What You Absolutely Should Avoid When Building Your Personal Brand

Mastering the art of presenting yourself and your work to your audience is crucial.

Yana Peskary

Founder of the branding studio “Essence.”

People often ask me if an ordinary person can create and develop a personal brand. From my experience, the answer is yes! The key is not to confuse brand-building with mere showmanship. A brand is a carefully crafted image that generates profit in business. Personally, I feel my brand like a second skin. It’s very important to me how my professional work is perceived. Some may call it vanity, but for me, it’s essential feedback.

A brand isn’t created just for its own sake; it promotes real activities. Many talented individuals excel at what they do, but only their close circle knows about it. Uncle Mike is a tinsmith, Aunt Svetlana is a tutor, and the guy upstairs refills printer cartridges. These people risk remaining unknown forever if they make common mistakes.

1. Staying Silent

Not everyone is naturally eloquent, but that’s no reason to stay silent about your work. You can craft a concise commercial pitch for everyday people. In English, this is called an elevator speech. For example, "Svetlana Viktorovna, a tutor with ten years of experience preparing students for standardized tests."

You need to skillfully integrate your elevator speech into conversations with new people. It’s challenging only the first few times; afterward, it will sound natural. Have you noticed that many surnames originated from professions, like Smith or Carpenter? In the past, a person was often defined by their trade — and that was right!

2. Being Pushy

This is a common mistake in network marketing. When someone shows interest, they immediately try to make a sale and follow-up sales. The potential client hasn’t even recovered from the first purchase when they’re offered a second and third. The customer slips away, and the seller is left empty-handed.

A small business can’t grow without organic client flow. Instead of aggressively pushing old leads, focus on attracting new ones. If your clients are also your friends, this advice is even more important. Some clients need a gentle nudge, but this shouldn’t become a routine. Trust your instincts.

3. Flooding with Empty Content

I’m referring to excessive selfies, repetitive ads, and mindless reposts. Social media algorithms now quickly hide creators of meaningless content. So, think through your concept and invest in a creative photoshoot. One quality photo a day is enough for your audience. If you have a lot of high-quality material, spread it out evenly like butter on bread.

4. Working for Free

Working without pay is acceptable only in the learning phase (gaining experience, reviews, and learning from mistakes). If you deliver flawless work, ask for feedback immediately; if not, keep refining your skills. If you only accumulate mistakes with no progress over time, have the courage to let go.

Not all feedback will be glowing, but it confirms your engagement with your audience. I once saw a funny tweet: "Bought a fidget spinner — expected more." I still don’t know what she expected, but at least she has the spinner.

5. Distrusting Advertising

I often hear: "We tried advertising ourselves — it doesn’t work."

Ironically, professionals are hired to secure warehouses, yet advertising strategies are often DIY, leading to the conclusion that ads "don’t work." Even classified ads in local papers are sometimes skipped because the cost (shockingly) is slightly above zero.

Remember: if your business is still small, advertising is your primary investment.

Conclusion

Developing a personal brand is essential. Many modern business models rely on charismatic leadership. Even in today’s capitalist world, societies need their heroes, making business more transparent and public. Feeling the eyes of people on you increases your responsibility for what you say, do, and write. That’s why I’m reaching out and eagerly await your feedback.

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