Kamila Akylbek, CEO of Pink Frog @pinkfrog.kg
Perhaps each of you has heard of the concept of a personal brand. But I'm sure that not many people understand what it actually is and why suddenly everyone needs it. Everyone already has a personal brand! Let's figure out what this term is, which everyone has, but not everyone knows how to use.
A personal brand is an image! It is the image that forms around us in society. For example, someone may be known as very punctual and stress-resistant, while someone else may be seen as very creative but lazy. All our skills, abilities, and personal qualities contribute to our personal brand. And people - your friends, colleagues, and family - interact not with you, but with your image. If your classmates have the impression that you are a real foodie and need advice on where to eat delicious food, they will come to you first. And your sister knows that she can entrust important matters to you as a responsible person - because that's the image you have created within the family circle.
In that case, if everyone already has a personal brand, why are we actively "building" it now? Social media and business have played a significant role in this.
Over the past 10 years, Kyrgyzstan's entrepreneurs have devoted a lot of time to business processes. They try to capture consumer demand and satisfy it. Optimization, automation, management, service, and much more - these are the things that almost every business project, regardless of its scale, focuses on.
In turn, with the emergence of a large number of high-quality products and services on the market, competition is growing. Marketing comes into play - businesses are now evaluating themselves not from the inside, but through the eyes of the consumer.
What does the consumer want? How can we get their attention? And the questions for attracting customers do not end there, they only grow. We understand that the main goal of marketing is to create a certain brand. Entrepreneurs determine their uniqueness and beliefs, and marketing seeks ways to communicate this to society.
In other words, businesses are building their personal brands. And these same processes are taking place in Kyrgyzstan. Some focus on eco-friendliness, some on innovation. Some emphasize speed, while others prioritize quality. But despite all these efforts, human psychology is such that people find it easier to buy from those they trust. That's why wealthy companies select ambassadors, individuals with similar values and already established strong personal brands. The ambassador, in turn, represents and promotes the company in their society, and the company, in turn, reaches more people and potential customers. We generally buy from such companies with more confidence than from faceless ones.
But the concept of a personal brand is not limited to the business segment. The concept of a personal brand has already gone beyond the corporate world and entered the sphere of professional competencies. Even hired employees find it difficult to advance in their careers without a strong personal brand. And potential employers find it much easier to choose you if they know you, hear about you, and respect you.
In general, there are many advantages to building a strong personal brand, although it should not be considered a panacea for all problems.
But if you still decide (at least to try) to work on your personal brand, ask yourself the following questions:
What image am I currently creating for others? What image do I want to create in people's minds? How different is my current image from the image I want to project? On which platform (Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, etc.) do I feel comfortable expressing myself? Which format suits me better for comfortable self-expression? What specifically is preventing me from expressing myself today? Is it discipline? Or fear of judgment? What am I doing to overcome these barriers?
Whatever the answers may be, know that everyone started from scratch! No one was born with a well-established Instagram page. Every person who inspires you today has been where you are right now! So create, innovate, and unfold yourself in a way that feels comfortable to you!
Believe me, numerous lessons on editing, story design, and endless photoshoots will not lead you to success if you don't find yourself and start expressing yourself.
The main goal of a strong personal brand is to showcase yourself, to be genuine with yourself. Don't try to create an image that doesn't align with who you truly are! Don't deceive your audience, and most importantly, don't deceive yourself. Believe me, your audience - your specific audience - will embrace you for your jokes, your uniqueness, and your quirks. That's the secret of building a strong personal brand."