3 Tips to Augment Your Personal Brand

You’ve probably heard the importance of personal branding time and time again. But how do you actually go about doing it? First, let’s start with what a personal brand is. Someone’s personal brand is what the world sees them as. It’s the largely-perceived impression of one’s experience and expertise. A good personal brand can be the differentiator between a customer choosing you over a competitor, or remembering you over someone with similar interests.

Crafting this perception takes time and technique, and is something Fares Ksebati has mastered. After founding MySwimPro in 2014 and successfully building a recognizable brand, Fares has 3 tips for aspiring founders:

Show Up (At the Right Places)

“90% of success is showing up. We’ve heard that one before, right?” Ksebati says with a laugh, “But where you show up is actually important. You need to figure out your market, figure out where they’d be, and make your appearances there.”

Ksebati has done over 100 public speaking engagements.

“Talking about your journey is crucial for building a following, getting customers to back your mission, and simply being recognizable when you want to build partnerships, recruit great talent, and drive revenue.”

Be Yourself

“This is definitely cliche, but don’t try to be like everyone else. The fact is – you can’t stand out as a brand by copying others.”

Ksebati encourages founders to channel their unique strengths and be as authentic as possible, as much as possible. His passion for swimming led him to create MySwimPro in the first place. Thus, doing something you love is a great way to bring the most genuine version of yourself to the table when telling your story.

Be Consistent

Fares wears a white sports coat to every speaking event.

“It could be a sports coat, or it could be a Hawaiian shirt. It really doesn’t matter. As long as its consistent, and something people will grow to associate with your brand.”

He also emphasizes being consistent with messaging and interactions to customers.

“Once you’re past development, it’s almost never good to go on stealth mode. When you’re operating, constantly be vocal.” Ksebati’s monthly newsletters keep his following in the loop on where MySwimPro will head next.