The term Personal Brand is a marketing term that refers to the perception of and reputation that consumers have for a product, person, or organization. Personal branding is used by individuals, companies, and organizations to describe their identity in the marketplace and to help define their values, strengths, and development areas. Branding can be seen as an important part of successful personal, professional, and business strategies because it enables one to self-identify by creating a lasting image.
Personal Brands are important for anyone who wants to make their mark on the world in some way. It is an active form of a conscious effort to influence others’ perceptions about you. Personal Brands help people stand out from their competition and provide them with a platform for building trust between themselves and others. A strong Personal Brand helps you achieve success at work and build relationships more easily.
Develop your Personal Brand statement
Your brand statement is the essence of your Personal Brand, and it’s critical that you create an effective one. The best ones are unique, memorable, and easy to remember. Here are some ideas for developing yours:
- Come up with a few words that capture who you are and what makes you stand out from others (e.g., “I’m an expert at [topic], which means I can help anyone do their best work.”)
- Think about how other people describe your strengths when they talk about working with you or hiring someone like you (e.g., “She’s super organized”).
- Ask friends or family if they can tell someone else something meaningful about how they would define your Personal Brand in just a few sentences (this will give them a chance to share their knowledge of who YOU really are).
Define your competitive advantage
The first step in defining your Personal Brand is determining your competitive advantage, which makes you different from others. You can’t be all things to all people (or at least not on the same level), so instead of trying to be everything, focus on being better than everyone else at one thing. This will help you stand out from the crowd and give you a place where your superior skills can shine through loud and clear.
When determining what makes you unique as an individual, look for qualities, others don’t have or lack in their personal branding strategy—these are likely candidates for defining your competitive advantage. This aspect of your personal branding mustn’t be something generic or cliche; it should be specific enough that people understand why they should choose YOU over someone else with similar qualifications but not so niche that they feel like it wouldn’t apply to them personally (unless they’re specifically looking for someone very particular).
Know your ideal audience
Spend some time thinking about your ideal workplace. What do you want to work with? What are you good at? What do you want to learn? What do you want to avoid? You will have a better time doing this if you spend some time thinking about your values, like what kinds of things are important to your life and business, such as “fun,” “meaningfulness,” or “justice.” Then, think about where those values fit in with the kind of work that you can pay your rent with. Do values align?
Build your presence
Before you can brand yourself, the first step is to build your personal presence. This will be your website and social media accounts. In order to do this effectively, it’s best to think about what message you want to convey about yourself. What kinds of things should people know about who you are and what drives you?
Another important part of creating a Personal Brand is building relationships with other people in your industry or field of interest. By connecting with them on social media or at events and conferences, they will begin sharing information about their lives with each other and creating a community around themself.
Building a Personal Brand will require you to work on several parts of your life/business at once, but it’s well worth it!
Your Personal Brand is a collection of your talents, skills, and interests. It helps people understand who you are and what you can do for them. It gives you an identity in the marketplace so that people recognize your value when they see or hear about it.
The importance of having a Personal Brand cannot be overstated. Prospective employers will look at your resume, but they won’t hire you until they get to know if there’s a good fit between what skills and experience that company needs and what kind of person matches those qualities best.
Building a Personal Brand can be daunting, but it’s also a lot of fun. And in the end, you’ll have an amazing sense of accomplishment that will serve you well for years to come. The most important part of this process is to ensure that you stay focused on your vision and what makes you unique—so don’t be afraid to think innovatively!
