Council Post: 10 Top-Notch Personal Brands Leaders Should Emulate

As an entrepreneur, it’s important to create and implement a branding strategy for your business. This will help you better connect with your customers and share your company’s story and personality with your target audience.

Developing a branding strategy can be challenging if you don’t know where to begin, so we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council to share some specific brands and personalities whose top-notch branding strategies are worthy of emulation. Read their responses to familiarize yourself with these successful branding tactics.

1. Elon Musk

No matter if he will be successful in the end, everyone knows his big dream, which is to “change the world and help humanity.” He is one of a few entrepreneurs who has gained personal fame in addition to his company. One of the strategies I think he uses is breaking the norm and taking advantage of labels. He founded the first private company to launch a crewed spacecraft into space when people believe the job only belongs to NASA. Besides managing his company by not playing it safe and breaking the norm, he even broke convention with the name he gave his son. He also takes advantage of labels that help people remember him right away. “Crazy,” “genius,” “Silicon Valley Iron Man” and “real-life Tony Stark” are some typical labels used for him, which help define him. – Yifei Yin, Human Heritage Project

2. Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk is hands down the No. 1 entrepreneur brand personality out there that many of us leaders should learn from. His transparency and authenticity are unparalleled in comparison to all other entrepreneur personalities out there. He documents the entire process from start to finish. This means he shows, acts and talks about both his losses and his wins. He shows no filter with his language nor the way he acts. He doesn’t need to put up a front to anybody. He swears when he feels like it. He underdresses anywhere he goes all while still keeping it professional by giving his motivational speeches. By documenting almost every single interaction, meeting, speech and daily hustle, he never runs out of content to post throughout the entire social media spectrum. It’s storytelling at its finest. – Fritz Colcol, ABN Circle

3. Kerry Goyette

Kerry Goyette, the president of Aperio Consulting Group, has a fantastic personal brand because she shares truly thoughtful and unique content in publications her audience reads. She’s generous with sharing her knowledge and educating her audience, and she’s also the author of The Non-Obvious Guide to Emotional Intelligence. – Kelsey Raymond, Influence & Co.

4. Lebron James

At an early age, Lebron knew he was going to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time, and also very rich. With this in mind, he treated his personal name and brand as a business. Everything he does is well thought out and planned ahead. When it comes to business, politics and personal interests, he is often playing it very cool and political to keep all sides happy. This is a perfect example of someone who was able to take their talent and turn it into a multi-billion dollar brand, while also controlling their destiny in the process. – Zac Johnson, Blogger

5. Neil Patel

Neil Patel is a great example of someone who runs multiple successful businesses and maintains the status of a top marketer. While Patel is busy overseeing and navigating both product and service departments, he also co-hosts a daily podcast, responds to his own email and LinkedIn comments, streams live and takes Q&A occasionally. Being a successful leader and teacher (through his blogs) and an approachable influencer is a magnetic advantage worth replicating! – Mario Peshev, DevriX

6. Jake Strom

Jake Strom, founding member of TOMS shoes, is a master of storytelling and communicating the fundamental values he learned at TOMS to his community. He has coined his unique approach to consulting and investing called Profit + Purpose, which describes companies that can be for-profit and socially conscious at the same time. Using this focus, Jake has co-invested in over 30 companies that fit this mold. From a personal branding perspective, Jake has outlined a clear track record, expertise and online personality that resonates with many entrepreneurs, myself included. His approach is transparent, human and very positive. We need more of this kind of thought-leadership that focuses less on competition and more on being successful while being a good person. – Jared Polites, LaunchTeam

7. Bill McDermott

When it comes to personal branding, Bill McDermott, president and CEO of ServiceNow, stands out to me as someone leaders should aspire to emulate. From the outside looking in, he appears to wear his heart on his sleeve. His passion—for business, his employer and, most importantly, the people he leads—is palpable. At the same time, it is precisely the fact that he doesn’t appear to have a contrived personal branding strategy that draws my admiration. His strategy appears to be something along the lines of this: Every day and every person in your life deserves your absolute best. Dream big, and give every person and every moment of your life your absolute best. Leave it all on the field. If we all lived this way, what a wonderful world it would be! – Ben Landers, Blue Corona

8. Robert Reffkin

Robert Reffkin, founder and CEO of Compass, has a personal branding strategy that is in synergy with his company, his employees and himself. The most important aspect of branding is having a consistent message within your organization, and Rob Reffkin does a wonderful job of bringing it all together. His brand message “A real estate company with a purpose. Our mission is to help everyone find their place in the world“ aligns with their company, internally and externally, from their customers to their employees. If leaders took the time to understand and implement their company’s brand message, they could take their personal branding strategy to new heights. – John Lie-Nielsen, One Park Financial

9. Angela Ficken

I’m going to go with an up-and-coming personality, Angela Ficken. Despite being a full-time psychotherapist, she does a wonderful job branding herself as an entrepreneur and media expert too. She expanded her product line to include courses and other products. I think a lot of leaders can learn from her that it doesn’t take millions of dollars to build your personal brand. If you’re just starting out and you’re strategic and smart with your funds and resources, then you can compete with the larger brands over the course of time.  – Kristin Kimberly Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC

10. Tim Ferriss

I was one of the many people whose life was changed by Tim Ferriss and his book, The 4-Hour Workweek. While I work far more hours than four each week, Tim’s book inspired me to forge my own path as an entrepreneur and leave the 60-hour-a-week corporate rat race behind. Never one to rest on his laurels, Tim has gone on to write numerous books on subjects he feels passionate about, including cooking, physical wellbeing and the habits and routines of world-class performers. Tim brings his voracious appetite for knowledge to each project he works on and refuses to “stay in his lane.” This approach has led to him becoming one of the most important thought leaders of his generation and a never-ending source of inspiration. His personal brand as a truth seeker and educator is unparalleled. – Matt Diggity, Diggity Marketing