BRAND A Professional’s Guide to Creating Your Personal
introduction 1 to personal branding
A lot of people tAlk About personAl brAnding, but mAny of them Are uncleAr on how to creAte A brAnd of their own And leverAge the power of one.
A personal brand is a valuable tool that helps you increase your network, elevate your influence and even raise your income. But what is a personal brand? Why is it important? How do you create a personal brand? Just as importantly, how do you promote it
and maintain it? In this guide, we’ll define a personal brand, tell you why it matters and talk about the traits that the best brands have in common. Then, we outline five research methods and 25 questions to get you on the right path of creating your own personal brand.
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2 what is a brand? depending on who you Ask, A brAnd cAn meAn Any number of things. Forbes, Dictionary.com, the American Marketing Association and others all have interesting perspectives on the definition of a brand. At its root, a brand is meant as a method of identification. It’s important for brands, whether personal or corporate, to identify what they represent and differentiate themselves from others. We define a personal brand in a simple way –
A MESSAGE ABOUT WHO YOU ARE
AND WHAT YOU STAND FOR. The history of branding can be traced back to livestock, a method that is hundreds of years old and continues today. The goal was to identify which livestock belonged to a particular person or farm. As such, each brand had to be unique and memorable. That way, in a large herd, a brand allowed the owner to identify which livestock belonged to them. With livestock, what started with “hot branding” has evolved into ear tags, tattoos and RFIDs. Similarly, personal branding has progressed significantly. Resumes and cover letters are not enough to make a person stand out anymore. As more people are crafting personal brands, you have to work smarter to make yours rise above the rest.
It needs to be a genuine, representation of the true you. A brand must be unique and find a way to cut through the clutter. It has to be simple, because there are enough messages being thrown at the average person every day, you don’t want to overwhelm them with a complex brand. A brand has to be purposeful, so know what you want to accomplish before you create one.
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3 why does it matter? strong brAnds hAve upside. so before you define your brAnd, it’s importAnt to understAnd whAt’s in it for you.
Leave an impression. There are dozens of people in your department, hundreds in your contact list and thousands in your email inbox. You can’t remember them all – where you met or why you exchanged information in the first place. There’s a lot of white noise out there; a unique, authentic and powerful brand gives you a leg up on standing out among the masses. Streamline your life. Whether you’re preparing for an interview, writing a Tweet or building a presentation, the content is only half the story. Who delivers it, and how it’s delivered is the other side. What message do you want to get across? What do you want them
to think about you and your ideas? A personal brand defines who you are and answers many of those questions. Start with your brand message and create your agenda, presentation, blog, tweet or introduction with that in mind. Keep yourself accountable. In business, it can be alarmingly easy to mold yourself to a situation, stretch beyond your skills or compromise your values. While that can be beneficial at times, you also want to stay true to yourself and not become a person in time that a younger you would find unrecognizable. Defining and sticking to your brand keeps you honest and helps you stay within your ideals.
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research 4 social media 101
when you’re looking to creAte And define your brAnd, it’s importAnt to be sure you’re getting to the reAl you.
One way to see how we represent ourselves is looking at our social media presence. Each channel can tell us something different about ourselves, so it’s important to take stock of all of them. An excellent resource to get started is Klout. Connect your social media handles to your Klout profile and it will pull the topics you post about often and show you where you rank compared to others. This is an efficient way to see
what themes you’re putting out there across all channels. You can also scroll through your Tweets to see what you post about. To get a little more specific, try using a service like Tweet Cloud. It will create a word cloud of the terms you talk about the most and shed light on the topics you cover frequently. Ever heard the old adage, “Show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are”? Friends can be windows into our lives and where better to research them than Facebook? Flip through your friends list and see what they’re posting about. Note what part of your life most of your friends come from – the office, your neighborhood, college, childhood or somewhere else.
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research beyond social media
hone in on your pAssions by l o o k i n g t h r o u g h y o u r instAgrAm history.
Lots of family photos? Outdoorsy adventures? Food you’ve made or eaten? Thrilling escapades? Dogs and furry friends? See if you can find any trends in your photos. Social media isn’t the only way to learn about yourself, so here are a few other ways to dig in. Your brand is not restrained to your professional life, but can make up an important part of it. Review your resume to jog your memory about some of your best professional moments and the things you’re proud to tell people about. Take a peek at your bookshelf; have any awards or nominations on display? If so, think about what you did to earn them – that’s a good brand clue.
Google yourself and see what comes up. Look at the images, click the links, and see what people are saying about you. Assume other people – prospects, potential clients or employees – are googling you, so take the time to see what they see. It can be truly enlightening. Consider taking a personality test. There are several well-known ones like the Myers Briggs or the MMPI that you can look into. Additionally, you could take a free test online like the one offered by 16 Personalities. While not as thorough as one of the aforementioned tests, it’s a quick way (under 12 minutes) to find out your personality type and what that means in different parts of your life.
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Brand defining questions ask yourself
Along with reseArching whAt you’ve sAid And done, there’s A long list of questions you should Ask yourself to help discover your personAl brAnd.
Personal, prying questions can be difficult to answer, even when you’re the one asking them. But, answer these questions honestly to get to the core of who you are and what you stand for. There are hundreds of questions that can point you in the direction of an authentic personal brand. They can go any number of ways depending on your interests and how you answer previous questions. Here are a few to get you started.
1. What accomplishment are you most proud of? 2. Look at your bank statement – where do you spend most of your money or what are you currently saving up to buy?
3. What are your four greatest strengths? 4. How do you want to be remembered? 5. What do you look forward to doing when you have some time off?
6. Where did you go on your last road trip or vacation? 7. What would you do if money was no object and you could pick any job in the world?
8. What are your core values? 9. Compared to your friends, colleagues or competitors – what makes you different from everyone else?
10. What’s the best birthday present you’ve ever received? 11. Who are your favorite people to spend time with? a. What do you like to do with them when you’re together?
12. What are your favorite…
a. Cuisines? b. Hobbies? c. Websites or apps? d. Movies and TV shows? e. Music genre and artists?
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Brand defining questions call in a friend
After you’re done grilling yourself, seek some outside input.
Ask a few people who know you well to answer some questions about you. Setup a questionnaire via Google Forms, send them an email or ask them out for coffee. Here are a few questions to ask them and don’t forget to offer to return the favor.
1. What comes to mind when you think of me? 2. What four things do you think I’m great at? 3. If you were to describe me to someone I don’t know, what would you say?
4. What’s your favorite memory of a time we spent together?
5. What do I bring to our relationship? 6. If you only had three words to describe me, what would they be?
7. What would you miss about me if we stopped being friends?
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6 the keys to branding now thAt you hAve severAl elements thAt go into your personAl brAnd, you must know the four keys to defining one And communicAting it to the rest of the world.
Authenticity. Personal brands aren’t fake. People see right through fake. Just think of the last celebrity apology or endorsement you heard that rang hollow. A personal brand worth having is one that you can truly identify with because it’s 100% you. Be real, be yourself and define a brand that is true to who you are above all else.
Differentiation. You’re a special snowflake! Once you nail the authenticity, define what makes you different than everyone else around you. Find out what it is and embrace it. Then hammer it home.
Visibility. You can make the greatest spaghetti and meatballs in the world. However, if you only make it for yourself and don’t tell anyone about it, no one will know of your amazing culinary gift. Share your brand with friends, colleagues and your social community. It’s not as mechanistic as shaking someone’s hand and saying, “Hi, I’m Michael, and my brand is contagious positivity.” Simply let your actions communicate your brand message, and do so naturally.
Consistency. Do you like surprises? Do you really like them? Maybe on a birthday or anniversary. Generally, we like consistency from our friends, business associates, clients and family. While your delivery can change from one situation to another, it’s crucial to keep your brand message consistent so people can understand and learn it. Back to our spaghetti and meatballs analogy, there are a number of ways to prepare that classic dish. At its core, though, it’s still pasta and meat.
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determining your brand final steps
with your reseArch complete, questions Answered And the brAnd keys in mind, it’s time to creAte your brAnd.
You want to distill everything you’ve learned about yourself and the message you want to get across into a simple message. It should be straightforward and easy to remember. See if you can condense it into one sentence. Even better, try a phrase or even one word.
Here are some examples to illustrate this idea: New England Patriots Tight End Rob Gronkowski: Work Hard, Play Hard. “Gronk” is just as likely to be seen in the gym or dragging defenders into the end zone as he is on a party cruise or the beach. His penchant for fun takes nothing away from his dedication on the field.
Former San Antonio Spurs Center Tim Duncan: Quiet Confidence. Tim Duncan doesn’t have the boisterous personality of many other NBA stars. He lacks the off-court flash, but exudes a calm, assured demeanor in any environment. Target: Cheap Chic. Target isn’t the only place to find a nice accent table for your living room. It’s not the only place to find an affordable ottoman.To differentiate itself from competitors, Target brands itself as the only place to find inexpensive but stylish housewares, clothing and more.
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8 conclusion A personAl brAnd is An importAnt tool in the ArsenAl of An entry-level employee, A rising mAnAger or A c-level executive.
It defines who you are and what you stand for and creates a way for you to differentiate from others. Great personal brands help you improve your network (in both number and value), raise your income and increase your influence at work.
Having a great personal brand is only the first step. You also have to promote it effectively. Now that you have the tools to brand yourself and understand why it matters, our next guide will show you about how to communicate it in a way that cuts through the clutter and helps you rise above your peers.
For more information on how CHARGE can help you build and grow your personal brand, contact Jesse Ghiorzi at
[email protected]
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