You are kidding right? Some would say that personal branding is a fad. The only thing that may be a fad is that we are calling it a personal brand. Personal branding has been around since the caveman days. One caveman may have been known as the best hunter and another one as the best homestead builder. They didn’t call it a personal brand and not just because they only grunted.
What is a personal brand?
Your personal brand is the consistent experience that you deliver to anyone who engages with you at any time. Think of it like your signature. No one signature is the same with the exception of elementary school when we learn how to write in cursive. Everyone had to write the letters exactly the same or you ended up with red marks on your paper. As time goes by you start to add your own look. My J in cursive looks nothing like what we were taught, however it is consistent. When people see my J they immediately think of me.
Your brand is the first few words that come to people’s minds when they hear, see or speak your name. Without fail, words and images that represent the essence of who you are flash in their minds consistently. Those words and images are what you are known for and why people come to you when they need guidance.
Why do YOU need to build your personal brand?
This is another “are you kidding” moment for me. If you don’t build it someone else will. That someone else could build you a good one or they could set you so far back that you may never recover. The responsibility of your brand is yours and it is precious. The amount of time it can take to change the brand someone else, or that you, have mistakenly established, can be a long and daunting task.
Don’t start with a personal brand that is in a negative territory by allowing others to make grunting sounds that dictate the essence of who you are. Start building your brand now, start telling the world who you are in your own words and in your own way. Let go of the fear that was once red marks on homework because your J didn’t look like everyone else’s, it’s really not supposed to anyway.
Last updated on March 6th, 2018 at 09:55 am
