Why Having a Personal Brand Is Crucial to Making Money Online (and How to Build Yours) When it comes to making money online, having a personal brand plays a crucial role. Here's why and how you can start yours today.
By Dejon Brooks Edited by Chelsea Brown
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
When it comes to making money online, there are two main things you'll want to focus on. The first part is the product or service you'll be providing to your customers. This is the easy part. I'm a firm believer that you can make money selling anything. This includes things such as rocks, NFTs and bath water. With tons of no-code platforms that make it easy for creators to monetize their audience, the barrier to entry for product/service creation is at an all-time low.
The second (and hardest) part of the process is finding and building the audience to sell these products and services to. If you craft your offer correctly, there will always be a buyer ready to purchase. The challenge is just getting them to know that you exist. In this article, we are going to discuss how to set up and market your personal brand, so that you can start making your first few dollars online!
Related: 5 Steps to Building Your Personal Brand From Scratch
Part 1: Platform selection and setup
One of the most important decisions you'll need to make when starting your personal brand is the platform you are going to use. There are thousands of platforms out there, but to keep it simple, let's stick with the big ones:
Facebook
Instagram
TikTok
Email list
YouTube channel
Twitter
Reddit
Before you select a platform, you first want to define your target audience. Once this is defined, you'll next need to ask yourself "Which platform do they use the most?" I've grown communities on most of these platforms, and from my experience, I found Instagram and YouTube to be the best for most niches. Once you've figured this out, you are ready to move to part two!
Part 2: Content creation
With the rise of making money online and side hustles, there's a good chance someone else is offering the same product or service you are offering. The best way to overcome this and build trust with your future customers is through content creation. Good content tells a story, is authentic and full of value. Ensuring that your content contains all three of those elements will not only land you the sale, but will also allow you to charge more money.
Out of the platforms listed above, I specifically love YouTube. The longer you can get people to consume your content, the easier it is to sell them over time. YouTube is the perfect platform to do this on, because you can hold people's attention for longer periods.
Another tactic I love to use that makes viewers engage with my content is my Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook stories. Maintaining your stories is an easy way to showcase your life. If you have your target audience defined well, you can even showcase your life in a way that is relatable to the viewer. Uploading stories is a great way to build trust and make your personal brand stand out.
Part 3: Selling and being consistent
If you were to ask an online course owner where a majority of their sales come from, most of them will tell you that those people came from their free content looking for more information.
It's easy to turn on ads, but it's hard to convert this cold traffic due to the lack of trust. The easiest way to sell to your audience is through the free content you provide. As you are providing this free content, you want to make sure that you are pushing it out consistently, along with your upsells.
After you make your first few sales online, you'll quickly learn that it all comes down to timing. Sometimes, people are not in a position to purchase today. But if you are consistent with your content creation, you'll eventually catch that same person at the right time and land the sale. I love working with clients that come in this way, because they already know what I do, trust is established, and they have the desire to purchase. This is one of many long-term benefits of having a personal brand.
Related: How Entrepreneurs Can Grow Their Personal Brand and Actually Make Money From It
When it comes to making money online, there are no shortcuts. Sure, you can buy ads — but again, it's going to be hard converting that cold traffic due to the lack of trust. If you are serious about making money online in the long run, you need to have a personal brand, or you will likely get left behind.
