beyond purely developing your own place marker and brand story in the world, the development of a network for branding yourself is an important step for establishing, sustaining and especially growing your audience.
just as impressive as what you say and do is the group that you move with. leveraging their values to help promote your own helps. in that sense, your network can be a supplementary support mechanism that cements your brand proposition through complimentary values and strategic collaboration.
in recruitment and employment terms your network is an essential component for career growth and trajectory. the highly polished expression that your "network equals your net worth" tends to ring true. people are inspired by, and trusting in those that have established and valuable networks of achievers. high value networks also tend to grow proactively - a result of positive influence and aligned objectives.
in influencer and social network terms - there is a strong correlation in trajectory of groups of individuals working and collaborating. mutual sharing of values amongst cool or refined groups of individuals tends to drive greater aspiration from audiences - much the same as the cool groups did in high school. key platforms like instagram and tik tok are filled with close-knit groups of influencers and podcasters working together to develop audiences for aligned purposes.
the reality is - alignment and collaboration with other like-minded individuals can re-enforce and support the value you offer. it can produce a system or chain of influence that feeds off mutual value to cross-pollinate an audience. it can add stronger visibility through extended networks and help increase the awareness of your own brand with a far wider reach than an individual may achieve alone.
the value of a strong network in your personal branding strategy can include access to other individuals who can connect you with aligning stakeholders, it can be a driver of testimonials and it can add credibility to what you offer.
the development of networks to support you in personal branding should align with your authentic self, and be mutually beneficial. there is no doubt though that network influence can be the ignition point for growth and cut-through, and is an essential tool in the strategic personal branding war-chest.
