9 Tips On Writing An Awesome Personal Brand Statement

As a freelancer, one of the best marketing tools you have is your personal brand. It encapsulates the value you can bring to your prospective clients. It tells people that you’re here and you’re the one who can solve their problem.

A lot can go into building a personal brand but one of the most crucial is your personal brand statement. It verbalizes, in as short as one sentence, what you do best, for whom you do it, and why you’re the best in your field.

In this blog, we’ll be sharing with you 9 things you need to know about writing a personal brand. Let’s get started!

What Is A Personal Brand Statement?

A personal brand statement is a declaration that answers three questions about you as a service provider. In one or two sentences, it sums up your value, your audience, and your unique selling proposition.

It is a distinct statement that belongs to you and no one else. You can consider it as your tagline or catchphrase that people will ultimately associate with you.

What you need to keep in mind is that your personal brand statement is more than just a job title. You can’t just say “I’m a content writer” or “I’m a graphic designer”. Sure, it tells people about what you do but it doesn’t say for whom you do it and what sets your solutions apart.

A strong personal brand statement is memorable and punchy. It should also be solution-oriented. Unlike a mission statement or a career objective, it is not meant to simply guide your business decisions.

Instead, it’s a marketing tool that neatly and creatively conveys the value you provide while creating a certain level of intrigue that makes people want to get to know you more. It helps you make a lasting impression that can lead to business opportunities in the near future.

The Benefits Of A Personal Brand Statement

It Sets You Apart from the Competition

The freelancing world is vast. Unlike working in a typical 9-5 where your only competition is a handful of people, being in the gig economy has you competing with talented folks across the globe. With a strong personal brand statement, you can stand out from the competition because you’re clearly articulating how you do things differently for your target clients.

To set yourself apart, you need to have the right tools under your belt—expertise, experience, a good track record, and of course a personal brand statement.

It Attracts the Attention of Customers

When you’re a freelancer your personal brand is the starting point for all your potential business. It helps people quickly understand what you’re all about. As a catchy statement, it grabs the attention of potential clients so you end up at the top of their mind when they think of the services you offer.

It Makes Networking Easier

When people ask what you do, answering them straight up with “I’m a digital marketer” or “I’m a web developer” doesn’t make much of an impression. This could hurt your chances of building your network.

With a personal brand statement, you can introduce yourself and your services in a snappy way that makes an impact. With a well-crafted and concise declaration of the value you provide, for whom, and who, you can spark better engagements and start meaningful conversations with your leads.

How To Write A Personal Brand Statement (with Examples)

Start by Looking Within Yourself

At its core, personal brand statement answers three questions:

• What is your service? What are you passionate about? What value are you giving to people?
• Who is your target audience? What kind of person can benefit most from your services?
• What is your unique selling proposition? What sets your solution apart from the competition? What makes you a better choice as a service provider?

These are things you can identify by working out who you are as a brand. You can play around with these three elements when writing a personal brand statement. For example, if you’re a web designer specializing in Shopify stores, your statement can be:

“I develop well-designed and personalized Shopify web stores for small business owners to help increase the online sales.”

Target a Specific Audience

Author and entrepreneur Felecia Hatcher uses the personal statement “Unleash your epicness”. 

Her choice of words capture the interest of a younger audience or what she defines as a ‘new generation of leaders”. Her work is specifically designed with this specific audience in mind and her statement reflects that as well.

If your solutions are especially appealing to a specific audience, you can leverage that in your personal brand statement. You can explicitly say it or you can follow the example above and use specific terms that your target customers can relate to.

Use a Question to Spark Curiosity

Neil Patel, one of world’s leading online marketers, uses the statement “Do you want more traffic?”

While it does not follow the general format of a personal branding statement it still works. His personal branding statement is simple. It just asks people if they want more traffic. But it works because that’s an outcome most people want.

Using a unique format, in this case a question sets him apart from the competition. It also piques the interest of the people he wants to target. It also helps that he has years of expertise in SEO and traffic creation. His personal statement banks on his reputation to reel in more clients.

Make it Reflect Your Values

Katy Martell, a marketing consultant is known for her personal statement “Unapologetic Marketing Truth-Teller”.

In just one sentence she is able to articulate her values as a professional marketing consultant. She wants to know that she values honesty more than anything and she applies that in everything she does for and with her clients.

It also shows she’s not afraid to lay down some truth bombs when needed. This makes her a trust-worthy professional whom people want to trust.

Place Your Solution at Forefront

A good personal brand statement is solution-oriented and that’s exactly what Marie Forleo’s statement is.

When you check out her website, you’ll see this statement: “Hi, I’m Marie. An entrepreneur, writer, philanthropist and an unshakable optimist dedicated to helping you become the person you most want to be.”

As a thought leader, entrepreneur, and host of the award-winning show MarieTV, her main goal is to mentor others so they can achieve their goals. This solution is highlighted in her personal branding statement.

Explain What You Do Best

Lisa Sicard, a digital content expert, uses the personal brand statement “Inspiring You to Thrive Online through Social Media, Blogging and SEO.”

Her statement is simple, straightforward, and effective since it captures what she does best. People who are looking to boost their online presence are drawn to her because it gives them an idea of what she can bring to the table.

Make it Concise

Sofia Crokos is a celebrity event planner known for her personal brand testament that reads “Sophisticated. Authentic. Timeless.”

These three simple words encapsulate what you can expect from any event she organizes. It shows how capable she is at organizing upscale events for big shot clients. While her personal brand statement is concise, it still has a strong impact. It tells you what she’s good at, who her target audience is, and what kind of unique solution she can offer.

Make it Simple

Sometimes less is more when it comes to personal brand statements. Take personal finance blogger Jessi Fearon’s statement for example. She uses the sentence “Real life on a budget.”

It’s not fancy but it tells you exactly what you need to know about her and her blog. You can tell straight away that she specializes in having a realistic lifestyle while you’re on a limited budget. You can also tell immediately that she will be giving you advice based on life events, struggles, and possibilities that her target audience can relate to.

Subvert Expectations

Brittany Berger, a leading content marketer, uses the personal brand statement “Create less content. (It’ll be fine! I promise!)”

It’s the last thing you’d expect to hear from someone who specializes in producing content but it effectively grabs the attention of people.

As you get to know her and her content solutions, you’ll understand why her statement is written that way. She believes that focusing on quality and strategy rather than on quantity is the key to effective content marketing.

Subverting people’s expectations is a creative approach to writing a personal brand statement. However, you need to make sure that your unique selling proposition justifies the shock value you’re putting out there.

It’s Your Turn!

A personal brand statement goes beyond telling people what you do. It also articulates the unique solutions that your potential clients can get only from you. It’s the ultimate marketing tool that generates brand recall so that you become top-of-mind for your target customers.

Knowing how to write a personal brand statement is important. It should reflect your value, your audience, and how you can provide a unique solution to people’s problems. It should be concise but descriptive, creative, and inimitable.

We hope the tips above can help you write the best personal brand statement that matches your personality and your business. Are you looking for more tips on how to improve your freelancing business? Check out the FreeUp blog regularly for more articles like this.