How to Build Your Personal Brand Strategy & Tips for STEM Entrepreneurs

If sales make you sweat, building a personal brand and branding strategy makes selling so much easier.

Lisa shows you how to how to build a personal brand so you can build a personal branding strategy in 2021 as a STEAM entrepreneur.

By the end of this video, you’ll know how to create a brand identity from the workbench and makes sales without sweating.

You already have a personal brand. Did you know that?

As a STEM or STEAM entrepreneur, you’re creating a brand for yourself, whether you realize is or not.

I have a question: Are you actively building a personal brand strategy or letting it slide and evolve on its own?

If sales makes you sweat, building a personal brand and branding strategy makes selling so much easier.

Hands down.

Today I’m going to show you how to build a personal brand so you can build a personal branding strategy in 2021 as a STEAM entrepreneur.
Double win! 

By the end of this video, you’ll know how to create a brand identity from the workbench and makes sales without sweating.

Hi. I’m Lisa Stewart. Founder of Build-Your-Own Small Business & BYOMoney Message.

If you’re a STEAM entrepreneur and you want to learn to build products that sell, grow your business, and connect with your customers, start now by subscribing and get notifications by whacking the bell—like a cat—so you don’t miss anything!

We live in a competitive society. It is ever more essential to learn how to stand out from the crowd to win better opportunities.

Some of you may believe logo is your brand. While a logo is a small part of your branding, branding is the sum of your parts. 

It’s about who you are, what you do, and who you serve. The sexy visuals comes later.

When you think of buying a new computer, what brand comes to mind?
For me, I normally turn to Apple.
When you think of Apple, how does it make you feel?

You might recall the famous apple icon. But do you also remember walking thru the spacious apple store being greeted by the team members with their ipads ready to check you in? All of the products available for you to test without fuss? 

Ever have trouble with your computer? What kinds of hoops did you jump through to get it fixed? 

What feelings come up as you reminisce?

I know that when I take my device to the Genius Bar, the process is effortless.

Branding is about creating an emotional connection with your audience. For me the emotional connection happens with the experience of using the product, buying, and in-store support.

It’s my relationship with this product and company over the years that exudes confidence and trust.

Creating a brand identity isn’t that difficult but it does take some effort. Think of it like polishing a gemstone to reveal your character’s cut, color, clarity, and carat—especially if you want your business to gain momentum.

Okay! Quiz time!

Who said, “I think it’s possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary”
A- Martin Luther King Jr
B- Elon Musk
C- Gertrude Stein

Stay tuned to the end for the answer.

A story I frequently hear from many business owners is, “I don’t need a personal brand.” And it’s usually followed up with, “How is brand going to help me sell my products?”

Their story’s subtext is usually laden with fear—fear of the unknown brand development principles that always seemed intangible and cagey to the average person. And for the longest time, only ad agencies had the power to provide a slick brand manifesto to their clients. I want to reassure you, times have changed.

What I’ve learned over the years working with big companies like John Deere, Keebler, and building my own brand over the past 30 years—is that building a brand strategy makes selling so much easier.

Hands down. 

“Brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Jeff Bezos

Love it or hate it – The Bezos brand is certainly distinct, isn’t it?

Selling yourself or your products without brand development is like building a house on quicksand. If you aren’t actively building your brand personality, sales and partnerships are less likely to happen for you.

Bezos infamy notwithstanding, if you’re not actively leading your brand strategy’s curation, others will do it for you. 

Think of a personal brand as reputation management and a contributor to the bottom line. It directly affects sales. In fact, Gary Vaynerchuck, serial entrepreneur and owner of VaynerMedia , says, “when it’s done right, branding essentially does the selling for you.”

Take the Girl Scout cookies. I remember selling them at .75 a box. At the beginning of every year, we’d get the order form and start making our calls to family, friends, and neighbors. Selling Girl Scout cookies was quite easy because of their built-in brand values. Everyone knew the Girl Scouts and loved their cookies.

I didn’t have to hack my way thru selling.
Personal brands are built much like products through the flywheel of discovery, iterating, and building. This means you can forget about hacking your sales. And this is my approach to help you build your personal brand. 

Think of yourself as your own Chief Branding Officer.
Write code on your brand then you can share exactly what you want others to know, in your tone.

As Mae West once said, “I’d rather be looked over than overlooked.” 

How you manage your personal brand will determine how others view you — and ultimately shape your business, product, and service.

The first step to do that is to

DISCOVER & DEFINE

Discover what values you already embody to help define and express your brand personality. Understand who you are and own it.
Deliver your brand like Apple or the Girl Scout cookies so that the customer’s experience is consistent with it.

Step 2: PACKAGE YOURSELF

Who are you? What makes you unique?

You are a personal brand package. Everyone is. Our personalities, values, and attributes define our packaging.
What separates you from the rest of the engineers, designers, or product developers?

If you’re not sure or you need a bit of help on this, consider taking my archetype quiz. Discovering your archetype is one of the first steps I require of my clients is to do that helps to refine their set of values and motivation.

Unfortunately, it no longer matters what your product is or what state of the art equipment you use to build it. In a blink of an eye, your competitors can imitate you. When that happens, you’re reduced to complete merely on price. However, applying the archetype to your personal brand gives you a distinct advantage.

Your archetype will add dimension to your personal brand and deepen your connection with others around you.
Remember, it’s not about being better, it’s about being different. And being different is built on distinction.

If you’d like to read more about archetypes, head to my website and take the free archetype quiz. There you will get my free e-book that outlines archetypes, their influence and importance as well as marketing tips using your archetype.

Step 3: ENGAGE & MANAGE

As your personal brand begins to form, it will become a solid entity worthy of trust: Built on your value proposition and promise. Clients will be proud to work with you and refer you.

Building relationships and engaging with your clients consistently is vital to your business health.

Meeting them where they’re at routinely creates confidence that you’re not a fly-by-night brand and that you’re here to help them. 

Build and Manage Your Relationships
Cultivate the power of your personal network and your relationships. Build relationships one-on-one to grow your network exponentially will create real sales opportunities.

Share your brand through your stories and take time to be human. Don’t be shy, show your face -you’re the CEO after all and people want to connect with you.
Stay consistent and visible so that when your key prospects finally have a moment to buy, they’ll remember your brand.

At the end of the day, when you’re investing in your business and services, invest in your brand first. It will inform every decision you make and make selling easier.

The forward motion of your entrepreneurial journey hinges on your brand reputation.
What do they say about you when you’re not in the room?

Okay. Quiz time!
Who said, “I think it’s possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary”
A Martin Luther King Jr
B Elon Musk
C Gertrude Stein

B Elon Musk


This video is just the first in a series of creating your personal brand. So be sure to whack the bell like a cat to get notifications when they get published and continue with the “Branding Playlist” right here. 

Remember to leave a thoughtful comment -that creates a bread trail back to your home base.

If you want to learn more about what I mean by that -catch this video here.

Remember, great things take time. I can’t wait to see you in the next video.

#KeepBuilding

Resources Mentioned

👉 FREE ARCHETYPE QUIZ https://buildyourownsmb.com/your-small-business-archetype

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