The idea of building your Personal Brand is not a new concept. It is widely used by individuals with a high level of influence, like celebrities or politicians. However, “personal branding” has gained popularity as an effective means of marketing oneself in the business world. Read about how you can manage your relationship with others while building your brand and diversifying your network.
Diversification of your network will support your success
Diversify your network by diversifying your relationships.
Relationship management and building a strong Personal Brand requires a constant effort to be aware of the people in your life and how they fit into who you are, what you do, and where you want to go. This can be challenging as we often find ourselves gravitating toward people who are similar to us in terms of values, interests, and lifestyle.
The more diverse our networks become, the easier it is for us to connect with others who will support our success – whether that’s career-related or personal! So make sure that you’re taking advantage of all opportunities by diversifying your relationships as much as possible.
Understand who is connected with whom
- Think of your network as a web and visualize the connections between everyone in it. Who is connected to whom?
- Who are the connectors and connectors-of-connectors in your network? These are people who have many connections, and their connections are also connected to each other. These people help you grow your network because they introduce you to their friends, who could then become part of your community and come back around to help you too!
Team up with different individuals to help them do what they can’t do on their own
It’s a good idea to team up with people who are good at what you are not, but when it comes to building your Personal Brand, there is another type of collaboration that can be even more valuable.
You should also seek out those who have different perspectives than yours. The reason for this is that those with different perspectives will help you see things in a way that others might not have seen before.
For example: if you work in sales and marketing, there are probably many opportunities where having someone who has experience in business development would be helpful to help build relationships and find new clients or customers.
Have a strong character and a clear reputation as an honest, reliable, and effective person
This is one of the most important aspects of building your Personal Brand. You want to be known as someone trustworthy and effective. People need to know that you are a person that can be relied on in both business and personal situations.
A strong character goes hand-in-hand with being honest, reliable, and effective. Don’t let your ego get in the way; if you aren’t particularly good at something — admit it! You will only build trust when people see your honesty and humility.
Keep a check on relationship management practices
This is where relationship management practices come in. The first step is to keep track of whom you know and how they know you. Are they involved in the same industry? Do they share your interests? What value do you bring to the table that would be useful for them? Next, look at the people around you. How can you help them achieve their goals, and what do they offer that might be beneficial to your own goals?
You can also use this time to plan out future events so that when it comes time for networking, whether through social media or at an actual event like a conference or even an informal networking event with friends from college or high school, everyone has plenty of options for connecting with other people who may become valuable contacts (or simply good friends) down the line!
It is not about how many people know you, it is about how many people trust you if you want to build your Personal Brand
The number of people that know you is not important, but the number of people who trust you is. This means that if someone has a question, they will ask the person they trust, not necessarily the one who knows more than them. So, if you want to build your Personal Brand and create value for yourself, it’s not enough to just gain experience in your field; instead, focus on gaining trust from others so that when there are problems or questions in their areas of expertise (and yours), they’ll look to you for answers and advice.
Relationship management is not just about having many contacts and being able to keep in touch with them. It is also about diversifying your network, understanding who is connected with whom, teaming up with different individuals to help them do what they can’t do on their own, and having a strong character and reputation as an honest, reliable, and effective person. These are the keys to building a Personal Brand which will contribute to your success in life.
