Personal Branding (for the Self-Employed)

In a world where competition is intense, and there is a lot of face-to-face contact with clients, self-employed tradespeople should definitely focus on personal branding. Your personal brand is what potential clients buy into. It can help you stand out from your competitors, build trust with clients, and establish a strong reputation in your industry.

It is the process of creating a unique image or reputation. At the most basic level, your personal brand is a culmination of your personality, values, knowledge, and experience. Customers get a sense of 'your brand' when they interact directly with you and find out about you through digital spaces such as your website or social media. Personal branding is about YOU, the qualities that make you and your business different.

You are not relatable to everyone. But you are relatable to those who relate to your personal brand – those unique qualities, values, knowledge, and experience that make up your business. So, for example, a well-liked, trusted tradesperson with a positive trail of feedback is more likely to secure work than one who pays no attention to their reputation or does not care about it.

People buy from people. Authenticity is important. You can't fake a personal brand because it comes through when you are on the job and through your communication. It's not about vanity or ego. It's about understanding yourself as a business owner and how you communicate your qualities in your day-today behaviour while on the tools, through your website, social spaces, and customer reviews.

A starting point is to assess how you see yourself. What are your values, your principles? What experience and knowledge do you possess? How is this backed up? How do your customers see you? Ask them. How would they rate your customer service and communication skills and the delivery of your work? There may well be some surprises. How clients see you may be similar to how you see yourself. But if not, some gaps may need to be improved.

If you want to be a well-liked, trusted tradesperson in your area, personal brand and reputation are essential as it helps to attract more clients and establish you as an expert in your field. In addition, over time, a strong reputation can help a tradesperson differentiate themselves from competitors and build a loyal client base.

Amanda is a registered Naturopathic Nutritionist and

Nutrigenomics

OF US ADORE OUR MORNING COFFEE AND CAN’T IMAGINE AN AFTERNOON WITHOUT OUR CAFFEINE PICK-ME-UP

Coffee has been loved for centuries and for some time it was seen as an unhealthy choice, though recent research has proven that coffee is definitely good for you! Coffee does come with a few side effects, however. If you don’t buy the highest quality coffee then you can end up with a jittery feeling if you drink too much and headaches when you begin to withdraw. If you decide to go caffeine free, you also run the risk of drinking residues of solvents that are used in the decaffeination process too. It’s very hard to know just how much caffeine you are getting when some cups of coffee can leave you hyper and wired. Let me introduce you to matcha. Matcha green tea is a newcomer to the healthy drinks market and it boasts a fabulous range of benefits. Like coffee, matcha contains a high level of antioxidants which some believe may have anti-cancer properties. In addition to that, and unlike coffee, matcha contains L-Theanine. L-Theanine is an amino acid, a building block of protein which does almost the opposite of the unwanted side effects of coffee. It works in reducing anxiety and is calming on the nervous system. It promotes relaxation without acting like a sedative so you remain alert and calm at the same time throughout the day when you drink matcha. It also stimulates the production of GABA which is a neurotransmitter that reduces stress and regulates mood.