First question: Who is your target group?
Make it as narrow as possible. It’s super easy to become huge in the eyes of 200 purchasing managers at major Portuguese machinery companies. It’s super hard to stand out across all of Europe. Narrow down your target group. And then narrow it down again. Those are the people you should ask to connect with. Those are the people whose posts you might comment on. Those are the people you are addressing with your posts. Did you write your answer down? Good.
Second question: Who are you?
Write down a single, simple sentence you want them to remember about you. The one they will tell their partner at home when asked why they decided to pay you money. We want that sentence to be clear and straightforward so even a person who is not in the industry will get it. Remember those directors of purchasing from major Portuguese machinery companies? They might say something like: “He is one of the few sales guys selling mechanical components who isn’t playing mind games.” Most of us struggle to create a unique offer that is hard to refuse. In those cases, you can still have an attractive message about your approach and values.
Third question: When will you know that you have achieved that personal brand?
A great personal brand is like absolute happiness. It’s hard to achieve and even harder to keep. So instead of focusing on an ideal state of affairs, we should focus on finding an acceptable reality. That is the state where your personal brand is already bringing you regular, true value in real life ===> without costing you an irrational amount of money, time, or energy. Write that goal down. Be as specific about it as possible. For our Portuguese sales guy, it would be: “Directors of purchasing don’t hang up on me when I call. They are actually curious about talking to me. And I don’t mind investing three hours of my time weekly to keep that ball rolling.”