your plan and track how you're doing. If you see something that's working great, amp it up. Conversely, if a marketing tactic is not working, consider how you can make necessary adjustments. And give yourself permission to abandon an idea that isn't working.
#2: Learn from your wins and losses
Pull out your calendar and review the past three months. Think about your activities - the content you created, the social media posts you wrote, the webinars you participated in - and ask yourself the following questions:
- Where were my areas of biggest success?
- What mistakes did I make? How can I learn from them?
- What activities were not the best uses of my time?
- If I could do something over again, what would it be, and how would I re-do it?
- What networking events can I add or subtract from my calendar?
- What topics do I need to learn more about?
- Am I getting the most out of my team?
#3: Update your marketing plan and calendar
Both your marketing plan and calendar are intended to be fluid documents. While you may have mapped out your entire year, you can always expect to make changes. After you evaluate your marketing tactics and activities, go back to your marketing plan and calendar, and revise accordingly.
You may even consider adding different types of content, such as video blogs, to your content marketing mix. Or it may be time to get started on your Pinterest account. This step is not just about revising what is already on your marketing plan and calendar; it's also about adding new tactics if it's the right time to do so.
#4: Adjust pricing, programs and offerings
If you're an entrepreneur, this fourth step is just for you. Every three months, take a hard look at your programs and services. Are you offering items that are beneficial to your ideal clients? Is it time to make any tweaks? Is it time to create a new product or service?
Additionally, evaluate your pricing. The more experience you have, the greater your demand. That means you should be able to raise your prices. Look at your current offerings, especially ones that you made available months ago. Those are the products and services that may be ideal for a price increase.
Block time on your calendar every three months without fail
Now that you know four elements of your personal branding strategy to re-evaluate every three months, it's your job to block the time on your calendar for this activity. Some entrepreneurs and professionals take a day-long "retreat" in a different location to self-assess and make new goals. Others block off one morning and hide themselves in their offices. It doesn't matter how you do it; just make sure you are taking time to perfect your personal brand. Personal branding is a constant journey. If you pause and re-evaluate your efforts, you are ensuring your personal branding journey will continue on a path of success and prosperity.