Personal branding

Posted by Jane Toohey on 26 July 2011 | 0 Comments

Tags: Brand, personal, image

Who you are and the impression you make either works for you or it doesn’t. Your personal brand may be inextricably linked with your business brand or have an impact on the brands you represent. Personal branding is the key.

Either way, if you are committed to being successful in life, it is worthwhile spending some time on personal branding. Think about some of the people with successful personal brands such as Greg Norman, Richard Branson, Oprah, Kylie and how they have extended their brand into their business ventures.

Personal branding has much of the same disciplines as business branding. Start by asking yourself “What do I stand for?” What is your promise? To yourself, your friends, your colleagues and your family. Or another way of saying it is, what are you committed to? How do you want to be seen in the world?.

You must determine what your values are. What are your codes of conduct? e.g.

• Integrity

• Family

• Creativity. 

Then there are some key steps to undertake in the task of personal branding:

1. Discover your existing brand. This can be a bit confronting. Go out and do some 360 degree interviews with the people who know you and make sure it is a complete cross section i.e. A work colleague, a friend, a family member, someone from a club you belong to, someone you have fallen out with in the past even! Ask questions like these: How do you occur in certain situations? What is your normal mode of behaviour? What do they think of you? What is the impression you give? What do they think you are committed to? How do you come across? After a review such as the 360 approach, you may decide your personal brand needs some work, you may want to change the way you are perceived or you may just want to work at becoming the authority in your field. It gives you a starting point by showing you the areas you may need to work on.

2. Determine who you want to impress or influence. This is your brand’s target audience. You need to really understand these people as they impact your personal branding.

3. Define your true personal brand. What is your image, your style, the way you speak & dress. You have less than 30 seconds to make a first impression!

4. Design what is unique about you. Focus on your niche, what are you really good at?

5. Dominate your marketplace. Tap into the trends, keep learning. Work at becoming the authority in your field. Don’t take anything on that is not aligned with this commitment.

6. Develop your signature style and be consistent.

7. Decide your resources, skill set and desired outcomes. If you are lacking in any area, get some training or get some assistance.

8. Devise a plan to take your brand to market. Just like a business brand you need to market yourself to your target audience.

9. Deploy a brand message and deliver it. Always consistent, in written material, at speaking appointments and any moment when you come into contact with your target audience.

When you are in integrity with your brand you have integrity in your life. You are on the right path and doing what you are meant to be doing. You are passionate about life and excited every-day. Personal branding takes work. You might not always get it right, but when you are on-brand things just seem to work!