“The ‘know, like, and trust’ principle is key in building and monetising your personal brand”, indicates Paul C. Brunson, internationally recognised author, entrepreneur, and relationship expert. 

Brunson was speaking in a follow up virtual session coming out of JMMB’s ELEVATE 5.0 where he was the keynote speaker focusing on the topic of  ‘Building and Monetising Your Personal Brand’. ELEVATE was a hybrid event that encouraged participants to reflect on and celebrate their achievements in 2022 as they work towards their future. 

The follow up session, which occurred on Wednesday (February 8) saw Brunson engaging with a small group of participants and responding to questions about effectively monetising one’s personal brand and efficiently serving consumers of that brand. 

All this talk about personal brands, but what is a personal brand?

Simply put, it is a clearly defined representation of who you are as an individual. It is a culmination of your values, experiences, skills, and talents that make you  unique. The next question is knowing how to monetise it. 

According to Brunson, following the ‘know, like, trust’ principle will ultimately build relationships and reputations. Doing this will allow people and companies to ‘know’ about you, get to ‘like’ you and what you represent. At the end of it, the relationships will eventually lead to built and maintained ‘trust’. Once this is achieved, monetising your brand and earning while serving your ideal customers will come easier. 

Levels to monetisation

“I have realised that ultimately, the reason people create personal brands is to monetise. If your goal is just to make money, I think there are many other ways to do it than to work on your personal brand which is also about service,” Brunson said. 

He shared with the group that a personal brand is a lifelong commitment and it is not solely about making money. “That’s one element to it but if you just want to make money, there are different jobs that you can get to instantaneously give you more money,” he explained. 

Brunson then said that, “when you think about monetisation, there are three very important levels for you to follow.” 

The first level, he mentioned, includes identifying and understanding your avatar. An avatar, he explained, are the people and entities who fit your ideal client or customer profile. They are the people who consume your product because you have identified their pain points or problems and needs. Once the avatar is identified, he suggested approaching companies and organisations and asking about any affiliate or referral programmes. 

“Let’s say that I was a financial expert. Instead of immediately creating my own financial expert masterclass, for example, I may go to a place like JMMB and ask if the company provides any products or services” to audiences that fit his ideal consumer profile . “I could say to them that I can provide content to them and ask for an affiliate fee or referral fee if I send people over to the company if I can do this,” Brunson explained. 

“Start with referrals and affiliate opportunities,” he said. The reason you start there, according to Brunson, is to learn how you convert your experience with referrals and affiliate programmes into your own monetised brand. “Start at the level of the ‘know, like’ trust’ principle. People and entities have to be in a place where they can fully trust you. That’s the first level and that is where you start,” he said. 

At the second level, he suggested testing the waters and taking the approach of white labelling the brands that have established their trust in you. 

“This is where you use an established product or service but you’re affixing your brand around it once that trust is there and a relationship is built between you and that entity,” he said in explaining white labelling.  

The third level is all about creating one’s own products, services and solutions that meet the needs of the avatar or people who fit the ideal consumer profile. 

He hinted that the reason you go up that proverbial three-pronged ladder is to help you to completely know who your avatar is so that you can meet their needs. As such, you will already know what products, services, and solutions to provide to them. 

“The point is that you will know once you’ve reached that level of understanding of your avatar’s pain point. Really get to know your avatar. When you do that, you will then begin to understand what are the services, products and solutions you can provide.” he said. 

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