Your Personal Brand
Your Personal Brand
The word brand often brings to mind a specific product or service. In marketing terms, a brand is a business concept that helps people identify a company, product, or an individual. Your personal brand can do the same for you.
Each of us brings a unique set of skills and characteristics to the workplace. A personal brand combines skills and experiences to communicate what makes us stand out from the crowd (Castrillon, 2021). A personal brand is much broader than a job title, and should be thought of as a career identity (Ryan, 2021). It is not only a reflection of how you view yourself, it is also a reflection of others’ opinions of you and your professional reputation.
Another way to consider a personal brand is like a personal mission statement. Consider the following examples (PersonalBrand, 2019):
“I’m Marie. An entrepreneur, writer, philanthropist and an unshakable optimist dedicated to helping you become the person you most want to be.”
“I’m Chandler Bolt, 6-time bestselling author and founder of Self Publishing School. There’s a book inside you. And my goal is to help you find it and go from blank page to bestselling author - even if you’re busy, idea-less, or bad at writing like me.”
These examples represent the response given during introductions or when asked, “What do you do?” A brand statement should serve as the “mental sound bite” that comes to an individual’s mind upon hearing an individual’s name (Castain, 2021). Potential employers often search Google for candidates and look at professional profiles on sites such as Linkedin. They should be able to quickly identify a candidate’s accomplishments and what makes them unique. In other words, a consistent and easily identifiable personal brand.
Getting Started
Establishing a personal brand may seem like a daunting task especially if you lack work experience or are in the early stages of your career. The start of developing a personal brand begins with taking the time to understand the self. Experts recommend starting with a few questions to begin crafting a unique personal brand statement such as:
What message do you want to send the world about who you are and what you do?
What do you most want to be known for as a professional in your field?
What sets you apart from others?
A personal brand is also a reflection of others’ opinions of who you are as a worker and a leader, as well as the associations they make when they think about you and what you do well. For this reason, it is a good idea to seek the advice of parents, friends, coworkers, and others who can speak to your strengths (Ryan, 2021). Ask them how they would describe you in a sentence or two. You should also ask about your strengths, weaknesses, and special talents or skills.
Branding and Social Media
The ultimate goal of a personal brand is to create a clear message that speaks to an individual’s uniqueness. This will naturally involve considering the impressions made via social media platforms. While the popularity of specific social media brands changes over time, David Castain (2021), entrepreneur and scholar, offers the following advice for building and maintaining your personal brand in the digital landscape:
“Your personal brand within the digital landscape is crafted by posts in the form of pictures, videos, captions, and articles. These posts shape the lasting impressions that others have of you and should be crafted to represent your experience, expertise, capabilities, actions, lifestyles, and accomplishments.”
The ideas presented here provide a useful starting point. The process of creating a personal brand involves discovering your uniqueness and the things you want to be known for, but also communicating professionally in such a way that allows you to be known for them. Think of yourself as the main character in your own story, and get started telling it.
In the video linked below, Scott Galloway, professor, author, and podcast host explains how developing a personal brand can boost your career portfolio.