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In the startup world, building a brand or having good branding for a business is something almost everyone agrees is essential. People talk about it, read about it, write about it, and we see great (and not-so-great) examples of it constantly. The branding of a startup, or a well-established large corporation for that matter, is what lets a company speak with its audience. Good branding connects a company, and its service or product, with its customer base, makes them feel emotions through storytelling, and can create a community among their users. 

But what about personal branding? 

The concept of personal branding is one that is starting to pick up more and more buzz. In the Female Founders community it is definitely a topic that we are focusing a lot of attention on: in the Lead F – leadership accelerator for women there is always a session focused on developing the participants’ personal brands. the Female Founders, also have recently unveiled their new Female Fund which is a 20 million Euro fund to help the European startup ecosystem get support for more gender-diverse founders. If you have a focus on Climate tech, Femtech, Healthtech, Fintech, or HR tech you should definitely look into pitching your innovation to them!

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The topic was also brought up often in our flagship event Lead Today. Shape Tomorrow. 2021, and in a smaller Everything About event this past December. We even made an Instagram how-to post

But if you haven’t participated in one of our programs, or been to an event where the speaker is focusing on the topic, it can be tough to really know what is personal branding.  Why is it so important, especially for women? And what can you do to make sure your personal brand is on point? 

What is personal branding? 

There are a lot of misconceptions about what a personal brand is. I myself am not an expert but Christina Richter is, and when she led a session on it for the Lead F participants, she began answering this question by talking about what personal branding is not. Your personal brand isn’t about selling yourself or self-promotion, it’s not about your current career or position. 

It’s much much more than this. Your personal brand includes it all: your career path – both previous experiences and goals for the future – your skillset, your expertise, and know-how in specific fields. It’s your values and beliefs, your voluntary commitments, hobbies, or free time activities and interests. It can even involve small details like the colors you wear to business events or meeting with external partners. 

Your personal brand is what sticks in people’s minds about you when you’re not around. Everyone has a personal brand to some degree whether you put effort into it or not. That’s one of the reasons why it can be so important to pay attention to your personal brand and work on branding yourself in the best way possible. 

Why is personal branding so important?

As I said, everyone has a personal brand, if you have a Linkedin profile or any sort of online presence… you guessed it: that’s an example of personal branding. So optimizing your Linkedin profile or any other account, and making sure your branding is communicating what you want it to communicate, is key. But why is this so important? 

A great personal brand means that you have a great reputation within your field. A good reputation translates to your skills, talents, and interests being known. The more you grow awareness of your reputation and the more people know about what you are great at the tasks or projects you like doing, or the topics you know a lot about the more you will be thought of or suggested for new exciting opportunities. 

For female professionals, good personal branding will help build a great network, and more importantly, find a mentor or sponsor. Research shows that professionals with a well-established personal brand are 23% more likely to have a sponsor in their career. Having this senior person throughout your development can be crucial to progressing and reaching the positions and milestones you have set for yourself. 

For female founders and entrepreneurs, both of the above two reasons apply but there is one more huge reason for personal branding: it can be the key (or at least one of them) to getting funding. Especially in the early stages of fundraising, investors are deciding if they trust the founders and believe they have what it takes to make their venture a success. Having a well-known positive reputation in your field can be a huge advantage in this situation.

Why is Personal Branding especially important for female entrepreneurs and talent? 

If you read my last article posted on the wecanbeheroes.io platform about diversity and inclusion, you know that there are way fewer women in management positions, and way less funding goes to female-led startups. Does anyone else see a pattern here? – these are two of the major reasons to focus on developing an incredible personal brand. 

But unsurprisingly, women are far less likely to develop their personal brands. Of course, this is not true of all women, but women struggle more than men when it comes to being confident in developing their personal brand. Women are often less likely to speak about their accomplishments in public or talk about success they have had and are proud of.

Women also tend to use “we” instead of “I”, this means when a woman talks about a win she or her team had she will credit everyone involved whereas men will often use I, crediting only themselves by default. One more reason some women are not as quick to develop their personal brand is that research shows women often see success as the opposite of likeability. 

There is no doubt, these struggles can be largely credited to the societal stereotypes and unequal treatment that women receive in workplaces. These things are slowly changing but there is still a long way to go. That being said, women can and do help push these changes faster by going against the norm and showing off their incredible skills, talents, and achievements. But how? Glad you asked! 

How can you develop your personal brand? 

As I said before, at Female Founders we focus on this topic a lot, in our accelerator programs, events, and more. From all of the expert speakers, deep-dive sessions, and shared resources, I have put together a little list of tips to rock your personal brand. 

  1. Start defining your personal brand by asking yourself: what do I want to be known for? 

You can even take this one step further. Think about if you were speaking at a big conference or event. What would the title of your talk be? What lessons could you teach people? What expertise would you be sharing? 

  1. Networking 

This may seem like an obvious one, but it’s too important not to mention. You need to network both inside your company and industry as well as outside of it. The more people who know about your talents and interests mean you are more likely to be thought of and recommended for new projects or opportunities. 

  1. Control Your Narrative

This one goes perfectly together with networking. Never assume that people know your background, work ethic, or successes. You need to tell them. It’s not bragging, it is simply making people aware of how you got to where you are now. You can do this by coming up with a 30-second elevator pitch about yourself by writing down a list of all of your past experiences until you get to your current position. 

  1. Show Credibility

As mentioned earlier, Linkedin is a place where personal branding is happening even when you don’t know it. It’s a great tool to get messages you want out there about yourself. You can gain credibility by sharing photos of you reaching a goal, a presentation you gave or a report you wrote for work. 

  1. Share your ideas publicly 

Linkedin and many other online platforms provide opportunities to share your ideas and expertise in creative ways. For example, you can create an infographic, publish a blog post on your own website, or for an established blog that features external authors like Medium or write a special feature in your company’s newsletter. 

  1. Be Authentic 

This is a big one. Make sure your personal brand truly does depict you. This means your online presence and identity need to match up 100% with who you are and what you do. Being inauthentic or dishonest about your own accomplishments or skills will not only come back to you in a negative way but also be much harder to develop. When focusing on personal branding, stick to what’s real, be confident in yourself and own it!

If you want even more advice on the topic of personal branding and so many more topics of professional and personal development, think about applying to Lead F- the leadership accelerator for women. You can apply until the 30th of July for the program starting in the Fall.  If you have any questions, reach out to the head of the program, Amelia Suda at amelia@female-founders.org.

Are you interested in staying up to date on events regarding personal branding and other topics important for female entrepreneurs?  Sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter here. 

We will send the hottest resources and opportunities for female talent and entrepreneurs in tech and innovation straight to your inbox.

There’s no one answer for the question of what your career may hold, as predictions can vary greatly depending on who you ask. However, if you’re curious about what the future may hold for you in terms of your career, there are a few methods of prediction you can try.

One option is to consult a psychic or tarot card reader. This can be a fun way to get a general idea of what may be in store for you, although it’s important to remember that these predictions are not always accurate.

Another option is to look into your astrological chart. This can give you some clues as to what may be a good career match for you, based on your unique skills and talents.

There are also many online quizzes and career tests that can give you an idea of which field may be a good fit for you. These can be fun to take and can provide some helpful insights, but again, they should not be relied on too heavily as they are not always accurate.

In the end, the best way to predict your future career is to simply stay open to all possibilities and trust your gut. Follow your heart and pursue whatever seems most interesting and fulfilling to you, and you’re sure to find success.

There’s no one answer for the question of what your career may hold, as predictions can vary greatly depending on who you ask. However, if you’re curious about what the future may hold for you in terms of your career, there are a few methods of prediction you can try.

One option is to consult a psychic or tarot card reader. This can be a fun way to get a general idea of what may be in store for you, although it’s important to remember that these predictions are not always accurate.

Another option is to look into your astrological chart. This can give you some clues as to what may be a good career match for you, based on your unique skills and talents.

GET THE Fucking app!

There’s no one answer for the question of what your career may hold, as predictions can vary greatly depending on who you ask. However, if you’re curious about what the future may hold for you in terms of your career, there are a few methods of prediction you can try.

One option is to consult a psychic or tarot card reader. This can be a fun way to get a general idea of what may be in store for you, although it’s important to remember that these predictions are not always accurate.

Another option is to look into your astrological chart. This can give you some clues as to what may be a good career match for you, based on your unique skills and talents.

There are also many online quizzes and career tests that can give you an idea of which field may be a good fit for you. These can be fun to take and can provide some helpful insights, but again, they should not be relied on too heavily as they are not always accurate.

In the end, the best way to predict your future career is to simply stay open to all possibilities and trust your gut. Follow your heart and pursue whatever seems most interesting and fulfilling to you, and you’re sure to find success.

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