Meaningful and Powerful: Your Personal Brand
If you haven't noticed, this website is all about my personal brand; what I am, what I want to become and all the things that I have done, and I am doing, to place myself in a position to accomplish my ultimate goal. There is still some work to be done, but that's the joy in personal branding; It's always in a developing cycle.
But is a personal brand that simple? Is it just an outline of who we are? Simply put, NO. Your personal brand is a reflection of who you are professionally and personally, and everyone has a personal brand. Even that guy you went to high school with who only posts pictures on social media when he goes out to eat. You may not favor what he posts or what he eats, but that's his brand. But what may be funny, is that he has no clue what his personal brand really is.
A personal brand is our first impression to anyone we come in contact with, before we actually come in contact with them. I know that may sound weird, but let me break it down. The things you post online, the pictures you are tagged in; even the things you favorite, like or retweet are all different things that make up your personal brand. These are things that people notice and familiarize themselves with before they really know you. However, our personal brands aren't just our online profiles. Our personal brands carry over from in-person to online and vice versa. We never want to create a persona online or in-person that we can't live up to. Authenticity is one of the most important aspects of developing a personal brand. It's also something that must remain a constant throughout your initial branding or even your rebranding phase.
I have learned a lot about personal branding, and I still have a lot more to learn. But a few things that I have learned, when developing a meaningful and powerful personal brand, is to figure out (in depth) who you are and what you want to become (the product). When you figure this out, pick a specific target market (the people you want to sell the product to), then analyze your target market. Find out what your target market needs and wants and the different mediums they use to get it. Continue to conduct research about your market and your industry, while looking for ways to improve the market and the industry. Once you learn about yourself and your target market, make sure that you are doing something every day that builds your presence and your image online and in-person. That is your personal brand.
Key Takeaways:
- Personal Branding takes time and a lot of research.
- Figuring out who you are isn't a one day process.
- Be very specific about who your target market is.
- Stay relevant; do something every day that builds your brand.
Sources: Image