Personal branding is crucial when it comes to business success and growth. Not only does having the right personal brand make you more visible to your target audience, it also helps you control the narrative and how others see you. Smart personal branding also ensures that you command trust and stand out from the crowd — two essentials for success in a world of short attention spans and information overload. One of the best ways to make a good impression when engaging with prospects is by using authentic content.
The Founder and CEO of DIGIDECK by Sportsdigita, Angelina Lawton, knows a thing or two about utilizing marketing to grow personal branding. Her company has revolutionized the way the biggest brands in sports and enterprise sell with its cloud-based presentation platform, DIGIDECK. Featured on the Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing U.S. Companies four years in a row, Sportsdigita has helped leading brands such as the Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Yankees, as well as enterprise companies including MetLife and Visa. Here’s Lawton’s advice on building a brand that drives demand through original content.
Create With Passion
Aside from finding your niche and surrounding yourself with the right people, passion is crucial to business success. And your branding content should reflect this passion — your content should make people believe in your brand and make following you a worthwhile investment. “Without passion, you have nothing. Passion clearly translates into success. When you go to work and you are passionate about it, it isn’t even like working,” Lawton says.
“My passion for wanting to be one of the top women in sports and an entrepreneur that other women look up to fuels me every single day,” she continues. “ It’s always important to use marketing in an original way that makes you stand out from the pack. I wouldn’t have been able to start Sportsdigita without my personal brand.”
Focus on Your Values, Goals, and Purpose
Personal branding should reflect your trajectory. This is because a stellar focus on business goals isn’t just important when it comes to revenue — it’s also important for communicating what you stand for. According to Lawton, one of the biggest mistakes businesspeople can make when it comes to personal branding and creating original content is trying to do too much. “If you try to chase too many rabbits, you might just end up catching none,” she says.
“I think you have to really own your niche before you can own the market. That’s really important. And I think that if I would have started Sportsdigita without some certain goals — trying to do finance, healthcare, transportation, and entertainment rather than just focusing on sports at the beginning — there’s no way that I would be where I am today,” Lawton narrates. “The reason why I’ve been successful is because I own that niche. I’ve figured out a niche to own and then from there, I’ve built it. You can’t be everything to everybody when it comes to personal branding.”
Make The Most of the Available Resources
The Covid-19 pandemic changed a lot of things, including how we promote our public personas and businesses. As lockdowns were imposed around the globe, companies were forced to get more creative about promoting their goods and services. This included sports organizations, which had to shift their focus to utilizing technology to maintain their revenue streams. Some of these strategies included selling tickets to digital events and helped push the development of the metaverse and NFTs – which are now a mainstay in sports.
Realizing that Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter were not necessarily the only tools for companies, Lawton came up with DIGIDECK. DIGIDECK can be used by any organization with a story to tell to make original and impactful personal branding or corporate branded presentations. And while DIGIDECK was originally set up with the sports industry in mind, the platform has gradually evolved as a branding tool for companies in different niches. “You have to own your niche. And then you can go outside of that niche,” Lawton says. “DIGIDECK has taken off since the outbreak of the pandemic as far as expanding outside sports.”
Stay True to Your Vision
Since authentic personal branding and business credibility go hand in hand, it’s important to remain consistent when marketing your organization or brand. Consistent marketing not only builds trust in your brand but also ensures customer loyalty. And it goes without saying that it also connects your brand to your target audience. Throughout the years, Lawton has remained steadfast about the way she and her business are publicly portrayed through her personal brand. Today, she is grateful for all she’s achieved. “I have had a lot of help along the way from people who believed in me,” she says. “This gave me the confidence to start my own company and I have made the most of all opportunities ever since