How to Embody Your Brand and Become a Role Model

When it comes to creating a brand online for a blog or website, many people will build that blog around themselves. 

In other words, if you look at the likes of Tim Ferriss, Pat Flynn, Elliot Hulse, the Hodge Twins or other big bloggers, you will see that they are partly what sells the brand and their techniques. People listen to them because they have come to trust them and because they almost feel like they know them.

Showing your face is not a necessity for any blogger but it will certainly open some more doors in regards to the marketing techniques you can use. If you want to create YouTube videos to promote your website for instance, then you will need to get in front of the camera. The same goes for podcasting. What’s more, personal brands are often more memorable, more engaging and more trustworthy and can be more effective as a result.

But what do you have to do to become the sort of person people will listen to? 

How to Inspire Trust and Authority

If you’re going to get behind the camera to talk about a certain technique, product or view, then you need to be the sort of person who can inspire the confidence of viewers and fans. Likewise, if there are photos of you on your website, then you need to ensure people see you as someone they want to learn from. How do you do this?

The first thing to do is to ensure that you embody your message. What this means, is that it should be clear to look at you that you practice what you preach and that what you do works. So if you’re selling a fitness product, you need to be strong.

Does this mean that an overweight person can’t sell a weight loss supplement? Not necessarily – but it will certainly be harder. It’s worth putting in some work to shed the weight first or choosing a different industry.

Next, you need to speak with confidence and authority. This partly means doing your research and diving into your niche. At the same time though, it also means that you need to practice speaking in front of a camera. Slow down, breathe and have a script. This will partly come with practice.

Finally though, try to stay approachable and human. The more approachable you seem, the more trustworthy you’ll appear. You want to seem inspiring and accomplished yes but not to the point that you become detached and inhuman.