Six Strategies for Building a Powerful Personal Brand
Personal branding is a term that is overused yet often misunderstood by professionals, entrepreneurs, and coaches. In truth, your personal brand is part of your identity—it is a way to communicate who you are and what you stand for in your professional circle. It is your unique value and reputation in the marketplace. What it is not is a façade or persona you put on to impress. What makes a personal brand, well, so personal, is how authentic it needs to be effective. It MUST be about you—your skills, your values, your experience, your interests, your points of differentiation. Your personal brand can incorporate your mission, but it is in the living manifestation of that mission that your personal brand becomes dynamic.
In my last post, I challenged readers to think of six or seven attributes that they wanted to be associated with them as a foundational step to building their brand narrative. Getting a clear intention on how you wish to be perceived gets you thinking critically of the messages you have been putting out inadvertently. For instance, in a past workshop, I had a young man describe one of his attributes as creative, yet he had difficulty articulating how he expressed this trait professionally. He certainly did not “look” creative—in fact, he looked very conservative! Nothing in his appearance or demeanor gave the impression that he had a creative bone in his body. Yet he wanted to be perceived as creative. When your appearance or communication is at odds with your desired brand identity how do you reconcile it?
The simplest way is to project the desired trait so it becomes an integral part of your persona. In this young man’s case, I asked a few probing questions: Did he share creative ideas at work? Did he come up with creative ways to solve problems? Was he creative in the pursuit of his career goals? Did he manifest creativity in other ways? With some digging, we found quite a few creative kernels in his professional life. Because he now had a renewed awareness of how important this attribute was to him, he vowed to make it a more vital part of his professional reality. This is what personal branding is all about! It is about strategically positioning yourself in a way that allows the most salient aspects of your brand identity to be front and center so it is obvious to your peers, clients, managers, customers, co-workers, etc., that this is part of your unique value proposition as a brand.
A Powerful Personal Brand is…
Authentic
Many entrepreneurs and solopreneurs think personal branding is all about their social media presence and website design. While these are certainly important aspects of your marketing and branding, the heart of your personal brand is about you—your entire persona. It includes your personality, strengths, values, beliefs, experiences, and your own image.
Think about Oprah for a minute. How did she get to be Oprah? What makes her a cultural phenomenon all over the world? For Oprah, it has always been about her branding. Everything about her communicates her key brand characteristics of authenticity, excellence, empathy, trustworthiness, and wholesomeness. From her famous talk show, to her magazine, to the movies she co-produces, the acting gigs she takes on, they all align with these core attributes. Her branding is so effective that it is synonymous with her public identity. Her tagline, “live your best life” also clearly communicates her mission.
Oprah likely employed many of the following elements as she built her legacy brand. Ask yourself, is your brand:
Memorable? What do you want to be remembered for? As you explore this question, think of the things you need to integrate into your professional persona to make you stand out. What makes you and the delivery of your brand promise unforgettable? What can you do to consistently exceed others’ expectations of you?
Authentic? You are the CEO of your brand. Your brand must be built on your identity, passions, expertise, values, and strengths. This is the core of your brand. What things are true and genuine about you? How do you you convey these things in your interactions and communications?
Compelling? Our stories are what makes us interesting and appealing. What is your story? How would you answer, “Tell me about yourself?” Are you reinforcing your brand message consistently by your presence, behavior, communications (online and offline), and performance?
Differentiated? Your uniqueness or “secret sauce,” otherwise known as your unique value proposition, is perhaps the most salient thing about your brand. Your distinctiveness is what sets you apart. When examining your expertise, skills, natural abilities, and strengths, what do you uniquely bring to the table? What can you own? How can you add value to your firm or organization?
Aspirational? Be bigger, brighter, and bolder than you are now. As you gather credentials, experience, and skills your brand will grow and evolve. If the sky were the limit, who would you become? Are you aiming high enough to allow your brand to deliver expansively? What hidden opportunities are available within your company/industry which you have yet to tap into?
Finally, you must be persistent. Your brand needs time to grow. It should be developed organically. Great personal brands like Oprah’s have taken years to grow into household names after a long period of dedicated work, sacrifice, courage, and patience to persist. Take your time, do not give up, believe in yourself, and be patient. You got this lady!
Natalie Jobity, MPhil, MBA, ACC, founder of The Unveiled Way, is a leadership and career coach, consultant, brand strategist, bestselling author, mentor, speaker, and facilitator who has earned a reputation as "The Brilliance Unveiler." She empowers female leaders to live in the fullness of their purpose and unveil their brilliance by leveraging the power of their strengths, expertise, and distinctiveness, so they make transformative impact in their sphere of influence.
Visit Natalie’s website to learn more about how she partners with leaders with her signature “Unveil Your Brilliance” program and her "Brand Your Biz Like a Boss" consulting service. While you’re there, join her Unveiled community and pick up your complimentary copy of her "Empowered to Lead: Seven Strategies to Help You Become a More Impactful Leader" guide.