Building a Strong Personal Brand: Enhancing Credibility and Reputation

In this assignment, the author outlines their strategy for building a strong personal brand as a successful personal shopper. They emphasize the importance of effective communication and listening to clients' needs, which will help them develop long-lasting relationships. The author also plans to utilize digital technology to create a social media presence on LinkedIn and Instagram, where they will share leadership pieces, thoughts-provoking content, and promote their products. This will enable them to increase viewership, attract more subscribers, and boost sales revenues. Ultimately, the goal is to establish themselves as a charismatic personality with a strong online presence.

Running head: PERSONAL BRANDING
Personal Branding
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
1. Description of Future Job...................................................................................................2
2. Self Analysis.......................................................................................................................3
3. Social Networking Profile..................................................................................................4
4. Conclusion..........................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
Personal branding refers to the practice of the people and individuals marketing
themselves and branding their respective careers. It helps entrepreneurs and individuals in
establishing a good impression or image in others’ minds. This helps an individual to
recognize the field they are expert in, while establishing their credibility and reputation. An
individual can differentiate himself/herself from others, which in turn helps in building self
confidence (Khedher, 2014).
The report throws light how personal branding helps in developing, refining and
deploying one’s one personality. It helps in establishing an image of a person by creating a
good impression in others’ minds. It involves the way a person discloses himself/herself and
the transparency plays a major role in this (Vallas & Cummins, 2015).
In this report, I have discussed about myself and my future plans, that is, the
profession I want to pursue after my graduation. I have investigated four platforms of social
media, that is, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, in order to get an idea about the
best one for publishing my profile. Moreover, it includes a brief analysis about my own self
and the reasons why business partners or employers would get the right impression about me.
My first and foremost plan is to start a costume jewelry business in Sydney. Along with that,
I would also like to make my career in personal shopping.
1. Description of Future Job
Personal branding helps in managing the impression and reputation to create a good
impression in someone’s mind. It involves self disclosure, therefore, requires transparency
and honesty to maintain the credibility. Personal branding helps one to understand

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himself/herself better, as a result, helps in building one’s personality. At times, it can also be
called self positioning (Karaduman, 2013).
I want to start a business of costume jewelry in Sydney after completing graduation.
Different designs of earring, necklaces, pendants and bangles will be manufactured. All the
products will have unique designs which will differentiate it from other jewelers of the city,
attracting more and more customers. Initially, the size of the jewelry shop would be medium,
depending on the capital. The customers will have a wide range of costume jewelry offerings
to choose from. They will also have the facility to customize the items based on their choice.
Moreover, the design of a shop highly matters in order to attract people. The shop will have
colorful lights all over, along with wall arts as I love painting.
Along with that, I would also like to become a personal shopper, since I have a great
fashion sense. My passion for fashion will help me inspire others to look good and feel best.
Every individual have their own sense of style and fashion; and with my strong passion
regarding the fashionable products and fashion industry would help me become the best one.
I have a great knowledge about products and recent trends, which will surely help me achieve
my goals. I have full confidence in leading each and every customers or clients to have their
best shopping experience ever.
2. Self Analysis
Starting a business is an important career step. The first and foremost step an
individual needs to undertake before starting a new business venture is to decide what type of
entrepreneur he/she wants to become. It is important to have a clear understanding on the
type of business a person hopes to acquire. It can be an independent business or buying a
franchise or a corporate enterprise. In my opinion, starting an independent venture is more
beneficial, as the business type fits my personal as well as business goals. I would like to

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become an independent business owner as I don’t want to work under someone’s authority
(Ward & Yates, 2013). I will have the freedom to change the products, services and business
pattern anytime, based on my own personal choices and desires, keeping in mind the
fluctuating market conditions. I will have the authority over the investment timings and
decisions depending on the capital. Therefore, this will give me the accessibility to expand
my business anytime I want, after doing a detailed homework or research work regarding the
background of my business (Nolan, 2015).
Moreover, my knack for fashion and products will help me become a successful
personal shopper. My great communication skills will help me develop a deep and a long last
relationship with my clients. I believe listening to the client’s demands and desires is more
important than imposing one’s own ideas. This will help me understand what they actually
want. Therefore, building a strong client base will become easier for me (Renko et al., 2015).
Furthermore, I will have certain advantages regarding my lifestyle, since I am a family
oriented person. It will be my choice when and where to work, as a result, it will help me
spend quality time with my family. I can have a creative freedom and satisfaction by
implementing new ideas and skills, while watching the business succeed (Leitch, McMullan
& Harrison, 2013).
3. Social Networking Profile
Digital technology offers ample amount of opportunities for setting up one’s personal
profile. In the era of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, self marketing has become
easier and broader. In my opinion, Twitter accounts are more professional; therefore, gaining
a fan base in the beginning is difficult. After a thorough investigation of the four social
networking sites, I have decided to choose LinkedIn and Instagram to publish my profile, as
these are the most suitable ones, according to me. In my LinkedIn profile, I am going to

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present myself as a hard headed businessman and a voracious entrepreneur. Along with that
posting thoughts about leadership skills and qualities weekly, will help me promote myself on
a long run (Koryak et al., 2015). First thing that is to be kept in mind is the impression,
therefore, selecting a professional profile picture and definitely not some unprofessional
selfie, will be impactful. This might require help from some professional photographer, but
the results will worth the effort. The headline of the profile will be the job summaries with an
impactful title, which will help others, differentiate my job profile from the competitors
(Wetsch, 2012).
Posts must be strictly based on leadership pieces and thoughts provoking content. In
the meantime, I will be able to promote my products, by announcing discounts and offers,
upcoming events, contests and others. Publishing regularly will benefit me in several ways by
increasing the number of viewers, attracting more and more subscribers, brand recognition
and increasing sale revenues (Salpeter, 2013). Usage of professional keywords like
entrepreneurship, voracious businessman, leader and others will surely help in enhancing my
personalized marketing strategy. This will help me gain some prospective clients over
LinkedIn. Maintaining the image will reflect the professionalism and communicate subtle
hints regarding my personality and attitude. Moreover, since I have a creative mind I will
choose some background images that will contain my organization’s brand colors (Dutta,
2012).
Similarly, setting up an account on Instagram will benefit me in a huge way. Firstly, I
can promote myself as a hard hitting entrepreneur, which will gain me more and more
followers. I will present my account with my favorite quotation, “Dream big to make your
dreams come true. Let us get addicted to bettering ourselves”. Huge fan base will help me
gain media attention. In my opinion, not all can become a successful entrepreneur, but an
entrepreneur can rise from anywhere. Moreover, I can promote my products on Instagram to

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attract my customers. It will help me sell my products on a global platform (Philbrick &
Cleveland, 2015). It enables digital marketing, which will help me reach the international
customers. Web technology helps in improving the business marketing and reach to the
furthest corners. Online purchases would help the business getting international acclamation,
it should be tracked and checked whether any customer is facing any kind of problem or not,
on a daily basis. Customers can give their feedback also and it will help me regulate their
demands and desires (Morgan, 2013).
Publishing a clear idea regarding myself, on these two platforms, would help me get
right impression of the business partners, non potential employers and my followers.
Moreover, after gaining success from these two platforms, I will open my own Facebook
page and promote myself as well as my brand. Facebook is widely used and most popular
among the teenagers. It will help me gain more followers and self marketing can be done in a
huge way. Setting up private groups will be a part of my strategy, to directly connect with my
clients (Harris & Rae, 2012).
4. Conclusion
To conclude, personal branding is more like building a charismatic personality. It is
important to think about oneself as a brand. This helps an individual to recognize the field
they are expert in, establishing the credibility and reputation, while advancing their career
and building self confidence at the same time. It helps in establishing an image of a person by
creating a good impression in others’ minds. Therefore, it involves the way a person discloses
himself/herself and the transparency plays a major role in this.
Auditing one’s online presence helps in keeping track of the followers’ type and
attitude. Having a secured personal website helps in ranking an individual’s name on search
engines. Moreover, a person should always find new and creative ways to promote

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himself/herself. He/she must have a control over what he likes shares and comments on the
social media, as it plays a big role in shaping his reputation. Hence, in order to create a strong
impact on others, individuals should utilize the social networking outlets in order to brand
themselves.

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References
Dutta, S. (2012). What’s your personal social media strategy. Harvard business
review, 88(11), 127-130.
Harris, L., & Rae, A. (2012). Building a personal brand through social networking. Journal of
Business Strategy, 32(5), 14-21.
Karaduman, İ. (2013). The effect of social media on personal branding efforts of top level
executives. Procedia-social and behavioral sciences, 99, 465-473.
Khedher, M. (2014). Personal branding phenomenon. International journal of information,
business and management, 6(2), 29.
Koryak, O., Mole, K. F., Lockett, A., Hayton, J. C., Ucbasaran, D., & Hodgkinson, G. P.
(2015). Entrepreneurial leadership, capabilities and firm growth. International Small
Business Journal, 33(1), 89-105.
Leitch, C. M., McMullan, C., & Harrison, R. T. (2013). The development of entrepreneurial
leadership: The role of human, social and institutional capital. British Journal of
Management, 24(3), 347-366.
Morgan, M. (2013). Personal branding: Create your value proposition. Strategic
Finance, 93(2), 13.
Nolan, L. (2015). The impact of executive personal branding on non-profit perception and
communications. Public Relations Review, 41(2), 288-292.
Philbrick, J. L., & Cleveland, A. D. (2015). Personal branding: building your pathway to
professional success. Medical reference services quarterly, 34(2), 181-189.
Renko, M., El Tarabishy, A., Carsrud, A. L., & Brännback, M. (2015). Understanding and
measuring entrepreneurial leadership style. Journal of Small Business
Management, 53(1), 54-74.

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Salpeter, M. (2013). Social networking for career success. Learning Express.
Vallas, S. P., & Cummins, E. R. (2015). Personal branding and identity norms in the popular
business press: Enterprise culture in an age of precarity. Organization Studies, 36(3),
293-319.
Ward, C., & Yates, D. (2013). Personal branding and e-professionalism. Journal of Service
Science (Online), 6(1), 101.
Wetsch, L. R. (2012). A personal branding assignment using social media. Journal of
advertising Education, 16(1), 30.