How to Profit From Your Personal Brand
How to profit and earn money from your personal brand
If you're interested in building a successful and profitable personal brand, then you've come to the right place! In this blog post, we'll discuss some tips for effectively monetizing your personal brand.
First and foremost, it's important to remember that there are many different ways to make money from your personal brand. Some of these include selling your expertise or knowledge through online courses or ebooks, advertising on your website or social media platforms, and affiliate marketing.
Another key factor to consider is the importance of building an engaged community of followers who are interested in what you have to offer.
By creating valuable content that engages your audience and continuing to build relationships with them, you will be better able to monetize your personal brand.
Another key element for success is consistency and persistence.
You'll need to continuously work on building and growing your personal brand in order to make money from it, so be prepared to put in the time and effort required.
If you're ready to dedicate yourself wholeheartedly and persistently over an extended duration, you're setting yourself up for success and profitability with your personal brand.
Discover how to effectively monetize your personal brand by enrolling in our complimentary online course, or by joining our community at our startup branding agency, where you'll connect with other driven entrepreneurs focused on cultivating their own thriving brands!
Checkout the personal branding we did for The Living by Lex Case Study and Distinct Consulting
Write, Publish, and Sell eBooks
Writing and publishing an eBook, or even a physical book for that matter, is a fantastic way to share your knowledge and expertise with the world.
Platforms like Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing and many others have made it easier than ever to publish and sell your eBooks online.
Even if that's the case, being a published author in the digital world will still build your credibility and establish you as an expert in your field.
Of course, it goes without saying that the eBook you write needs to be good.
If you're writing in the non-fiction genre, be sure to draw from your life experiences and share the knowledge you've acquired over time.
And if by doing so, you help your readers or teach them something new in the process, then you've got a great eBook in your hands.
If you've created your own website for your personal brand, then you also have the option of selling your eBook directly from there.
Keep in mind that each eBook sale is generally a small amount, so you'll need to market and promote your eBook with the goal of reaching the masses in order to generate sales continuously month over month.
Still, writing and selling eBooks can be a great way to make a profit from your personal brand.
Create Digitally Downloadable Products
In addition to writing and selling eBooks, you can create other digitally downloadable products for your audience and offer these through your website as well. Depending on your field and area of expertise, this can include podcasts, video content, how-to guides, artwork, music, audio books, templates, etc.
The beauty of offering downloadable digital products is that your consumers can access the content right away with just the click of a button. There's no shipping fees, no wait times, and no inventory for you to store and handle. Selling digitally downloadable products is a smart, consistent way to generate a steady income through your personal brand. This also encompasses selling online courses and video teachings, which we'll discuss later in this blog.
Bring in Profit by Starting a Blog
Blogging is a fantastic way to profit from your personal brand. You'll find that most personal brands will have a blog of some sort on their website. Similar to eBooks, blog posts can be a useful method for you to share your knowledge, experiences, and expertise. Blogging also shows your audience that you're staying up to date in your field and are maintaining some sort of relevancy.
Your readers will also appreciate the fact that your blogs are free to access. If you make uploading blog posts a part of your schedule, your audience will learn to revisit your website regularly for new content, generating your much needed website traffic. In addition to helping your audience, blogging can also help you by serving as a medium to express your thoughts and share your insights. Writing can often be a very therapeutic exercise, so blogging is a win-win situation.
Another option to consider is becoming a contributing or guest blogger on a website other than your own. This can help you reach an even wider audience, bringing the traffic back to your own website. If you'd like to learn more about blogging as a method of profiting from your personal brand, we looked specifically at the process of making money blogging in a previous post too.
Offer Online Courses to Generate an Income
Yet another way to share your knowledge and expertise is by creating online courses for people to enrol in. The attractive thing about online courses is that your audience can now access your teachings in a more structured format, but they still have the option to work through the lessons at their convenience. This flexibility and the overall popularity of online courses these days are sure to draw in potential clients for your personal brand. There's almost no limit to what you can teach through an online course, so the possibilities are endless and it's very likely that there will be an audience for it.
Building out and sharing your content through an online course can be fun, but it's also a little different than blogging or writing an eBook. Depending on how you want to present your online course material, you may need to take your content and structure it into lessons, modules, and/or workbooks. Perhaps you find visual learning more effective and want to go the video route instead by recording yourself teaching the lessons.
Whichever format you decide on, there are various platforms that can assist in getting your online class to the world such as Thinkific and Teachable (just to name a couple). Offering online courses is a strong way to start earning a profit from your personal brand.
Provide the Service Your Personal Brand is Known For
So far we've talked a lot about how you can share your knowledge and expertise with people in various ways. Unless your specialty is in teaching, it's likely you're writing your eBook and building your online course about how to do something. Another way to make profit from your personal brand is by providing your services and actually doing that “something” for people who are interested. For example, if you identify as a personal branding expert you can write eBooks and create courses for people to follow as they build their own personal brand, but you could also help them create their personal brand for them.
If this sounds time consuming, that's because it is. And because it's so time consuming, it should be reflected in your pricing. While downloadable digital content and online courses can reach more people and is a source for a steady income, providing a service can potentially bring in more money. You'll need to weigh the options and see if the time and energy you need to put into the service you're providing is sustainable and worth it.
Make Money From Your Personal Brand Through Coaching/Consultations
Coaching and consultations are two very different things, but both are great ways to build your personal brand as well as generate an income. Just like all of the other methods for making a profit from your personal brand, the money shouldn't be the primary focus. The goal should be to help others with your knowledge, experience, and skills. Yes, your personal brand is your livelihood and you want to make sure that it's sustainable, but depending on your field, the potential livelihood of others is in your hands as well.
This is especially true with coaching and consultations. First off, what is the difference between the two? Coaching is generally used to describe working with someone individually to develop their strengths and help them grow. Consultations are oftentimes assessments of someone's current situation, identifying any issues, concerns, or needs and determining how to move forward. Coaching and consultations are very important and shouldn't be taken lightly, but both are definitely powerful ways to make a profit from your personal brand. Consultations can even be used to determine whether your services are the right fit for the client.
Earn Money From Your Personal Brand with Affiliate Marketing
Another common way to earn a profit from your personal brand is through affiliate marketing or product endorsements. What does that even mean and how does it work?
Basically, affiliate marketing is earning a profit when a consumer purchases a product that you recommended and uses your referral link. In other words, you're receiving a commission by helping to make sales.
The most popular and widely used affiliate marketing program is The Amazon Associate Program. Influencers, bloggers, and content creators alike can all make use of Amazon's affiliate marketing program to help monetize their personal brand and website. Be mindful, selective, and most of all be honest about the products that you recommend. People are trusting your opinion and spending their money based on what you say and that fact should be respected. The types of product you endorse will also reflect on your personal brand. If you give a recommendation that turns out well for a consumer, they're likely to come back and trust your future endorsements as well.
Offer a Membership Program to Exclusive Content
Another way to profit from your personal brand is by creating a membership program that offers your audience access to exclusive content. This sort of goes hand in hand with a lot of the topics we covered above like eBooks, online courses, video content, etc. Maybe you want
to offer some of the content you create for free while having the rest of it restricted for exclusive members.
This method of making money from your personal brand can be lucrative, but only if you have a large and loyal audience. It's probably best to start off by offering and sharing your content for free initially, then bring in paid content, before finally introducing exclusive member content. That being said, even with a membership program in place, it's smart to continue to offer free products or content to bring in clients that are not ready to commit to your membership program. Patreon is a popular platform that artists and content creators use to implement a membership program.
Use Your Personal Brand to Speak at Public Events
Ah, public speaking. Are you getting cold sweats just even at the thought of speaking in front of an audience of hundreds, maybe even thousands of people? Well, you wouldn't be the only one. Glossophobia, or the fear of public speaking, is a common dread that many people share, but overcoming it will prove to be invaluable in strengthening your personal brand. For starters, speaking at a public event immediately establishes you as an authority.
Sharing your expertise at public events related to your field, such as at conferences or seminars, can potentially bring you the big bucks. If you want to make a profit from your personal brand, public speaking is something you should strongly consider. The reward isn't just the amount you'd be paid for speaking, but also the new clients you'd be able to connect with that you maybe wouldn't have been able to reach otherwise. These are the people who will potentially give your website more traffic, enrol in your online courses, purchase your eBooks, etc.
Well, what about that fear of public speaking you ask? Put in some practice and you'll slowly be able to build up your confidence. Start with friends and family or with a small crowd. Maybe try creating or speaking for a live webinar first to get the hang of the dynamic. Public speaking can be huge in helping build and monetize your personal brand.
Monetize Your Personal Brand
Hopefully you've now got a good idea and understanding of the various ways you can monetize your talents and make a profit from your personal brand.
As with most enticing things, it can be difficult to accomplish and will take a lot of dedication, but if done correctly the benefits and rewards are more than worth it.
Go out there, be brave, and build your personal brand to be profitable – the world is waiting for you to share your knowledge and expertise and they're more than willing to pay you for it!
