Your brand is more than a business name. Instead, your brand is the entire image your company projects. Your brand is what makes your business different (and better) than your competition.

If you’re the founder of your company, then your company brand and your personal brand are often intertwined. So you’ll want to grow your personal brand as well as your professional one. Here are five easy tips to improve your personal brand:

1. Improve Your Presence on Social Media

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the three major social media platforms you want to focus on. If you plan to post a lot of videos and photos, then you’ll also want to focus on Instagram and Periscope.

Aside from general set-up, you’ll also want your profiles to portray you as a successful, professional person. There’s an important emphasis on “person” here. Don’t be so overly professional that you come across as a robot. Keep your social media presence non-controversial, but don’t be afraid to inject humor and opinions into your posts.

2. Establish an Authoritative Presence

Your online presence should be associated with expertise in your brand’s industry. Ideally, you want your social media pages to act as a source of information about your industry.

One way to establish this association is guest blogging. If you can’t find guest blogging opportunities, write blogs for your own site. A proven track record of creating content often opens the doors to other blogging opportunities.

3. Use the Power of Storytelling

Your personal brand is probably more interesting than your realize. After all, you created a company, and not everyone can do that! You want to turn your life story into a short story. Instead of a boring bio, use social media to explain a bit about who you are and why you’re so devoted to your business.

Telling your personal story is a great way to engage and relate to others. When people feel a connection to the person behind the brand, they tend to trust that brand. A compelling personal tale also tends to increase your perceived authority, too.

4. Position Your Personal Brand

The point of telling your personal story isn’t to brag about how much you know. Instead, your goal is to position yourself in a certain way. Find the right position for your personal brand by asking yourself the following:

• Within my industry, what specific role do I want to be known for?
• What is the larger purpose behind my social media posts? (Sales, conversions, viewers or something else entirely.)

The better you’re able to describe your specific expertise, the more you’ll find people reaching out to you.

5. Develop Your Personal Voice

Your voice is a combination of your personality, writing style and overall view. Some people have a serious, concise voice. Others have a lighter, more humorous way.

There’s no right answer here. The most effective voice is whatever you feel the most comfortable with. Your real thoughts, opinions and style are going to make you stand out from everyone else. So don’t worry about what your voice “should” be. Just be yourself.

6. Develop Professional Skills

While you want to develop the image of a professional, competent expert, make sure that the image is based on something real. You want your online image to match your actual abilities. To that end, you’ll need to make sure you have the professional training and expertise necessary for success.

No matter what industry you’re in, you’ll also need some basic business skills. This includes the ability to speak, write and act professionally. As you develop your online presence, make sure your real personality is equally impressive.

Your Personal Brand is the Key to Success

People rarely feel a connection to a business. But they often feel a connection to other people. By developing your personal brand, you’ll be able to engage with your potential customers in a meaningful way. So don’t be afraid to put more of your personality into your social media pages. Your customers will thank you.