Being an entrepreneur can be scary, especially when it comes to developing a personal brand. I hear you, and I’ve been there! You may doubt your abilities and preferences but don’t worry, it is possible to put a personal touch on your brand while aligning with your truth. In this post, you’ll learn simple ways to create an authentic brand with ease. Here are my tips that will help you approach each opportunity with an open mind, align with your truth so it can be conveyed in your brand, and allow yourself to be just who you are so maintaining your brand image will be easy.

When faced with developing a personal brand, you want to be creative while infusing your personality. It’s difficult when you don’t really know yourself and what ends up happening is you try to impress others rather than expressing your own desires. You lose the “you” in your brand.

It’s scary and can be stressful. The brand development process will force you to step out of your comfort zone, face uncertainty, and expose parts of yourself that you usually keep hidden. It can be difficult and scary but, if you don't move forward in life (and in business) you will end up feeling stagnant and stuck so ... take a chance, make some difficult decisions and trust the outcome!

When I went through this adventure, my business felt stagnant ... it needed help ... it needed a face-lift. I had to face the uncertainty of exposing parts of myself I usually kept hidden in order to get it back on track - can you relate? Are there parts of yourself that you prefer to keep hidden? I hear you - some things I used to hide are now expressed in my logo - my signature (very personal) and an elephant mandala (I LOVE elephants!).

Thank goodness I found a great developer who specialized in bringing out the authenticity in businesses. They helped me tease out the message I really want to convey. A message I felt good about and felt comfortable keeping up moving forward as it is important to make sure your branding is something that will be easy for you to maintain.

I consider myself pretty self-aware and was OK with the people I knew ‘seeing’ the real me - but when it came to a larger audience - I really wasn't sure. Do you find that too? It’s feels safe to be seen by those you know, doesn’t it?

In order for me to move forward with my personal growth and my business growth I had to face my own fears and make difficult choices for my personal branding without knowing the outcome. But I’m here to tell you that the most important thing I learned was that there was a sense of freedom gained in just allowing myself to be who I am!

Here are some tips to help you through your journey of personal branding:

ALLOW YOURSELF TO JUST BE WHO YOU ARE

It’s amazing how you see yourself and how it can be different from how others see you. When you are able to accept who you are, just as you are, you will be able to take an essential step to aligning with your true purpose in life. Drop your guard and accept who you are unequivocally.

ALIGN WITH YOUR TRUE PURPOSE

If the business image you are portraying feels phony – it probably is! And, what’s even worse is that others will be able to feel that it isn’t authentic. One way to market yourself well is to align with your true purpose, find things that make your heart sing and lean into those feelings. Then, trust in the power of the universe and don’t live something that you are not!

EMBRACE UNCERTAINTY

This means letting go of images you may have of yourself and trust that others can see your essence without all of the fluff. Then, work to bring out that essence in your life and in your marketing. If you’re feeling a bit anxious, check out this post.

HAVE COURAGE TO TRY SOMETHING NEW

You can do this by releasing your need for control. Trust that you don’t need to know all of the details and be open to trying something new. Living life and building your brand means allowing new opportunities to come in to your life, and if you are willing to try something new, the possibilities are endless! Trust me - letting go of control isn't easy so take one little step at a time.

BELIEVE IN THE TALENTS OF OTHERS

This is a big one! Make sure you are comfortable with whom you hire to help you with marketing then, let go of the reigns. Even though I crave certainty and control I had to admit that I was out of my element when it came to personal branding. Another tip for you is that if you hang on too tightly to your ideas, you will limit the creative potential in others.

That’s it! Make your personal branding journey easier by following the tips above so you can align with your true purpose in life. Embracing uncertainty is part of life so why shouldn't it be part of your business. Let yourself feel the uncertainty as you go through the process of creating a new look for your business. Don’t worry, try something new and if you do end up hiring someone to help you build your brand, make sure you are fully comfortable with them. I’m glad I did it and now know that I am now putting the real me out there in my business and it makes it a whole lot easier to live up to what’s been created.