JW Dicks, Personal Branding Expert

Personal branding is an ongoing journey. It’s a cumulative process that allows you to create a perception of yourself as an industry expert within your marketplace. And it allows you to make a whole lot of money, as we have discussed in previous blogs and articles.

But just as your personal brand can be strengthened over time, it can also be weakened. So without any further ado, below are seven common mistakes that will undermine your branding efforts. Are you committing any of them?

1) Try to be “everything to everyone.” As a business owner, you can’t afford to lose your focus. If you’re working towards becoming Orlando’s premier tax attorney, you can’t publically shift your focus into anti-trust matters without weakening your brand. Focus on the core of your brand and stick to it!

2) Put up a “front.” An effective personal brand must be authentic. Don’t try to be someone that you aren’t. Consumers are smart and can spot an imposter from miles away. Be yourself!

3) Drift from message to message. Who are you, and what makes you distinct from your competition? Your answer to these questions should form the core of your personal brand. And it’s important that you stick to this message. If you’re constantly changing your marketing message and promoting different points of differentiation, your market won’t know what to believe.

4) Reach out to an overly broad target market. Are you sensing a theme here? Focus, focus, focus. It can be tempting to grow your market as your business grows, but focusing on too broad of a market requires watering down your brand, and that’s a losing proposition. It’s far better to master one specific niche and become an expert in the eyes of a specific target than it is to be “okay” at a number of things.

5) Don’t tell a story. If you want to bore people and tune them out, stick only to the facts. If you…