Do you want to win business by being yourself? 

It is the dawn of personal branding and the early adopters are reaping the rewards. Until recently, branding has been reserved for law firm marketing departments. However, more and more lawyers are leveraging the power of personal branding to raise their profiles and win new business. This article will explain the basics of personal branding and why it’s important, particularly in the legal industry. I’ll show you how to build a personal brand, what you can use it for and provide top tips for personal branding success.  

What is Personal Branding?

Personal branding is a form of marketing that promotes people rather than businesses. Rather than leaving it to chance, you can intentionally build an impression that authentically reflects who are and in doing so, attract your ideal clients. By harnessing your personal brand, you can build trust, win clients, become an employer of choice and a thought-leader in your field. 

 PRACTICAL EXERCISE 

Grab a pen and answer the question: 

When somebody mentions your name in a professional context, what do they say? What do you want them to say?

You have a personal brand, whether you know it or not. Your personal brand is how your clients, colleagues and employees describe you. It’s a mixture of your skills, experience and personality. It’s your story and your legacy. It’s your values, your mission and the impact you make on the world around you. 

The first step in building your personal brand is a journey inward. If you don’t know who you are, how will anybody else? By completing introspective exercises, you can build an authentic personal brand – ‘authentic’ being the key word here. 

If your personal brand is an authentic and accurate reflection of you, your ideal clients will gravitate towards you. That is what makes authentic personal branding so powerful. People come to you. 

Why Is Personal Branding Important for Lawyers?

Charge more. 

58% of people will pay more for services from professionals who do not work at large companies but have a strong personal brand.

Build trust. 

74% of people are more likely to trust somebody who has an established personal brand.

Make an impact. 

82% of people agree that ‘companies are more influential if their executives have a personal brand that they know and follow’. 

Source: American consumers will spend more on companies that have a personal brand behind them | YouGov

Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X are buying differently from Boomers and lawyers need to keep up or get left behind. The next generation of leaders are looking to spend their purchasing power on people who believe in the same things. Personal branding is key to securing long-term, sustainable growth. 

Personal Branding Tips and Tricks

1. Where do I start?

Did you complete the practical exercise further up the page? Use this as a starting block for building your personal brand. Once you have defined what you want to be known for, you can develop this into an elevator pitch. Splash Branding offers personal branding coaching to help you build your personal brand. Our Deep Dive workshop begins the process with a journey of introspection, uncovering and defining the foundations of your brand. We follow up this session with a professional, unique personal brand pack. 

2. Be consistent. 

Once you know where you need to be, show up, consistently. Only about 1% of LinkedIn’s monthly users post. I recommend posting more than that but if you even post once a month consistently, you are ahead of 99% of the game. Maintaining a consistent feel with your content can be a challenge. That’s why our personal brand pack (mentioned above) is so helpful. It gives you a guide to follow.

3. Enjoy it!

If personal branding becomes a chore, you are far more likely to give it up. Different strategies work for different people. Whatever method you choose, it must fit in with your life and routine. Splash Branding can help you to find the right strategy for you. We want you to have fun with it and tailor our advice to fit your needs. 

As consumer habits change, the importance of personal branding is increasing. Personal branding empowers you to charge more, build trust and win new business. You can attract new talent by positioning yourself as an employer of choice and raise your industry influence through personal branding. Despite what some may claim, personal branding does not have to be difficult or time-consuming. It can be more effective than traditional marketing in helping you reach your goals plus, it’s more fun! 

If you want to build your personal brand but a) you don’t know where to start or b) you want your success to snowball, I’m here to help. By harnessing the power of personal branding, I brought 6-figure opportunities and high-profile press exposure to my law firm. Let me show you how. Contact me here. Not ready to work with me yet? Visit splashbranding.co.uk and subscribe to the mailing list for free tips and resources.