How to Build a Professional Personal Brand |Inspiring Mompreneurs
Being a mother and being an entrepreneur both come with a lot of moving parts, and no one warns you about it until you get started (and sometimes not even then).
And when you’re trying to deal with family schedules, client work, school drop-offs, meal planning, growth plans, and plenty more besides, it’s easy to put your personal brand at the very bottom of the list, but the truth that a lot of busy women learn the hard way is that’s never a good idea.
The good news is that you don’t need loads of time to look professional, and it can be done whoever you are and whatever else you’ve got on. With that in mind, keep reading to find out more.
How to Build a Professional Personal Brand as a Busy Mom Entrepreneur
Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash
Start With The Story You’re Already Living
You don’t have to invent a backstory or pretend your journey to where you are now has been something it’s not – in fact, that’s a bad idea because you’ll be starting off with dishonesty, which is hard to keep straight, and not ideal for your reputation.
And anyway, your personal brand is actually strongest when it reflects the life you’re already living. A lot of entrepreneurs try to hide the fact that they’re building a business while they’re raising kids, but the honesty of that experience is part of how you do things, so it’s good to be open.
Start by answering a few simple questions, which is something you can do whenever you’ve got a spare minute, and should be along the lines of:
- What is it people always come to you for?
- What problems can you solve that others can’t?
- What kind of experience do you want people to have from you?
- What values are behind how you work?
Answer all these – and anything else that comes to mind – honestly, and you’ll have the basis of your brand, which you can then work on and expand.
Build A Professional Presence You Can Maintain
A lot of mompreneurs end up burning out because they set ideas, goals, and schedules for themselves that no one could ever maintain, and especially someone who’s busy already. So when you’re creating your professional presence, make sure it’s doable – you don’t have to write a blog every day, for example, and you don’t need the perfect photo to share on Instagram, and nothing needs to be perfect.
It’s best to just focus on getting the basics in place, which includes a nice, simple website or landing page that lists your products or services, and a clear bio that explains what you do and why it’s important. Some recent headshots definitely can’t hurt, but they don’t have to be professional – a nice snap taken on a phone is fine as long as it looks like you and you like it. And something else that might help is putting together a resume or portfolio that shows what you can do, and again, you don’t have to go all out here – free resume templates can save hours and be highly effective.
Pick The Platforms You Can Actually Show Up On
Moms don’t have the luxury of being able to be everywhere at once, online or offline, so the key is to choose platforms that make sense for your business – and your energy level.
If your clients come from LinkedIn, that’s where you need to focus. If your audience is active on Instagram, pick that platform and come up with a posting schedule that’s not going to cause you to burn out. Basically, there’s no wrong answer, it just means a bit of research before you settle on what’s going to work for you. And if you have to stop posting for a bit because you’ve got a lot on or the kids need you, don’t panic – build up slowly but surely, and you’ll be able to pick it back up.
Make Your Expertise Visible In Small Ways
One of the best parts of branding as a mom entrepreneur is that you already know how to make the most of very small pockets of time – because sometimes that’s literally all you’ve got. It could be five minutes in the car park while you’re waiting to collect the children, for example, or maybe a little time just before bed, or it could be the short space of time between finishing work and starting dinner… the point is, that should be more than enough time to showcase your expertise in short bursts.
How? Some examples include sharing a quick tip related to your field, writing a short post about something you’ve learned, writing a comment on someone’s post, sharing a win you had that day, and so on. None of it has to be long, and it doesn’t have to be perfect, but every time you do something like that, it’s another step forward.
Use Systems To Reduce The Mental Load
Running a business while raising a family already demands a lot of brainpower, and your personal brand should be able to lighten that load, not add to it. That’s why you need to put some systems in place to help you, otherwise it can be complicated, confusing, and stressful.
You could reuse your own content, for example, by turning one idea into a post, a story, and a blog. Or you could make sure you keep notes about any ideas and topics you might be able to write about in the future. Plus, having a folder where you keep ready-edited photos you can quickly pull out and use when you need them makes a lot of sense and saves a lot of time, as does having templates for emails, proposals, invoicing, and so on.
Final Thoughts
The most reassuring part of building a brand as a mompreneur is that you don’t need a perfect schedule because your brand evolves the same way your business and family life does – slowly, sometimes inconsistently, but always moving forward. Small steps really do count, and doing small steps on a regular basis is sure to get you where you want to be. It might take a little longer, but you’ll still get there.
