Personal Branding - Marketing Yourself

In today’s competitive business world, individuals are being advised to create a brand for themselves. That includes everything down to designing their own logo and thinking up advertising slogans in order to stand out and succeed. Whether you run your own company or work for a firm, the way to succeed and help your business achieve more is to become a brand yourself.

First you must devise a clear perception of yourself, who you are and what you do. They think about your core values and USP. Advise is to ask friends and colleagues what makes you stand out to them or what do they think you bring to the table. For example, “You create one vision out of everyones ideas” or “You bring calm in times of crisis”.

Then you must begin thinking about aesthetics, such as the way you dress, any trade marks, how you speak, where you are seen, your website. Even things like your signature, your voice mail message, your email font. What does it say about you? They key, like in corporate branding is clarity and consistency. By creating a brand for yourself you are helping clients, colleagues and employers understand you best and make best use out of you. You are also creating a way to stand out from the competition. If you own your own business, personal branding is a starting point to marketing your business.

“Richard Branson’s pullovers work because he has a man-in-the-street approach to business,” says Belinda Archer of Harpers Bazaar.

Belinda’s 5 steps of personal branding (taken from Harpers Bazaar, Uk, April).

1. Be virtually visible: Google yourself, get a website, become present on search engines and make sure you delete anything you dislike on their.
2. Mimic another well-known brand, for example : Be “the next Bill Gates”
3. Think small: from your handbag or laptop case to your business card.
4. Give speeches at events or industry conferences to become visible in your field.
5. Be sure before you launch your brand; once you market yourself as something it is hard to retract or change it.

Personal Branding Products and Services:

Drop Dead Brilliant book by Lesley Everett
The Mind Gym’s Me PLC workout www.themindgym.com
Mowbray by Design one-on-one personal branding tuition www.mobraybydesign.com
Walking Tall courses www.walkingtall.org