Personal Branding

The Personal Branding of You

In the world of modern business, personal branding is an absolute necessity. The growth of information flow is exponential and a fancy resume is no longer enough to compete for that highly desired position or promotion. Personal branding gives you competitive advantage in the workplace. The modest individual might view personal branding as egotism, which isn’t entirely untrue, but the power of branding is useful not only to the individual but also to the firm he or she works for. A strong personal brand will set a person apart from direct competitors within an industry. Personal branding requires the development of a healthy ego, and does not need to be belligerent. You can develop your personal brand by first performing some self reflection and then taking specific actions to promote your brand and thus improve your company’s brand.

First Analyze Yourself
The first step in developing your personal brand is self-reflection. Management guru Tom Peters says this is accomplished by asking yourself five questions:

1.) What makes you different?
In asking this question you are trying to find the uniqueness of you. Ask yourself, “What is it that my product or service does that makes it different?” (Peters) Take a feature-benefit approach; what unique characteristics do you have and what benefit does each characteristic yield?

2.) What is the pitch for you?
To find your pitch, Peters suggests focusing on contributions. This means taking on extra projects and delivering high quality outputs. You should play to your strengths and try to create word of mouth ‘hype’ about your performance. If you are a skilled writer then focus on written products. If you are a skilled public speaker, then try to create a motivational presentation and share it with your group or customers. The goal is to create excitement about your brand and to get people talking about the strengths that make you unique.

3.) What’s the real power of you?
“Getting and using power -- intelligently, responsibly, and yes, powerfully -- are essential skills for growing your brand. One of the things that attracts us to certain brands is the power they project. As a consumer, you want to associate with brands whose powerful presence creates a halo effect that rubs off on you” (Peters). Peters continues to explain that power is not a dirty word and, in fact, power is a greatly misused capability. Power is really the influence you have through contributions or flawless execution. Power is reputational. To be successful, you must become comfortable in your own skin and come to grips with your own power (Peters).

4.) What’s loyalty to you?
Loyalty to your personal brand is not selfishness. It actually creates a win-win situation for any firm which is fortunate enough to employ you. Focusing on loyalty to your personal brand will foster personal development. The effects are eloquently stated by Peters; “After all, everything you do to grow Me Inc. is gravy for them: the projects you lead, the networks you develop, the customers you delight, the braggables you create generate credit for the firm” (Peters).

5. What’s the future of you?
Be willing to constantly reinvent yourself as a brand. The future, according to Peters, is not linear. Careers can zigzag and often undergo unanticipated course changes. Your personal brand should start with a mission statement and you should evaluate the mission statement on a regular basis (Peters).

Constantly Develop your Brand
According to Dr. Randall S. Hansen, the founder of Quintessential Careers, it is the power of branding that compels a consumer to choose one product over another. Dr. Hansen describes personal branding like this:
Branding (some call it self-branding when talking about individuals) is essential to career advancement because branding helps define who you are, how you are great, and why you should be sought out. Branding is your reputation. Branding is about building a name for yourself, showcasing what sets you apart from others, and describing the added value you bring to a situation. (Hansen)
Dr. Hansen offers five action steps to continuously develop and grow your personal brand:

1.) Gain Experience
According to Dr. Hansen, your past experiences and accomplishments are the foundation upon which your brand is built. You must strategically look for opportunities to enhance your experience moving forward. Challenge yourself to accept projects in areas where you lack experience. Doing so will make your resume and your brand more well rounded (Hansen).

2.) Complete Education / Training
In order to excel in your career it may be necessary to complete additional education. If you are in doubt about whether this is necessary, you should consult with a mentor (Hansen). Employer standards are becoming more and more competitive and industry specific education and training will likely distinguish you from the crowd of applicants. Many employers offer tuition reimbursement because they realize that if you grow the strength of your personal brand it results in a win-win situation because you also strengthen the company brand.

3.) Promote Yourself
Hansen discusses throwing modesty out the window and says “You can have an amazing brand, but if no one knows about it, you are not going to have much success with your career development” (Hansen). He goes on to explain that there is a fine line between modesty and bragging but that it is better to err on the side of promoting your brand (Hansen).

4.) Become an Expert
You need to build credibility for your personal brand and nothing is more effective at doing this than establishing yourself as an expert in a particular field or area. Becoming an expert is also an exercise in marketing. Highlight your credentials, your awards and accolades, and your accomplishments; these should be easily accessible and as well known as possible. Constantly seek out opportunities that play to your expertise and showcase your strengths (Hansen).

5.) Build Relationships
The internet offers a wide array of networking platforms. It appears that LinkedIn is the most oriented toward professional branding. To build relationships it is important to establish a network of professionals, peers, colleagues and customers. Personal branding requires that all communications into the network be carefully constructed. You will want to nurture your network and upload material that satisfies their interest. According to Hansen, there is nothing more powerful in marketing than what people say about you and your personal brand. This word-of-mouth marketing is critical and so the reputation of your personal brand will be bolstered by a large number of very positive professional relationships.
Personal branding is all about highlighting your own uniqueness. Just as uniqueness of a product lends to competitive advantage, establishing the uniqueness of YOU should be at the heart and soul of your personal branding strategy. To ignore the importance of personal branding is to open yourself up to competitive threats. Christopher Nelson sums it up like this in the Chicago Tribune: “Extend your brand. Figure out ways to build your brand. You are a brand” (Nelson).

WORKS CITED
Hansen, Randal S. Ph.D. “Building Your Personal Brand: Tactics for Successful Career Branding”. Quintcareers. 15 Aug 2010. 15 Aug 2010.
Nelson, Christopher. “Marketing Me: The Origins of Personal Branding”. Chicago Tribune. 5 Aug 2010. 15 Aug 2010.
Peters, Tom. “The Brand Called You”. Fast Company. 31 Aug 1997. 15 Aug 2010.