Baku, September 30, AZERTAC

In recent years, personal branding has become a trend and is in great demand. The concept of "personal brand", which plays an important role in the business world, means business reputation in the eyes of partners and potential customers. It is based on a person's personal qualities, skills, ideas and is shaped by PR efforts, social media channels, successful content and visuals. You need to create such an image that the people who want to work with you and your potential audience will have great confidence and sympathy in you. Taking into account the relevance of the topic, we had a conversation with Vugar Safarli, the Founder of "PR Time", a specialist in personal branding, who has been working in the field of PR for many years.

— What is the so called "personal brand" actually?

— Nowadays, it is not enough to be a super successful specialist in your field - the main thing is to present yourself to the world in a quality and convincing manner. If you create projects, build a business, if you are a blogger or dream of becoming a media person or climbing the career ladder, a personal brand can be a great tool. Personal branding provides an opportunity to demonstrate your advantages, stand out, and raise the cost of your project. Correctly "promoted" personalities more easily enter profitable contracts for the sale of the product of their business, since clients have more trust and respect in them. They can also hire the best people because they feel honored to be a part of such a successful person's team. They are trusted, and they know that a person-brand always lives up to expectations and does not cause disappointment.

— In your opinion, for what professions and in what field of activity is it most important to build a personal brand?

— It seems to me that, first of all, a personal brand needs to be developed by people of creative professions. Why? And because you need to show your talents. It can be, for example, designers, singers, artists, directors, screenwriters. Absolutely any creative sphere. The second category of people who definitely need a personal brand and need to develop it is freelancers, because without a personal brand it is not clear how to sell their services. Well, the third category of people who definitely need a personal brand is entrepreneurs. Why? Because you need to go out into the public space, communicate with your audience and show something different from official documents, show what the company is like, what kind of leader this company is. That is why everyone who is engaged in business and wants to convey some idea to a wide audience should think about the development of a personal brand.

To be honest, in the realities of the modern world, it seems to me that everyone needs a personal brand, because each of us is unique.

— How to start building your personal brand?

— My most important recommendation is to start thinking about yourself as a brand, that is, imagine that you are the brand. Next, determine what associations you will evoke from others as a personal brand, what will be identified with you, at what mention will your image appear in your head. Understand for yourself in what areas you can be an expert, what you are strong in, why they turn to you, how you help people, what is your use. Further, when you have answered these questions, we move on to the active filling of social networks, constant maintenance. From the tips, also look at what competitors are in your field, at least 5-10 people. Study their content, it's very important.

Don't forget about making up a story around your personal brand, that sensational storytellings, intrigue, use ways to keep attention. You can make stories out of everything. At first glance, this may seem complicated, but in fact it is not, because there is always something to film and talk about. Every day, an incredible number of stories happen to each of us, a lot of newsworthy stories appear, which can be interesting to tell, coming up with a whole legend from this.

And, perhaps, the last step is to create the right environment that will strengthen your brand in the same way that you will strengthen other people's personal brands. Not only you should be interested in this, as they say, not consciousness gives rise to being, but being gives rise to consciousness in this case.

— What kind of clients do you work with?

— Our clients are both novice entrepreneurs and active, prudent, successful people. More specifically, among our clients there are people who are directly related to social activities, as well as representatives of such professions as lawyers, doctors, investment managers, top managers of large organizations.

— What can our readers go and do right now to make their personal brand better? What tool is available for everyone?

— A brand is a voluminous concept with a set of important functions that need to be used. The first thing to do is to understand the scale of what you are aiming at. If you're going into personal brand territory, tune in to long work. This includes building a reputation and trust, and confirming expertise. But if we talk about what tool is available to everyone without any budgets - this is networking. Ability to make new acquaintances and turn them into the necessary connections. The more people know about you and want to partner with you, the stronger one of the important aspects of branding - influence.

— PR is a kind of work that requires a great deal of time, effort and energy. Please, share a lifehack where can we find inspiration and how to refill our energy?

— Oddly enough, but I find inspiration for work in the work itself. More precisely, in the people with whom I work. The real thrill is when you perceive your business not as a job, but as a hobby. After all, I have the opportunity to come up with, create and implement completely different ideas. Of course, to make healthy decisions at work, you need to exercise. That is why, in my free time, I like to play football, tennis, golf, and also I like jogging. It helps me to rest and relax.

— What would you say to those who will want to build a career in the sphere of PR?

— In general, I'm not a fan of giving advice, everyone gets what they choose. But I will recommend, including what I would like to wish for myself, because it is never too late to learn. Do not stop there, do not be afraid of anything, try yourself in everything. Learn daily. You can never give up and stop. You need to go forward, develop and work on yourself. It sounds simple, but this is the secret of success.