🤔 Personal brand or business brand? For some of you, the answer is easy, for others, it may not be clear what the best fit is.
Let’s explore what they both mean and the pros and cons so e can determine which one could be right for you.
What’s Personal Branding?
Personal branding is all about YOU.
It’s the spotlight that shines on your unique story, personality, and values.
Think of it as building a brand around yourself—your experiences, your vibe, and your lifestyle. But don’t let that intimidate you or make you feel icky. Many of my clients aren’t super comfortable being the centre of attention. I like to think about it like we are showing a piece of our heart to the world so we can create an emotional connection and differentiate ourselves in a crowded market.
Just because you’re building a personal brand doesn’t mean you should make your whole website all about you. Your personal brand should still speak to your ideal clients problems and desired transformation just as much as it talks about your story. The two should go hand-in-hand.
👉 Personal branding is especially powerful for coaches, creatives, authors, speakers, and therapists to name a few categories.
Is personal branding just for solo practitioners?
Not necessarily! Many of my clients have a handful of staff helping them run the operations and are still the face of the brand as the founder who people know and love
Is it only a personal brand if your business name is your first and last name?
No! Even if your business isn’t named after you, it can still be deeply personal and feature your face, stories, life and values as the founder.
Take my business, Soul Stirring Branding, for instance.
While it’s not my name, it reflects my values and the kind of clients I love working with.
Why Choose Personal Branding?
Personal branding helps you build trust and establish credibility.
It allows for flexibility as your business evolves and can make you stand out in a crowded market. When people are buying “you” as the person behind the brand it gives you some flexibility to follow your intuition on your business path even if it evolves. If you make your business name your personal name it makes it even more flexible.
For example, my client Kathryn Hocking started as a launch strategist and now her business is centred around business astrology. Her personal brand “Kathryn Hocking” gave her the flexibility to jump to a totally different industry without any trouble.
Soul Stirring Branding has a very specific niche industry in the business name so it would box me into a corner if I ever wanted to switch to a new focus. Luckily, that hasn’t happened yet! There are, of course, plenty of positives to having such a clear point of difference as your business name to stand out, so I don’t regret it!
Another example would be my client Laura who operated as “Massage By Laura” for many years until she had a service offering that went far beyond just massages. She was doing Reiki and running lots of different holistic events in her Loft space. This was pigeonholing her and didn’t reflect her business as a whole. So we rebranded her to “Enlightened Elephant Wellness Loft,” reflecting her business’s growth and new direction.
What’s Business Branding?
Business branding, on the other hand, focuses on creating a brand persona that resonates with your target audience. It’s less about the individual and more about the brand’s identity and style. This approach can make your business seem larger and more professional.
Benefits of Business Branding:
- May make you seem bigger: If you don’t like the idea of seeming small-scale and want to give the impression you’re more established, a business name and “team” image may help.
- Scalability: Business branding can be more adaptable as your company grows and evolves.
For example, my client Private Label Skincare initially centred around its founder, Caryna, and used “I” on the website but later shifted to a broader business brand as the company expanded. We switched the language to “we” and shared the team members so clients wouldn’t always expect the founder to be the one picking up the phone.
Choosing between personal and business branding depends on your goals and preferences. Personal branding offers a deep, authentic connection, while business branding provides a broader, more professional appeal. Consider how much of yourself you want to incorporate into your brand and how it aligns with your business vision.
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