Brand yourself!
“You are the storyteller of your own life, and you can create your own legend or not.”
Isabel Allende.
Understanding how to brand yourself begins with discovering your personal brand. Keep in mind, though, that personal branding isn’t just an ad campaign or clever tagline. It’s a combination of skills, talents, values, interests and beliefs. In short, your personal brand should be the descriptive words that you’re known by in order to make you stand out and be more memorable.
In the old days, it was called making a name for yourself. For example (when you mobile isn’t working? Call X, he can fix anything.” X clearly made a name for himself around the office as the go-to-guy to fix things no one else dared to touch). When you talk about jack welch you talk about leadership, General Electric.
Once you discover and identify your personal brand, you'll be ready to learn how to brand yourself. Before we go we need to ask a question
What is Brand????
Agrarian: A Mark on Livestock
Industrial: Identifying Labels on Products
Information: An Extraordinary Customer Experience
What is Personal Brand means?
is what you stand for and what makes you special It's composed of values, a mission and a positioning statement that depict what you do and who your audience is. It is an indicator for how valuable you are to your audience at every stage of your career.
“A great brand taps into emotions. Emotions drive most, if not all, of our decisions. A brand reaches out with a powerful connecting experience. It’s an emotional connecting point that transcends the product.”
Scott Bedbury, Nike / Starbucks
First step: Discover your Personal Brand.
“You have a brand whether you are aware of it or not!”
Your personal brand is your core. Your Life Experiences, Your Distinct Contribution, Your Default Brand & Your Actions and Points of View. Simply your characteristics that comprise your personal brand are unmistakable. If I asked ten friends how they would describe you, they would describe you by using a few key words. This is what makes branding yourself so important. Here are a few questions you are going to want to ask yourself?
What do you do better than anyone else?
Ex: I have a personable style of communication that I get complimented on all the time
[endif]What are your unique talents?
Ex: Building relationships
[endif]What do you really take pleasure in doing?
Ex:Being part of conversations about things that matter
What are the results of you doing what you do?
Ex: Our social media audience is growing and engaging with our brand online
Being able to clearly and honestly answer these four questions will help you hone in on what your brand is.
After this step you must ask yourself:
Am I aware my default brand?
Do I like it?
How would I change it if I could?
What opportunities does it open or close for me?
Elements to be a unique brand
Blueprint.
Relationship.
Agreement.
Nature.
Distinctive.
“If there is nothing very special about your work, no matter how hard you apply yourself, you won’t get noticed and that increasingly means you won’t get paid much, either.” Michael Goldhaber, Wired
Your Distinct Contribution
Her ask your self
What are my aspirations?
What am I passionate about?
What are my special strengths?
What is my contribution to my work, my team, my organization, and it’s strategic goals?
Brand Promise
It’s a heart of your brand and should be reflected in every facet of doing business
Strong brand promise is one that connects your purpose, your position, your strategy, your audience and your customer experiences. It enables you to deliver you brand in a way that connects emotionally with your customers and differentiates your brands.
The Best Brand Promise Examples
Apple: “Think different.”
Walmart: “Save money. Live better.”
BMW: “The Ultimate Driving Machine”
Coca-Cola: “To inspire moments of optimism and uplift.”
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?” Nelson Mandela
Finally Now that you know what a personal brand is, make sure you’re clearly communicating it on your networks, as well as on your resume! Consistency is critical in delivering the powerful message that is uniquely yours.
about the Author:
Islam Helmy, 15 years Hr training & Development Manager Arab Academy for science, technology and maritime transport and CoFounder @Trainingbakers.
