Reasons to Build a Personal Brand and Monetize your Skills

Globally, all areas and segments of life have been affected by continuous, technological advancement. Technological innovations usually gain market traction and acceptance because they make a positive impact on the lives of many people.

A "positive impact" in turn describes a value that can be divided into two categories in many cases:

1. The product helps people feel more joy
2. The product helps people ward off pain

Uber enables convenient personal transportation, alleviating the pain of cumbersome and time-consuming public transport. Uber Eats or DoorDash allow you to have food delivered to your home without the need (pain) of preparing your own food. Netflix provides entertainment (joy) through its digital range of high-quality films.

This global trend cannot be influenced or stopped as an individual. If you focus instead on what you can influence yourself, there are opportunities for you to partake in future development and in the technological revolution.

Food for thought: What skills and knowledge do you have that help other people feel more joy or avert pain?

Wherever there is value for a certain group of people (target group), there is also potential for business. It doesn't matter if you are a golf teacher, tax advisor, artist, musician, surgeon or investment advisor. With targeted digital measures, new and interesting contacts can be made with customers, perceived public reputation can be improved, and further (passive) income streams can be established. You can even enjoy more personal freedom.

Financial reasons 

For over 95% of the population the following formula applies:

Hours worked per month * Hourly wage = Monthly income 

This results in:

1. No work done, no money 
2. If you want to earn a lot of money, you have to invest a lot of time.

Example:

Carpenter A handcrafts every chair. If he needs 1 hour to produce 1 chair, he can produce a total of 8 chairs in a working day of 8 hours. Thus, there is a direct, linear exchange of labor (time) for money. 

Carpenter B owns a machine and uses it to produce chairs almost autonomously of a quality comparable to that of Carpenter A. The machines decouple the linear relationship between working time and financial result. The creation of a production machine is thus a one-time investment that produces goods over the long term and provides a recurring income stream. Your working time is "leveraged" (leverage), you have the long-term opportunity to earn more money with less time.

Digital strategies allow you to leverage your working hours and work for you even when you are asleep, 24 hours a day.

This leaves you more time for family, hobbies and further education.

Personal reasons for growth

Anyone who has a clever digital strategy catapults their own publicly perceived professional reputation to the highest level. You get access to dream clients. The quality of your network increases. This provides access to new projects and challenges that directly increase personal and professional growth. Because every new challenge implies a learning process and further development. Your personal development.

You get greater freedom due to increasing customer inquiries and growth. Also, the dependency on or necessity of unpleasant customers will be reduced. Farewell then, to customers who are no fun, or who are disruptive and cause problems. 

The art of creating your own digital world 

In my experience, it is important to take the necessary time to develop a unique digital strategy with a distinctive offer. Your unique and individual offer is based on the combination of your experiences, passions, interests and more. It is an attempt to put forth your best talents in the digital world and to create added value for others. 

This personal proposal requires a compelling story that genuinely connects and inspires people. You already have the necessary skills and experience. Throw in some vulnerability. Also, the willingness to speak from the heart and the power of emotions. Emotions play a crucial role in decision-making and buying behavior. Prospects need to feel an emotional connection to you, your company, and your products or services. Your personal story creates that connection and instills a sense of trust.

If you are looking for a step-by-step guide to build a personal brand and monetize your expertise and skills, please take a look in my free ebook (link below). Free resources are also on this website or on my social media accounts.