When building a personal brand, do you think what matters is the "person" or the "brand"?
At the outset, I hope everyone will look inward and ask themselves this question.
Recently, I've received many inquiries from netizens and friends around me, and I've noticed their questions are quite similar.
One netizen learned about my experiences and personal brand building through Ho Ze-wen's book Personal Brand. She said:
"Through the content in the book and after browsing your personal website and relevant reports, I've deeply felt the importance of personal brand building! I've also set you as my goal to strive for!"
Additionally, I've recently started planning and working on this, so I wanted to understand the benefits of establishing a personal blog. My main hope in managing my personal brand is to share my experiences and perspectives to bring more positive influence to the public, and I hope that through continuous management and writing practice, I might have the opportunity to be invited to give lectures at schools and other institutions to help more people.
On the other hand, the writing process also helps me develop a deeper understanding and insight into things. However, I'm currently weighing whether to share book reviews and professional knowledge (long-form content) on Facebook, travel experiences or life insights on IG, or create a WordPress site as the main platform for managing my personal brand.
Finally, I'd like to ask you about the purpose, significance, and benefits of WordPress, and whether invitations to give lectures come mainly through your WordPress or through other channels or platforms.
Actually, when it comes to personal branding, establishing a personal website is quite important, as it's like a portfolio and often makes the first impression others have of you.
However, in the early stages, a common mistake is wanting to gain massive attention through personal brand building. Generally, I would suggest not initially thinking about how long it will take before writing articles or producing content leads to speaking invitations and so on. You need to genuinely enjoy doing it, so that your passion and enthusiasm can infect others and make them notice you.
If you approach content creation as a means to eventually receive speaking invitations, there will come a time when chasing traffic becomes tiring and you'll be tempted to give up. For me, writing articles and organizing events are part of my life. Writing is therapeutic for me, and unexpected feedback brings additional achievement and motivation. Recording things I truly love is far more important than thinking about how things might develop in the future.
Back to the opening question: Is the person important or the brand?
For me, a personal brand is merely a labeled term. What truly attracts people is how you live your life, what personality traits and thoughts you have that make people willing to understand you and believe you can help them in some way—that's the core value.
But what drives everything forward is always about "who you are." So whether you, as a person, understand yourself and can authentically express your thoughts. When you start managing your personal brand, the simplest and most accessible way is to observe the details around you. What you think is simple might be a whole set of expertise to others. So no matter what, never underestimate yourself, because:
"The world doesn't lack professionals; it lacks sharers."
When you continue doing something out of love, initially no one may be willing to pay for what you offer. But because you possess passion, even without compensation from others, you're willing to invest time to persist. Over time, people will notice your talent and be willing to pay for the abilities you possess, and your income will grow exponentially rather than at a fixed rate. Before it happens, you may not be able to imagine it, but as long as you hold onto your beliefs, time will repay you for what you've invested.
