The strong personal brand is the best ambassador

Introduce yourself in a few words…

My name is Nikolina Kurteva and for more than 20 years I have been engaged in sales and marketing in the field of hospitality and tourism. I have developed in various positions in some of the largest international hotel chains, such as Hilton, Hyatt, Accor. For some time now, I have been a consultant for business development of various new and innovative projects in tourism. I love to travel, practice yoga, and learn new things.

How would you define a personal brand and why is it so important today?

The personal brand for me is a combination of personal special skills, character, leadership qualities and reputation that distinguish us as individuals and attract the attention of colleagues, clients, and business partners.

How did you start building your personal brand? What motivates you?

In fact, a large part of my personal brand builds itself. Over the years during my professional journey, I have always placed great importance on my reputation, on honesty in my relationships with colleagues, clients, and partners. What motivates me is my desire to be in open relationships with each one of them and “at the end of the day" for everyone to have something useful.

What are the most important elements of a successful personal brand?

Personal expertise, target audience, participation in professional networks, developing leadership skills, and maintaining personal reputation.

How to find your niche and unique value?

Everyone knows for themselves what their strongest points are or what they are best at. They need to perfect those. This way, they will achieve the highest level of development in a specific field, something that is narrowly specialized and will make them one of the few specialists in that area.

Should the personal brand be built around personality or expertise?

Rather expertise. It is what distinguishes us.

What first steps would you recommend to someone who is just starting?

Build your expert opinion.

Be authentic.

Tell stories, share experiences.

Provoking positive impact.

Let others talk about you. The personal brand is the story that people tell about you, when you are not in the room. 

Be careful with social networks;)

What platforms are most suitable for developing a personal brand today?

It all depends on the field of activity. In business, professional networks and social media, such as LinkedIn and relevant communities are most suitable. For example, membership in the Alumni club of The Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria. Here, regular sharing of knowledge and experience creates opportunities for establishing contacts and increasing visibility.

What role does authenticity play in the personal brand and how to maintain it?

Authenticity is one of the most important things for developing a personal brand. That’s why it’s important to be honest and open.

How to create content that engages and builds trust?

We need to focus on our target audience and what our expertise is. Then every experience and shared story will be of interest. Even failures, if we tell them honestly and draw positive advice, will contribute to the audience's engagement.

What are the most common mistakes people make when building a personal brand?

Most often, people decide that they need to be everywhere and in all social networks. This distracts the personal brand and the audience loses interest.

How to deal with negative comments and criticism?

By perceiving them constructively, analyzing them, and extracting the useful from them to develop in the right direction.

How to avoid burnout when investing a lot of effort in your personal brand?

We simply should not focus solely on our personal brand, but on our expertise and its proper communication.

How can a strong personal brand lead to more opportunities (jobs, partnerships, clients)?

A strong personal brand, a strong reputation, is the best ambassador for a person. Personal recommendation is still the most successful way to develop new opportunities for jobs or partnerships.

What are the best ways to monetize a personal brand?

We can monetize our personal brand through more sales of the services we offer or by finding a higher-paying job if we are an employee in a company. We can also help our partners sell more, just like influencers do.

When is the right time to start offering paid services or products?

When we have a sufficiently stable network of contacts and potential clients or partners, who trust us.

How to maintain sustainability and long-term growth of the personal brand?

By continuing to develop and constantly contributing value that is valuable to the audience.

What habits and discipline are needed to build authority?

To be consistent and persistent. To be authentic.

Which personalities with a successful personal brand inspire you and why?

Richard Branson, I suppose everyone has heard of him. He inspires me with his unyielding desire to learn and do new things.

Desislava Stoyanova - a contemporary Bulgarian television journalist, trainer, and consultant on presentation and media skills. I like her as a host and a woman leader, I admire her journalistic work and I am inspired by her success with her personal project How to speak, in which she adapts her training for public speaking to the personal needs of the client.

Valentina Lozanova, who is my personal friend, a former colleague, who left her successful career, started a coaching practice, and helps her clients find themselves and achieve their goals in professional and personal life. She inspires me with her courage and with building a personal brand in this field, long before coaching became so popular in Bulgaria. 

What three specific things can people do today, to improve their personal brand?

To focus on their strengths.

To be sincere.

To tell a story.