Personal branding is easily overlooked when most people start as a virtual assistant. They get wrapped up in getting established on social media, putting their service packages together, networking within their community, trying to land clients, and so much more.
And while these things are essential aspects of your business, many VAs tend to forget about personal branding altogether and the importance of having a solid online presence. They’ll slap together a logo they think best represents them and call it a day.
That’s not how it works. Personal branding is more than that.
How do you want people to feel when they come across your brand?
Who is the target audience that you’re trying to work with?
Does your branding represent you or your audience more?
These are questions to consider when coming up with your branding. If you’re starting out and have no idea where to begin, that’s fine too!
This blog will provide you with the right tools you need to start your personal brand the RIGHT way.
Your branding doesn’t need to be figured out tomorrow.
It can take time as you learn more about the services you want to offer and the clients you prefer to work with. But you shouldn’t let that hold you back from creating your brand altogether!
This is why my graphic designer, Morgan, and I created 4 ready-to-use brand kits with the Virtual Brand Studio to help you get started. You can pop in your details to whichever brand kit you choose and continue to other areas of your business.
Let’s start from the basics and work our way up! Here’s what you need to know to get your brand up and running and why it matters as a virtual assistant.
What Is a Brand?
First things first, let’s get clear on what your personal brand ACTUALLY does for your business.
In a nutshell:
- It lets people know who you are
- What you do
- What kind of services you offer
- What level of service you provide
- Your attention to detail
I’ve noticed some of my students base their brand off of their favorite colors, their favorite hobbies, what they think looks cute, but it all has nothing to do with the people they want to work with.
Some ignore their branding altogether. They think to themselves, “I’m already fully booked. I don’t need to worry about it.” WRONG!
Clients come and go. You want to make sure that your branding is up to snuff always because you never know who’s looking to work with you next.
Think of your brand as your identity in the business world. It’s what sets you apart from the competition. It’s what makes you – you.
You want your branding to attract the people you want to work with and be cohesive among your social media platforms.
Build Your Online Presence
Once you understand what a brand does for your business, you want to start building your online presence.
However, many virtual assistants (and other business owners in general) don’t realize that your branding is NOT about you.
Yes, you may want to infuse some parts of your personality into your branding, but overall, you want your online presence to be clear on what you do and who you can help.
People care more about the value you can provide them. So, how can your branding help?
1. Have a Clear Vision
As a new virtual assistant, you may not have found your voice just yet in the online world, so you’re thinking, “How the heck am I supposed to have a clear vision?”
This is a completely valid question. You better believe I’ve been there too!
Think about the words, emotions, and feelings you want people to experience when they first come across your brand? And consider the topics you know best.
Remember that establishing your brand allows others to know:
- What your business is all about
- Who you can help
- What value you can provide to other business owners
- Why they should work with you
This is all conveyed through the colors you choose for your branding, logos, images and messaging.
Ask yourself questions like:
- What do my colors represent?
- Do they define what I want my ideal client to feel?
- Do my visuals represent my brand identity?
- How am I helping my ideal client?
As a side note – Color psychology is a whole other beast to try and master if you’re going to do it all yourself. You can learn more about how color psychology and marketing work here.
2. Stand Out From the Competition
It’s easy to become influenced by other businesses and brands at the beginning instead of focusing on what makes yours unique from the rest.
Sometimes you do have to ‘fake it ’til you make it’ and THAT IS OKAY.
Imposter syndrome will kick in but have self-compassion. We weren’t born knowing this stuff, you guys! We have to start somewhere, even if it means gaining inspiration from others.
But just remember to make it your own. You are unique, whether you think so or not. Own it!
Something as simple as creating a logo can help potential clients identify you in a crowd. But picking a few colors and an image YOU like isn’t enough.
You stand out from the competition by being yourself, creating valuable content that others can benefit from, and focusing on your strengths as a business.
There’s a strategy to it and you have to know that this will take you some time.
Hiring a graphic designer comes with a hefty price tag! And most people don’t have the money to shovel out thousands of dollars when they begin their VA journey. This is what sparked the idea behind the Virtual Brand Studio.
But if you want to take a crack at it yourself, go for it! Just know that it’s essential to have some knowledge to keep in mind when you’re getting these initial assets together.
3. Establish Credibility
Imagine if you needed to hire a virtual assistant, and you came across their website or social media, and it was a mess? Colors didn’t match, fonts were unreadable, and their logo had nothing to do with their business.
Would you trust them to work on your business? Probably not.
You can tell people you’re credible all day, but do your actions or, in this case, your online presence show it?
Getting it all to look cohesive and stunning across the board shows off your professional expertise.
And the more you consistently post on social media, engage with your audience, send out your weekly newsletter, all while utilizing your branding, the more you build that connection with your audience and the more credible you become.
People work with who they trust.
If you show up consistently, providing the value THEY need (paired with your branding), people start thinking, “Hey, this girl knows what she’s talking about, and it’s SO helpful.”
The last thing I want you to do is to let your branding hold you back from moving forward in your business.
You want to show people that you know your SHIZ and that you’ve got it all together BECAUSE YOU DO!
If you can take anything away from this blog post today, let it be this:
Your branding (even though it is your business) is not about you. It’s about the audience you’re trying to attract, your ideal client, and who YOU want to work with.
So, if you’re ready for million-dollar branding without the million-dollar price tag, check out our Virtual Brand Studio.
