Personal branding is one of the most important career development tools, yet it’s one that many professionals feel they don’t have the time or energy to pursue.

But the truth is that in today’s competitive work environment, not developing a strong personal brand means getting left behind while others make a meaningful impact and skyrocket their careers. 

But what are the real benefits of building a strong brand? How does developing a strong brand translate into tangible gains?

Below I’ll break down exactly why personal branding is critical, and the various advantages that an undeniable personal brand provides. 

Why Is Personal Branding Important?

Personal branding is about broadcasting your brilliance and values to the world at large. It allows your audience to know exactly what you stand for.

People with strong personal brands are authentic, stand out from the crowd, and are able to deliver their unique set of skills to a company with moxie and confidence. 

If you’re still not convinced, let me explain the amazing things that happen when you start to develop your personal brand.

The Advantages of Personal Branding

Here are the nine most powerful results of uncovering, exuding, and nurturing the brand called YOU:

1. You Attract Opportunities

Once you lay out exactly what your brand promise is and commit to sharing it with relevant people in your sphere of influence, your brand will start to grow exponentially.

After sharing your brand with the world, people start to take notice. You become the go-to source for information in your industry. People start to see you as an expert, and you attract the people and opportunities you need to be able to achieve your goals.

With your dedication and commitment, there is no limit to what your brand can achieve.

2. You Minimize Imposter Syndrome

Personal branding is about living authentically and being your Best Self. This means uncovering what makes you stand out from the crowd and letting this reverberate in everything you do.

By putting your authentic self into both your brand and work, you completely remove the “I don’t deserve this” feeling, and instead find meaning and satisfaction in all of your tasks.

3. You Bring Joy to Your Work

Personal branding is about expressing your passions in the work you do. It demonstrates a mastery of soft skills that allow you to communicate what excites you and what matters to you.

This means aligning who you are with what you do and remaining focused on your purpose – your “why”, according to Simon Sinek. 

When your work allows you to express what matters to you and have a meaningful impact, it transforms from meh to magic. 

4. You Get Wealthier

People are willing to pay for powerful brands.

Think about it – groceries from WholeFoods cost way more than your local store. A MacBook will set you back thousands of dollars, even if competitor products offer the same functionality for cheaper. A Louis Vuitton handbag can cost anywhere from $2k to $9k.

We don’t mind paying more money for strong brands because it’s not just about the product – it’s about the experience. 

It’s the same for people. Those with strong brands earn more because they deliver unique value for their organizations. They go above and beyond the minimum expectations, and that’s why companies are willing to pay more for them.

5. You Achieve Your Goals

Your personal brand is informed by, aligned with, and directed by your goals. And so it makes sense that those with strong personal brands also have a tendency to achieve any goals that they set for themselves.

Redirecting your branding actions and efforts towards achieving your goals is one of the key factors of personal branding.

On top of that, those with strong personal brands encourage others to uncover their strengths and achieve their goals. They inspire those around them to go the extra mile and do more. 

6. You Become Selectively Famous

Those with strong personal brands become famous – but not to the entire world.

They become famous among those who need to know them in order to reach their career goals. 

It doesn’t matter if the rest of them don’t know you, but your goal should be to build a fan club of people who are inspired by you and follow and support you. Those fans eventually become promoters who, in turn, espouse your values. 

7. You Increase Your Energy

Being inauthentic is an incredible depletion of your energy. It’s draining to play a role every day, especially one that is foreign to who you are. But the beauty and power of having a strong personal brand are that you always get to show up as you are, authentically.

Authentic leaders are inspiring and compassionate, and encourage trust at every level of an organization. By promoting your personal brand authentically, you’re demonstrating who you are and what you stand for every day – and that’s exhilarating.

8. You Take Control of Your Career

Those with strong personal brands take control of their professional destinies. They don’t simply let life happen to them. Instead, they pursue what is meaningful.

When it comes to salary negotiations, they’re able to leverage their value and unique skill set to secure a higher wage. Their opinions matter when it comes to strategy and execution. They make others feel valued and have influence over their professional lives. They chart the course of their career with intention and purpose.

9. You Increase Your Confidence

While all of the above benefits are extremely valuable, perhaps the most important advantage of building your personal brand is confidence at work. With confidence comes self-awareness, and that self-awareness translates into self-assuredness.

This Fast Company article explains why self-awareness is the most important skill for modern leaders. 

As your personal brand begins to grow, you will start to feel more at ease with yourself and your work. That kind of confidence reverberates on many different levels, and you’ll notice it begins to pay dividends in the form of increased opportunities, recognition, acknowledgment, and accolades. 

Are You Ready to Own Your Personal Brand?

You probably know people in your organization who have strong brands, and you likely have witnessed them enjoying many of these benefits. 

It’s time to amp up your personal branding actions so you can experience these benefits while delivering exceptional value to your employer.

Take your first steps towards amplifying your personal brand with BrandBoost. It’s a cool tool for uncovering and enhancing what makes you unique and helps you leverage this to develop your own personal brand. BrandBoost helps you get crystal clear on your personal brand – and that’s the important first step to building a strong, revered brand.

A version of this article was originally published in my Forbes column.