INTHEBLACK December 2021 - Magazine - Page 63
Above: Andrew Ford,
personal branding
expert
Above: Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, is said to have built his company’s
brand based on personal values.
Right: Over the last year, TV personality Ellen DeGeneres has faced several allegations
of staff harassment and a toxic work environment, causing her personal brand to suffer.
don’t help stand out in a crowded field and may even
smack of insincerity.
Taylor asks clients to identify which well-known
personal brands inspire them (she says that Michelle
Obama and Richard Branson are among the most
commonly cited). However, in order for a personal
brand to be effective, it must be authentic. Aspiration
is one thing – consistency is another.
“You can’t fake your personal brand. We don’t make
a brand for somebody out of thin air – we ‘dig into’ the
person to see what’s inside and then extract the brand
out,” says Ford.
Anderson agrees, saying, “Just be yourself, but make
conscious choices about what your goals are in the
next six to 12 months.
“Let’s say an accountant has the goal of working with
businesses that have a turnover of A$100 million – up
from the A$50 million clients they usually work
with. That means that the branding and positioning
need to look a little bit different, but you’re not
suddenly having a personality transplant. It’s about
aligning the messaging and connecting with the
problems that A$100 million business owners tend
to have.”
In Anderson’s experience, accountants tend to
undervalue their expertise and play down how they
can help others.
“I asked my accountant client the other day, ‘What
is the most common question you are asked?’, and
she told me that it’s whether someone can buy a
car through their business. That is understandable,
because it is quite a mark of status. I told her that
she should write the answer as a piece of content in
“YOU CAN’T FAKE YOUR PERSONAL BRAND. WE
DON’T MAKE A BRAND FOR SOMEBODY OUT OF THIN
AIR – WE ‘DIG INTO’ THE PERSON TO SEE WHAT’S
INSIDE AND THEN EXTRACT THE BRAND OUT.”
ANDREW FORD, PERSONAL BRANDING EXPERT
a blog post. She was incredulous that people
would be interested to read it.”
PRACTICAL FIRST STEPS
Social media is an effective means of communicating
your personal brand. However, Ford believes that
nowadays less is actually more.
“You don’t need to be on every single social media
channel. What you really need is a thoughtful way
of helping a specific market. You almost want to
be a little bit discoverable. You want to be like that
restaurant that doesn’t have a huge sign outside, but
people go there and then tell others about it.
Ford suggests starting out with blogging, as blog
posts are straightforward to produce and costeffective. Create regular content that will be helpful
to your target market. That builds goodwill and, in
turn, makes potential customers more likely to support
your business.
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Being You from
the CPA Library
intheblack.com December 2021 63