Position yourself in the real world, the digital one is its mirrored option

Introduce yourself in a few words..

My name is Marta Neshova, CMO of Vaisman Investment Group, a communication expert with over 20 years of experience in the field of IT, medical services, media, events.

Proud mother of a 10-year-old young man, a fierce advocate for democratic principles and all kinds of civic initiatives, and a convinced ambassador for mental health and work-life balance topics.

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

Personal branding is neither more nor less than what you have achieved in your personal and professional development, the way people perceive you, with whom you have interacted. Recently, we have given a public name to this positioning, but for a professional, it has always been extremely important and for me, it has one main measure – what feeling you have left with the people you have worked with or communicated with as an expert.

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

For better or worse, I have never worked purposefully on building a personal brand. In this sense, my personal brand is built entirely on my authentic self, with my authentic values, thoughts, and experiences.

The only motivation to write, share, publish has always been to show the results we have achieved with the teams I have worked with, to thank them, to provide examples of good practices and working models, or to seek opinions from colleagues and acquaintances to validate my thoughts and concepts or to get arguments.

I publish according to my personal experience, not according to a content creation plan or the needs of the algorithm.

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

Here, without any doubt, I say: the most important thing is that the personal brand reflects reality. Authenticity is the most important. I would also add complete transparency and honesty, but that is a bit of an extreme concept that does not fit everyone's identity.

There is too much falsehood in the digital reality to feed it further.

How to find your niche and unique value?

The short answer: horizontal development of the professional profile.

For me, this was almost 15 years of experience in literally all aspects of marketing – from research and analysis of audience data to ATL planning for millions; from BTL campaigns for clients to my own high-profile events; from managing social networks to developing communication and marketing strategies for several markets before I could confidently declare myself as a leader who adds measurable value to the business.

Should the personal brand be built around personality or expertise?

You cannot separate personality from expertise. Even if you try, you lose honesty, you lose authenticity, and with that, you lose trust. With the qualities and values of the personality, you build the expert; he is not some abstract image.

What first steps would you recommend to someone just starting out?

I would recommend first to build your business network and professional relationships in such a way that you leave a positive trace behind you. First is positioning in the real world; digital positioning is just its mirror twin.

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

The choice of platforms should again follow the personality – neither Meta, nor X, nor LinkedIn are universal. If the professional image you have chosen corresponds to the TikTok audience and you feel comfortable expressing yourself that way – that is perfectly OK, even if you talk about investments or pension funds.

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

I think we have already covered this :)

The person behind the professional is the first priority. B2B, B2C… is always Human-to-Human. People connect and remember other people, not brands – personal or product.

How to create content that engages and builds trust?

Authenticity, honesty, sharing – for me, these are the key words. And certainly without “rewriting”, especially with unknown authorship (AI-generated)

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

I don’t have statistics to rely on, but I would say that it is always a mistake to repeat someone else's thoughts instead of sharing your own. I won't even mention the reuse of someone else's content. Also, the quantity (of publications) can never come at the expense of quality.

How to deal with negative comments and criticism?

I really love criticism! I always try to find even the smallest piece of “truth” and analyze what I can improve. There is always something.

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

Oh, that would be the worst possible reason for burnout! I think we can avoid it by accepting that our personal brand is everything we do in our daily lives, not special targeted efforts to present ourselves. The personal brand is the trace we leave behind.

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

I will refer to the previous question: if people recognize you as an expert, a professional with a personal touch, who “burns” in their work, they will want to work with you. Passion is always visible and contagious. Conversely, if reality does not match the expectations created by the digital image, the fall is painful.

What are the best ways to monetize a personal brand?

For me, the goal of a personal brand is to reach the point where you are not looking for a job, but it is looking for you.

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

Here I am categorical – when we have enough experience and can produce value for our client. I respect the entrepreneurial spirit of young people who jump into offering services, but going through different situations with an experienced team provides a qualification that no freelance practice can achieve.

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

By developing ourselves as experts and professionals every day, rather than focusing on how to present ourselves.

What habits and discipline are needed to build authority?

The eternal first place for me is personal responsibility. After that, the mandatory uncompromising ethics, continuous learning, high professional standards, trust, honesty, and complete dedication to everything you undertake.

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

My absolute Top-of-Mind is Simon Sinek – on one hand, his philosophy absolutely echoes my thoughts and understanding, on the other hand, he has a very elegant presence in the networks, unobtrusive, non-aggressive, authentic.

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

·       To thank the colleagues and partners with whom they walk their path.

·       To show the last thing they are proud of.

·       To share the good examples.