Establishing a personal brand is something many professionals do to get noticed by the right people and make themselves available to the right opportunities. Unfortunately, with all the different information sources out there, it's easy to get confused about how exactly to do that. Where one source would advise you to do one thing, another article may recommend the complete opposite.

Therefore, it's not uncommon to see people drawing conclusions about personal branding that are simply wrong. Below, nine contributors to Young Entrepreneur Council look at the most common mistakes you might make when it comes to developing your personal brand and how you can fix those errors before they have a significant impact.Young Entrepreneur Council members share their expert insights on personal branding. PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS.

1. Casting Too Wide Of An Audience Net

The one thing many people are getting wrong when it comes to their personal brand is casting too wide of an audience net. Entrepreneurs are taught that the narrower your customer demographic target, the surprisingly bigger your business will actually be. It is the same for your personal brand. I've spent my whole adult life running an industrial design firm tailored to inventors, startups and small manufacturer clients, so my podcast is exclusively focused on knowledge-sharing to hardware startups and small businesses. Most of my keynotes, social posts, interviews, etc. are focused on either startups or hardware (ideally both). I would love to talk about a whole variety of other business and life topics; however, that would only serve to dilute the audience. Focus, focus, focus! - Kevin Mako, Mako Design + Invent

2. Focusing Too Much On Credentials

When building a personal brand, there is a tendency for people to highlight their academic or technical qualifications. However, it's more important to be relatable to your audience. You can do this by creating helpful and simple content instead of posts or videos filled with technical jargon. Once you build trust and get people interested in your personal brand, then you can showcase your credentials when people do research about you. - Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner

3. Building It By Putting Others Down

Your personal brand doesn't have to compete with anyone else’s. I often see competitors take jabs at people in their messaging, sometimes very subtly or sometimes very bluntly. Entrepreneurs are naturally competitive, but it's important to remember that your brand is yours and you get to choose if you're going to build it by putting others down or by any other means. In my industry, the people who do the best building of their brands offer genuine value to the consumers of their content. They almost "give away" their knowledge on how to perform their trade. Sure, this hurts them by allowing all their competitors to learn from them, and gives consumers the power to perform service by themselves. But overall, entrepreneurs experience a net benefit in increased exposure and lead flow. - Steven Knight, Mosaic Home Services Ltd.

4. Overlooking Your Friend Base

As the saying goes, “You are who your friends are.” One thing that many people overlook when developing a personal brand is their friend base and associations. A lot of branding bleeds over from one person to another. People see you hanging out with someone enough and start to associate you with that person. Use this to your advantage. Build relationships with people who inspire you. Seek out those who you admire and want to emulate. You will not only learn something from them, but you will also become associated with them and their brands. Like the tide that raises all ships, their reputation will increase your brand. This goes for professional associations, as well. Join professional societies, networking groups and charities that align with your values and your brand will benefit. - Shaun Conrad, Guitar Repair Bench

5. Forgetting Your Story

The one thing I think people are getting wrong when it comes to their personal brand is that they are forgetting their story. Your story is what people want to know. They want to hear about your ups and downs, how you started your business, your passion and tips. People want to be able to get to know you. When building your personal brand, think about your story. Write it down. Your story can be broken down into hundreds of posts. Remember to teach people through your personal brand. Regardless of where you are in your "personal brand" journey, you can build from your story. Make sure you remember not to leave out the bad. People want to hear it and want to see how you pushed through. Every step is an important piece to the story. - Lisa Collum, Top Score Writing

6. Lacking A Focused, Consistent Message

Being a brand isn't just about being followed, it's about breaking through the noise. The best way to do that is to have a clear and consistent message. Dan Price, the $70,000 employee salary CEO, is a good example of this. He sticks to a consistent message around paying employees better salaries and the potential benefits associated with that. This message has gotten him onto the cover of magazines and he's now a regular pundit on top media networks. Whatever your message is, focus on that and deliver it consistently. You don't need to be all things to all people, just to the ones who do care about the message. That's what branding is about. - Andy Karuza, LitPic

7. Not Aligning Your Personal And Professional Brands

For a lot of people, their personal brand doesn't always align with their professional brand. If you are putting forth one thing, then your individual profiles that are public cannot tell a different story. For example, if you are a fitness trainer, you can't post about healthy meals on your company page and then showcase poor health habits on a personal page. It seems obvious, but surprisingly a lot of brands and clients make that mistake. In many cases, the CEO or the executive team is synonymous with the brand and you have to be aware of that. In the age of social and digital media, authenticity is critical. - Jennifer Buonantony, Press Pass LA and PPLA Social + PR

8. Hiding Your Fun Or Silly Side

Don't be afraid to share your fun or silly side! I have long stretches of life where I basically work 24/7, but I don't project a grind-only hypebeast type of persona. Most entrepreneurs and their employees already work very hard. There's room to be a fuller human being, one who is committed to certain values and has creative or adventurous hobbies. Sharing new sides of yourself only strengthens your personal brand. - Tyler Bray, TK Trailer Parts

9. Posting Just For The Sake Of It

A common mistake I see is posting too much just to post or game an algorithm. We were caught in that trap years ago with pressure to post every day to stay frequent and top of mind. One day I walked into the office and said, “We're only going to post when we have something to say.” Quality trumps quantity. Authenticity goes a lot farther than a generic post every day just to say something. If you're going to speak (or post), add value, tell a story, teach something instead of just speaking to speak. Many social media gurus will say otherwise, but our approach has worked for our agency and for building our personal brands, as well. Remember, quality is more valuable than quantity and authenticity is more valuable than frequency. Be you and don't feel pressured to post all the time. - Joel Mathew, Fortress Consulting

Source: FORBES