Who loves to fail?
No one!
But you know what, sometimes you need to fail in order to move on to the next step towards your success. I don’t like failing but I do enjoy it especially if I’m able to learn something valuable from the experience – and I’ve failed a lot in my life.
One way to avoid failure is to plan for it not to happen in the first place by being proactive.
Personal branding is no rocket science. It works when you know what you’re doing. When it doesn’t, it’s very easy to know why.
Most of the time, I believe a personal brand will fail due to these 5 main reasons:
1. Not Answering these 3 Important Questions
I recently shared on my blog 3 questions you must ask yourself before investing in your personal brand. If you want to avoid failure, please take a moment and answer them. Trust me, it will clarify things for you.
- Who am I?
- What am I trying to achieve with my personal brand?
- Why am I investing in my personal brand?
I’ve asked this question to many individuals who come to me for personal branding advice. You’d be surprised so hear how many of them have no clear idea of what they’re trying to achieve.
2. Not Having a Personal Branding Strategy
Most of the time, the first thing I see people do whenever they want to boost their personal brand is they head immediately towards social media. Although social media is truly a powerful medium for any brand, it’s simply not enough.
With any type of project, you will need a plan. You will also need to develop a strategy that will help you achieve your ultimate goals with your personal brand. It’s almost like your going fishing. You won’t catch fish wherever you go. You need to throw your line in places where fish exist and hungry for some delicious bait at the right time.
The same goes for your personal brand. If you want to attract specific individuals, you need to know exactly what they value, where they hangout and what you need to do in order to get their attention.
3. You Lack the Required Skills
Another reason why you could potentially fail with your personal branding efforts is because you lack some of the most important skills to help you achieve what you’re trying to do.
Skills related to:
- Technology
- Communication
- Writing
- Speaking
- Leadership
- Management
- Social Media
and much more…
Nowadays, there’s no excuse for not having a general idea of how to do things. There are lots of websites out there such as Udemy.com or Lynda.com which offers lots of online courses to help you learn any topic you wish get acquainted with.
I even launched my own personal branding course to help individuals learn the required skills in improving their personal brand.
4. You’re Not Seeking Help
One of the easiest ways to avoid failure is to ask for help before you even fail. It’s as simple as that.
There’s nothing wrong with asking someone for a helping hand. The challenge is ASKING SOMEONE.
Social media has made it very easy for anyone to seek help. You even have websites like Kickstarter.com that help you seek financial backing from strangers on the Internet. You can also get help from mentors or advisers. I offer help on Clarity.fm.
Remember this…don’t be shy…JUST ASK! You will be surprised to see who might come to your rescue.
5. You’re Simply Not Taking Action
Finally, this is the ultimate reason why people fail. THEY SIMPLY DO NOT TAKE ACTION.
Lots of talk, lots of planning, lots of wasting time and no real execution.
Does this remind you of someone?
- I need to launch my website
- I need to start blogging
- I really want to speak at events
- I need to improve my resume
- I have to start being more active on social media
- I need to create an account on Instagram (everyone has one)
Stop saying it and Just Do It!
So let me ask you this: what’s your reason for not spending time or money on your personal brand?