What Is A Personal Brand
A personal brand is a representation of who you are and how you want others to see you, know you and remember you.
Whether you like it or not, you will be judged by people the moment you meet with them. It’s either you build your personal brand or allow others to do it for you.
The process of identifying your personal brand takes you on a journey of self-discovery where you get to know who you are and what your purpose is. You get to decide how you want to demonstrate who you are and what you do. Most importantly, you know why you do what you do.
Personal branding is not about selling yourself or a product. It’s truly representing yourself and being consistent with who you are. It is what sets you apart from the crowd and makes it easier for people who share your values and perspective to recognize you.
Why Is A Personal brand Important?
As previously stated, personal branding is about representing yourself and helping others know who you are, what you do, why and how you do what you do.
Everybody has an innate trait to self-preserve, this means that you will make the best decisions for yourself and you will always be on the lookout for your safety. It also means that people would look out for their best interest when they conduct business with you.
In your daily interactions with others, they unconsciously search for any and all information to help them decide whether it’s safe and beneficial to continue to do any business with you. With a personal brand, it becomes easier for others to identify you as their best choice.
How do you build your personal brand?
1. Start From The Inside.
You can’t truly represent yourself if you have conflicts about who you are, about your value, and about your worth. You have to believe in yourself first and believe in your abilities, this is called confidence.
You will need to answer the questions why? Why do you do what you do? It is all tied to your purpose. Starting from the inside makes your brand authentic. Having a good understanding of who you are and being confident in your skills makes personal branding an easier task for you.
2. Evoke The Right Emotions.
Make up your mind to evoke the right emotions when you meet with others. Do not underestimate the power of emotions in your professional life. A lot of people often refer to emotions as a gut feeling.
Maya Angelou famously said, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Researchers have found out that your emotions and memories play a role in decision making. People will work with you if they feel you are trustworthy and competent. The same scenario is applicable if you are an employee. The emotions you evoke with your boss and your coworkers have an impact on your career.
3. Create the right experience.
Creating the right experience means taking actions that help you produce desired results, create positive memories and emotions for your clients or coworkers. The experience you create starts from the time your clients enter your space until they leave.
You want your clients to feel comfortable in your space. They need to know that you are confident, competent, and trustworthy. The must be able to recognize that you are their best choice.
Your clients are taking in all information around you to help them make their decisions. Your client may be your boss or an outsider. Whoever your client is, they want to know that they are making the best choice if they choose you.
4. Be consistent.
Consistency is an important factor in personal branding. You want to be true to yourself, and to others at all times. Clients will start recognizing your brand if you remain consistent.
If you have a job you dislike, don’t act contrary to your brand. Do all you can to maintain your brand irrespective of where you are or what you are facing.
Your potential client wants a professional who is consistent and capable of managing stressful situations. You live in a digital world where information can go viral in an instant and can’t be erased. Don’t indulge in things you would regret later on. In today’s world, it is easy to find out more about anyone. Think before acting.
