A few years ago, I wrote CareerKred, where I outlined the four steps you must go through to build your brand. 

While I wrote the book for career-minded professionals who wanted to build a personal brand to stand out in their career.

Now six years later, it turns out the same four steps outlined in the book apply to ALL brands, especially those of you new to or starting a business as a business of one – solopreneur, freelancer, consultant, coach, etc.  

Here are the four steps. Follow them to build your brand. 

🤔  DEFINE:  

Raise your awareness. Determine what you want to be known for; specifically, what problem(s) do you solve. If you don’t know, no one else will either. 

🖥️  INTEGRATE:

Increase your visibility. Get aligned online. Google yourself / business. Buy your domain. Update your bios. Make your brand cohesive. Prospects should know what you do, not guess. 

✍️  CREATE:

Establish your authority; this will be the most challenging part for many, but you need to put yourself out there. Publish content aligned with Define above. Demonstrate your expertise.

🤝  ENGAGE:

Boost your credibility. If you want leads and clients, you cannot skip this step. Build your network and cultivate relationships. Do NOT fall for one-off “get leads quick” schemes. These are usually short-term tactics, and you want to build a long-term business/brand, right?

These four steps are evergreen. They will work in every case. And yes. The tools will change over time, but the methodology and process will remain the same. 

I call the process DICE, for obvious reasons, but also because investing in yourself can feel like a roll of the DICE. If you want different outcomes, you have to change behaviors and directions.

In other words, sometimes you have to roll the DICE and take a bet on yourself.