Personal PR: An Introduction to Managing Your Personal Brand

Though nearly 75 years old, Richard Branson still conveys a spirit of youthful adventure.

Case in point? In 2021, Branson, co-founder of the Virgin Group, made headlines for being one of the oldest people to ever reach outer space — and the first to do so using his own rockets.

In addition to serving as an advertisement for Virgin Galactic’s nascent space tourism business, the voyage had another purpose. As a powerful personal PR moment, it helped cement the entrepreneur’s image while shining a light on his company’s latest innovations. 

What is personal PR?

Personal PR is a strategic undertaking where executives, entrepreneurs, and business leaders proactively seek to positively influence their public image and reputation. It involves shaping how they’re received by key audiences — including customers, employees, investors, and the media — through a combination of activities like media appearances, social media content, and public speaking.

At heart, it involves developing a personal brand that’s just as strategic and robust as the corresponding corporate brand, then finding effective ways to share it with the world.

Ultimately, personal PR aims to position the individual as a thought leader in their field, which enhances their professional brand, improves their organization’s reputation, and opens the doors to new opportunities.

Why is personal PR important?

Personal PR is important because it helps business leaders establish authority and grow an audience. A strong personal brand can also accelerate your journey to becoming a thought leader — someone who drives the conversation in your industry —which can make your business more attractive to potential investors and clients.

By prioritizing personal PR — also known as CEO public relations — you also gain more control over how you’re perceived. Rather than letting the press write about you without any of your own input, personal PR puts you in the driver’s seat when it comes to shaping your own story. Instead of just coming across as an anonymous executive issuing edicts in press releases, personal PR lets your unique personality shine through and cut through the noise of a crowded marketing landscape.

What is the difference between personal PR and personal branding?

Personal branding and personal PR go hand-in-hand. A strong foundational personal brand is essential for effective personal PR. 

Personal branding is the ongoing process of shaping your identity and defining how you want to be perceived. It’s a strategic exercise of defining what you stand for, which audiences you want to reach, and how you want to reach them. 

Personal PR, on the other hand, is one critical mechanism for projecting your personal brand and ensuring it has the desired impact. It embraces efforts to gain visibility through media, speaking engagements, and thought leadership — which helps amplify your personal brand and extend it to new audiences. 

In other words, personal PR is a tool within your personal branding tool belt; branding sets the foundation and PR reinforces it.

Developing your personal brand

Developing your personal brand starts with defining who you are and what you want to accomplish. It also involves establishing credibility and doing what you can to increase visibility across your industry. When developing your personal brand, it’s important to consider these four key elements:

1. Public image

Your public image is how others perceive you based on your actions, appearance, and what you say. It reflects your values, leadership style, and credibility. While a strong public image builds trust and makes you more influential (think: Tim Cook), a poor one can damage your career and your business (think: Sam Bankman-Fried).

To develop your public image, you first need to define your core values and iron out your messaging and ensure it stays consistent across platforms. When your audience interacts with you, engage with them in a manner that accords with the image you’ve built (brash and blustery if you’re Shark Tank fixture Mark Cuban; empathetic and insightful if you’re Oprah Winfrey) . Since talk is cheap, you’ll also want to demonstrate your values through your actions and how you conduct yourself in public.

Tim Cook has cultivated a personal brand that’s trustworthy, polished, and influential.

2. Online presence

Your online presence is the sum of how you present yourself across digital platforms — including blogs and social media. Because we live so much of our lives on digital channels, a strong online presence shapes your public perception, helping you establish authority and accelerate audience growth. It also reinforces your personal brand.

Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of VaynerMedia, has built a powerful online presence by consistently sharing business tips, insights, and motivational content on social platforms, including LinkedIn and YouTube. Vaynerchuk’s online presence has turned him into a digital powerhouse, with more than 50 million people turning to him for thought leadership content on all things entrepreneurial. 

To develop your online presence, optimize your social media profiles and share valuable content with consistent messaging across each of them. As your audience starts chiming in, engage them. You may also want to launch a personal website and use it to host your own blog, capturing newsletter subscribers in the process.

Gary Vaynerchuk has established himself as a thought leader for entrepreneurs, amassing 50 million followers.

3. Reputation management

While much of personal branding is about projecting a positive image, reputation management revolves around minimizing negative press, online reviews, and other coverage.

For executives, reputation management is the process of sculpting the way an executive is perceived so that the public, employees, and the market views them favorably. Since crises inevitably occur, you can’t afford to overlook this critical element of personal PR. After all, executives agree that 44% of an organization’s market value is tied to the CEO’s reputation.

To get started with reputation management:

• Proactively establish your online presence
• Engage with your audience 
• Publish content regularly
• Monitor alerts for feedback and mentions
• Develop a crisis communications plan that can guide your response in the event of negative coverage or reviews

For more effective reputation management, many executives turn to PR agencies that specialize in crisis support and provide expert guidance to help navigate any PR storms.

4. Thought leadership

Thought leadership is about establishing yourself as an authority in your industry by sharing unique insights and innovative ideas with your audience on a regular basis. With the right approach, thought leadership can help you attract attention for your business, generate new opportunities, and otherwise grow your brand.

After founding AngelList, Indian-American entrepreneur Naval Ravikant began sharing insights on wealth creation, technology, and self-improvement through a variety of mediums — like social posts, long-form content, and podcast appearances. By establishing himself as a thought leader on startups, investing, and personal development, he has gained media attention and an impassioned following, while also drawing attention to his businesses. 

To develop thought leadership, follow Ravikant’s lead and start publishing insightful content on a regular basis. You should also look for opportunities to speak at industry events and participate in any relevant discussions on social media. By providing the perspectives only you can, you prove to your audience that you’re worth following.

Since founding AngelList, Naval Ravikant has become a thought leader on a variety of topics, including wealth creation, technology, and self-improvement.

How to implement a personal PR strategy

Launching a strong personal PR strategy requires a multifaceted approach designed to help increase your visibility and influence. As you begin devising what your own strategy should look like, here are some critical components you’ll have to cover.

Content creation

Great content is the engine that powers personal PR. Whether your target channel is social media, traditional press or live events, reaching audiences is contingent on creating high-quality posts, speeches, videos, whitepapers and infographics. To achieve your goals, make sure your content is valuable, easy to read, and distinct from what else is out there.

Social media

A strategic social media presence helps amplify your brand. By sharing insightful content, engaging your audience, and joining in on relevant industry discussions, you can increase your reach and establish yourself as an authority in your field. 

Remember, consistency is key. Post regularly and respond when your audience comments or asks questions — which helps you build authentic connections.

Publishing & podcasts

Creating content isn’t enough. You need to ensure it reaches the right audience by finding strategic channels for dissemination. Publish opinion pieces in respected outlets, speak on podcasts, contribute to industry reports, or deploy a newsletter to establish yourself as a trusted voice in your space.

Media relations

Since the press plays an important role in your personal PR efforts, you need to build strong relationships with media outlets. To do this, identify relevant journalists and industry publications, and craft compelling pitches that highlight your expertise and the valuable insights you can provide. You can also regularly engage with reporters on social media and let them know you’re available for interviews.

If this sounds like a tall order, consider working with a PR agency that already has these relationships in place.

Networking & relationship-building

Projecting your brand also requires in-person networking. By attending industry events and engaging in online communities, you can build genuine connections with decision-makers and influencers — further solidifying your personal brand by the company you keep.

Building strong professional relationships also opens the door to new opportunities, like co-marketing initiatives, new investors, business partnerships, and speaking engagements.

Public speaking & live streaming

Why just be a member of the audience at events, when you can command attention on stage? Speaking engagements at conferences, roundtables, and meetups increases your visibility while allowing you to interact with whoever’s listening. Sharing your ideas in front of a network of people strengthens your personal brand while also leaving a more human and lasting impression than online content alone.

In addition to in-person events, consider using live streaming to engage folks wherever they happen to be. Going live on social media encourages real-time interaction and increases engagement due to the authenticity of the medium; according to LinkedIn data, live streams on the platform have 24x more comments and 7x more reactions than native video. 

Challenges of doing your personal PR

Managing your own personal PR can be time-consuming and complex. To succeed, you need expertise in media outreach, content creation, and personal branding — all of which can be overwhelming for time-strapped executives.

While social media, blogging, and networking might offer low-cost ways to build your brand, securing desirable media coverage and effectively managing crises often requires specialized skills. For this reason, many executives opt to enlist the help of experienced professionals to manage their personal PR strategy — ensuring a more polished and strategic approach. 

Whether you decide to outsource your personal PR needs entirely or simply turn to a PR pro for occasional guidance, you can leverage the expertise you need to unlock the full potential of your personal brand.

Start building your personal PR strategy today

Building a robust personal PR strategy takes time and consistency. But the rewards — credibility, increased visibility, and new opportunities — are well worth the effort.

If you’re eager to implement your personal PR strategy, consider joining forces with a PR agency who can accelerate your efforts. To learn more about how the right agency can help you create a personal PR strategy that helps you achieve your goals, read this.