Look at anyone who's crushing it in business and life and you'll usually see it's not just their business that's doing well; they also have a powerful personal brand. These veteran entrepreneurs share their top strategies to supercharge your personal brand. In the process, you'll create diehard customers who buy from you for years to come.
1. Turn yourself into a superstar.
The best way to build your brand is to become a freakin' superstar where you are. Quarterback Tom Brady became so unbelievable the New England Patriots built the entire franchise around him. Don't try to go out and build a name. Your name is only as good as your accomplishments. —
2. Publish, publish, publish.
Publish books, articles in top publications, video, etc. These tools build your credibility, make you stand out from your competition and enhance your reputation. Before publishing my first book, I helped build the brands of major celebrities like Tony Little and Billy Mays. Although I was able to raise their profiles tremendously, no one knew who I was. That's when I knew I had to start publishing my own content so that I could build my brand and propel myself into new markets. Make it a goal to publish your own book, but start small with articles, features and digital magazines. —
3. Pretend you're making a blockbuster show.
Most people try to build their personal brand through random social-media posts about whatever is going on in their life. But your most important strategy is to tell great stories, same as blockbuster shows like Game of Thrones do. Start with something catchy—I posted a Lamborghini YouTube video that went viral, for instance.
Like all great stories in a movie or book, there's rarely just one character. There's a central plot with drama, suspense, surprise, character development and some form of resolution—that's how the Kardashians became a colossal brand. It's more than just Kim Kardashian; it's the family, their history, the people they date, and even the bodyguard. My Snapchat feed is never just about me, and your personal branding should never just be about you. Create great stories by consistently posting about the main people in your life (e.g. spouse, kids, dog and gardener). —
4. Publish your own report.
Publish an industry statistical report and name it after yourself. Reporters and producers always need statistics to back up the stories they want to write or produce, so give them the statistics and they'll give you the quote. When I first published The Corcoran Report on the NYC real-estate market, it was based on only 11 sales but it put me on the front page of the New York Times as the industry expert. —
5. Speak everywhere your audience attends.
Nothing builds a personal brand more than adding massive value to your audience via education. Speak at events, webinars, conferences and hangouts. Create a master list of people hosting these get-togethers in your network. Create a simple communication approach: reach out to them and include your testimonials, credentials and track record. Then, get out there and speak, educate and add value. Your personal brand will begin to grow, along with your audience and revenue. —
6. Make it personal.
Everyone is unique in their own way and people like to connect with other genuine people. Share your story. I share my story often about how I started at 14 years old and went nearly bankrupt twice before reaching my current success. —
7. Get in the best shape of your life.
Maximize your physical health. When you feel great, you're in a great mood and that shines through allowing people to fully resonate with you. Looking great with a healthy glow and a brain that performs at 10X gets everyone's attention. —
8. Get in front of your audience, consistently.
The biggest thing you can do to enhance your personal brand is get in front of people regularly. Speak at events, run your own events, distribute marketing videos of yourself. By doing this, your own personal brand will grow as people will begin associating you with your product or service instead of just your company. —
9. Live stream daily on Facebook.
Seth Godin says the best way to create a brand is through creating trust in the marketplace. To create trust, you must gain attention and add value. For me, there is no substitute for Facebook Live. If you're not doing a live stream on Facebook Live every day with content and value, you're leaving a lot of value on the table and getting left behind. —
10. Improve by one percent every day.
If you can improve every single thing you do throughout the day by just one percent, then the collective gains add up to something incredible. By adopting this concept of marginal gains, you are going to start making better decisions and, over time, those continuous improvements will positively enhance your life and image more than almost anything else you could do. —
11. Create brand-building systems.
It's important to develop systems that consistently build and reinforce your brand—no matter how busy you are. Depending on your business, you'll likely need systems for publishing fresh blog content, pursuing speaking engagements, and networking regularly. But your system needn't be complex, it could simply be adding "social media" to your daily calendar, and "write blog entry" to your weekly schedule. —
12. Find and nurture your tribe.
Gaining the trust and relationships necessary to build a personal image comes from years of intentional and purposeful execution. It's built off a small, loyal tribe of people who took your advice and made money with it. My tribe was built from the ones I coached who took massive action. There were a few I invested more time in because I saw potential to make them successful. The result? Viral word of mouth about my willingness to truly see people succeed, and knowledge of a particular skillset in ecommerce that was in demand.