What is Personal Branding?
DEFINITION: how we market ourselves to others.
This is done consciously or subconsciously. You already have a brand. Whether you are actively promoting a well-defined brand or hardly communicating anything about it, people perceive who you are and what you do, based on the information available.
It’s your attitude, personal style, professional and personal background, attitude, mindset, wardrobe, posture, the language you use, your networks.
With that in mind, what do you think your brand is now? How are you being perceived? What can you do to influence that?
“Personal branding is about managing your name — even if you don’t own a business — in a world of misinformation, disinformation, and semi-permanent Google records. Going on a date? Chances are that your “blind” date has Googled your name. Going to a job interview? Ditto.” - Tim Ferris, Author of “The Four Hour Work Week"
“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room” - Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon
Why Does Personal Branding Matter?
Personal branding is important because it helps with how people relate to you and helps you build relationships with people. It also a key element in decision-making.
Your personal brand is also what attracts the right customers to you.
If we look at the example of purchasing a car – say you’re looking at buying a BMW 318i. In this example the corporate brand is BMW, the product brand is 318i, and the personal brand is the car sales person.
Can you think of a situation when you didn’t ‘like’ the sales person and decided to buy the same product elsewhere? It was that person’s personal brand that influenced you not to buy.
It’s also important to note that there may be a difference between your self-impression and how others perceive you. Understanding more about what people perceive about you and your brand is valuable as you may subconsciously be projecting things that you don’t wish to.
What Affects Your Brand?
If you promote a healthy lifestyle and all the pictures on Facebook are of you drinking and eating McDonalds what do you think that does for your brand?
What about your image? Are you presenting yourself in a way that’s appropriate for your industry and the occasion? Remember your self-impression is often different to what others see so really evaluate this.
With regards to your network, who are the people you spend time with and what values and businesses do they represent? Are they aligned with yours? Its also about your online networks – who are you connected with on LinkedIn? Aligning yourself with people and businesses that complement what you do and what you stand for reinforces your brand.
What about at networking events or meeting new people, how do you come across to others? First impressions are critical. Four minutes. Studies tell us that's the amount of time we have to make an impression on someone we've just met.
First impressions are often lasting ones so if you get it right, you can enjoy the benefits of the "halo effect." In other words, if you're viewed positively within those critical 4 minutes, the person you've just met will likely assume that everything you do is positive. The same is true of the reverse.
Within a mere 10 seconds, that person will begin to make judgments about our sense of professionalism, social class, morals, and intelligence. People focus first on what they see (dress, appearance, eye contact, movement). Next, they focus on what they hear (rate of speech, tone and volume, articulation). Finally, they focus on the actual words.
Discover Your Brand
The single biggest mistake people make is that they either brand themselves just for the sake of doing it or that they fail to invest time in learning about what's in their best interests.
The key to success, and this isn't revolutionary, is to be compensated based on your passion.
Your personal brand must be personal and authentic.
- What makes you tick?
- What do you love?
- What are you passionate about?
It is this combination of passion and skill that differentiates you.
Answering these five questions will also help you define your brand. Aim for three answers to each question:
- I am really passionate about …
- I would love to teach others about …
- What skills and strengths do I have that help provide a solution to my customers …
- What qualifications and experiences do I have that help provide a solution to my customers? …
- Professionally, I most proud of ….
Your Online Brand
Managing your online reputation is critical in today’s era of digital research. Employers Google job applicants and some are even looking at applicants Facebook and Twitter pages, and 80% of people research online before making most buying decisions.
Doing a Google search on yourself and your business will show what’s online. To narrow your search use “name” to find only relevant results eg business name is Silverdelta, Google “Silverdelta”. If you find content you wish to be removed contact the page owner and ask them to remove it. Once you’ve done this clean up, you can then set up Google Alerts so it will email you a notification when any new content appears online with your/your business name.
Remember the example mentioned before - if you promote a healthy lifestyle and all the pictures on Facebook are of you drinking and eating McDonalds what do you think that does for your brand? Facebook have made many changes to privacy settings so make sure you check your Facebook privacy settings and set them to the appropriate level. This link shows you how: Wall Street Journal - Facebook Privacy Tips. Doing this regularly is a good idea also.
Have an “Endorsement Mindset”
You are the CEO of your brand, but what others say about your brand is more impactful than what you say about yourself. For this reason collect endorsements throughout your life like you would collect business cards. If you have a website make sure you feature testimonials.
On LinkedIn, using the new feature of giving endorsements is a nice and easy way to give recognition of people's skills. Give other people endorsements and you will notice that many will return the favor. When endorsing others though remember to only endorse what you truly believe as it will reflect on you too.
In Summary
- It is how you market yourself to others
- Your brand exists whether you like it or not
- To thrive and survive, be transparent and authentic
- Helps people relate to you, builds trust and credibility
- Manage your online presence regularly
- Be proud, tell people
