Personal Branding, Part 1

Successful brands have always understood the power of branding. Spending a significant amount of time developing their Brand Statements, Brand Promise, and Graphic imagery so consumers will feel confident in what they are buying and why they choose it versus the competitor.

Personal Branding has become more talked about these days as individuals seek to differentiate themselves by developing a unique brand, that will propel career and job opportunities. Many people think that personal branding is just for celebrities such as Lady Gaga, or Drake, but every individual is in fact a brand.

Personal Branding, by definition, is the process in which people and their careers are marked as brands. If you’re looking for a way to fast track your career, Personal Branding is the answer.

Discover Your Brand

As a brand, you can leverage the same strategies that make celebrities or corporate brands appeal to your consumer. Personal Branding involves three basic traits: unique capabilities, values, a brand promise and impression.  Just like a corporate brand, you must establish and project what make you unique and why people should come to you rather than the next guy.

“Just like a corporate brand, you must establish and project what make you unique and why people should come to you rather than the next guy.”

Do you have a specialized certification or superior quality? Does your self confidence and social skills help you develop strong business relationships? Talk about this with your family, co-workers, friends, as they all provide great sources when it comes to identifying your strongest and most unique qualities.

The single biggest mistake people make is that they either brand themselves just for the sake of doing it, or they fail to see the value from investing in building a strong brand foundation before rushing into marketing and advertising. Spend the time Branding yourself according to a niche and you’ll attract the right opportunities.

Get your name out there

Once you have established your Brand Identity and feel confident in who you are and why you’re unique, it’s time to showcase it to the world! Be cognizant of your personal brand, both offline and online, develop a Social Media Strategy, set goals, and be dedicated — Don’t be fooled by the myth that if you build it, they will come. Unless you’re the luckiest person on earth, you’ll have to actually communicate your Brand to others.

Social Media impressions are very important, so keep your messaging consistent and be transparent, it creates authenticity. Create a succinct tone for your LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok profiles, your email signature, blogs and business cards, personal messaging can have a huge impact on your professional image. You can also monitor your personal brand name with Google Alerts, which sends e-mail updates about a topic or phrase that you choose.

The Social online world is the same as in person, so you need to follow the same rules of engagement: Learn to listen (start a discussion); earn the right to be heard (share your expertise and tools); and be consistent with your brand.