Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Marketing will always be based on relationships. People want connection. They want to trust who they are working with — not just the business but the person behind the business. The best way to connect with potential (and current) customers is to cultivate your personal brand.
Where people get hung up is the strategy behind creating one. This is how a SWOT analysis on your personal brand can help you create a plan to start and nurture those relationships.
The fact is, we all have a personal brand, whether we like it or not, so it’s advantageous to put some effort into it. A personal brand is so much more than your color scheme, tagline or logo. It’s your vibe. It’s how you want to make people feel when they come across your social media platforms, sign up for your email list or browse your website.
How you make them feel is what they will remember (there is a reason Maya Angelou’s quote has been famous for decades).
What is your mission? What are your values? Why did you start your business? What is important to you? Who are you?
These themes will ripple through everything.
Kim Kardashian
Gary Vaynerchuk
Tom Brady
If you think about these icons for even a matter of seconds, you’ll likely think of a TV show, hustle and an extremely hard-working athlete.
Even though they are part of other (very successful) ventures, we tend to think of them how we see them.
So, let’s take a look at how to do it for your personal brand so you can use it to your advantage now, in 2025 and beyond (even Buzz Lightyear has a personal brand, ha!).
Related: Why Personal Branding Matters More Than Ever for Successful Entrepreneurs
What is a SWOT analysis?
First off, let’s talk about exactly what a SWOT analysis is before diving into each section.
A SWOT analysis simply stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats pertaining to a business, personal brand or anything you want to analyze really (FYI, you should do a separate one for your business if you haven’t already). Strengths and weaknesses stem from internal operations, while opportunities and threats are generally from external sources.
Strengths
What are your strengths? What are you good at? What do you like to do in your business that you can share with your audience? What kind of content are you good at creating?
Once you know these things, you can start to map out a strategy with content pillars (one to three topics) that you are awesome at and love to talk about. Soon, you’ll start to be known for these.
Next, figure out how to deliver these content pillars to your audience consistently. This could be an email list, social media, a podcast, guesting on podcasts, a YouTube channel or literally tons of other ways! Pick a few so that you don’t put all of your eggs in one basket but not so many that you feel overwhelmed.
P.S. Check opportunities to see if there is anything there, too!
Related: How to Use SWOT Analysis to Strengthen Your Marketing Strategy
Weaknesses
Be honest, what do you suck at? Organization? Finances? Writing? Who is your competition? What are they doing that could overshadow your personal brand? Figure out how to delegate the tasks that you are not strong at, as well as any opportunities that your competition has that might obscure your brand.
Sit down and grab a piece of paper. Draw a straight line down the middle. On one side, write what you are good at doing in your business and on the other, write down things you are not good at doing.
From there, start to brainstorm ways that you can delegate the things that you are not good at. This could mean an intern, part-time help or freelancers. We all have weaknesses; we’re human, and that’s okay. What we can do is identify them so we can find someone who has those strengths.
Once you know what you want (and should) delegate to someone else, start brainstorming a plan to get those off your plate so you can concentrate on the things that you are good at and focus on brand awareness. Hire someone if you can, or get an intern if you can’t!
Opportunities
What is lacking in your industry? Where can you make some moves? How can you stand out? What are people doing similar to you that you could do better?
Depending on what your business is, these could be products, courses, memberships, a podcast, press opportunities or growing your network on platforms like LinkedIn or other social platforms.
This is where it starts to get fun because opportunities truly are everywhere!
Threats
So, threats are a little harder to identify sometimes because they have to do with external circumstances that are not under our control. What are possible external forces that could affect your personal brand? Are there any big changes on the horizon in your industry/business?
For example, if you utilize TikTok as one of your main marketing channels, the possible banning of the app could be a threat to your personal brand.
Take some time to think about any threats that may arise and rank them from bad to worst. Hopefully, none of these will happen, but it’s always a good idea to have some sort of action plan in the back of your mind in case they do happen.
Related: 3 Principles for Personal Branding Success
Action steps
1. Google a SWOT template and print it out
2. Take some time to review these sections
3. Honestly write down answers in the template
4. Formulate your personal branding strategy based on SWOT answers
5. Start executing!
6. Review twice a year and adjust as necessary
