One of the most difficult things for an entrepreneur to do is to apply their own personality to their business. In other words, to let your personal brand merge with your business brand.
Every entrepreneur has a personality in real life that makes them a unique individual. But for some reason, business seems to change people. Put those same personality-driven entrepreneurs in a business, and suddenly they become sterile and formal, and the businesses they own devoid of personality. That’s not good because sterile brands are not winning brands.
Comparing Personal Brands and Business Brands
If your friends were to describe you, the individual person, how would they describe you? They would use adjectives, talk about your personality, and describe some of your inherent qualities.
My friend Jordan is really creative. She is so bubbly and fun to be around. And she has such a big heart, always helping people who are having a difficult time.
Why can’t that also be a description of a business? It can, of course, if you allow your personal brand to merge with your business brand. The objective is to let your personality show to build a business that is as unique as the individual who owns it.
The Experience of You
Entrepreneurs tend to think in terms of transactions, exchanging goods and services for money. But personal brands are about the experiences and emotions shared between friends. Customers don’t go shopping for a transaction, they shop to fulfill a need. If they can also get an experience and a relationship when they do business with you, your business becomes personal and unique to them. You are their personal brand.
Think in experiences, not transactions.
Apply Your Personality
You have a powerful, personal brand when a customer describes your business with a personality trait. For example: Thoughtful, Vivacious, Warm-Hearted. But how do you get customers to describe you in that very personal way? You apply your own personality traits to your business.
Make a list of all your personality traits. Or rather, have your friends and family make the list, describing you with adjectives. Then take the list and narrow it down to the top 1-3 on the list. Of course, eliminate the ones like: cranky, sarcastic, and complacent. :)
What’s left might be list like this: Mysterious, Lively, Imaginative. Wouldn’t that be a fun place to spend money? Wouldn’t you like to get to know that business and make it your personal brand? That business could be yours. The trick is to take your best personality traits and turn them into something the customer can experience.
Give your business a personality.
So why are personal brands different from business brands? There’s no good reason.
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