BE YOUR OWN PERSONAL BRAND

To increase your personal success, you need to actively take control of managing your personal brand

For a long time, branding was only associated with businesses and companies. But in the current world, especially with the myriad of online social platforms, personal branding has become just as important. What is personal branding? In simple terms, it is making yourself stand out from the crowd to showcase your uniqueness. It involves how you manage others’ perceptions of you and influence how they think of you. Having a strong, vibrant and clear personal brand is something you need to actively cultivate in your quest for personal success. Effective personal branding has played a very big part in the accomplishments of the world’s most successful people such as Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Bill Gates, Richard Branson and many others.
Many people are not conscious of the fact that they have a brand, hence they don’t put much effort in managing and positioning it strategically and effectively to increase their personal success. But if you are aiming to distinguish yourself as exceptional and attain the most growth possible, it is high time to take control of your personal brand. How do you do that? These are easy ways to take control of the reigns of what defines you.

Define who you are

The first step to personal branding is to get clear about who you are, what your ambition in life is, what you stand for and what makes you different. Take time to think about these things and then write them down. It might also be helpful to ask people close to you such as friends, family, coworkers and managers what they think your key capabilities are. Don’t define yourself with a job title. Having a look at people you look up to might also help you define what you gravitate towards. While many approaches on personal branding emphasize on selling yourself and building an image, you should also take care to ensure that you remain authentic and human. Dr Hubert Rampersad, author of Authentic Personal Branding, emphasizes that your personal brand should always reflect your true character. Don’t feel pressured to represent yourself as someone you are not just for the sake of selling yourself. Highlighting some of your quirks, unique history and passions will make you relatable and human. Remember, people want to relate with real humans, not a list of qualifications. Practice telling people about who you are as you have defined and note what sparks most interest.

Find a niche

In your career, there is something that you are especially an expert in. Focus on this area of expertise and stick to it. Being vague about your expertise can dilute your brand and confuse your audience. For example, don’t just say that you are a photographer. Instead specify the type of photography you are especially good at such as wedding, baby, or nature photography. Are you a chef? Which cuisine do you specialize in? This helps your audience to quickly associate you with that niche and instead of narrowing down your opportunities, it actually expands them.

Promote your brand

You might have an amazing personal brand already but if nobody knows about it, you are not going to have much success with it. This is a world of competing brands and  one’s  success highly depends on how well it is promoted among its audience. Don’t be modest, take any available opportunity to promote your brand. Attend related events, give talks, publish on your area of expertise, and give media interviews. Remember to play up any awards or recognition you have gotten. If you don’t have a presence online, then create it. Clients and employers are increasingly relying on Google to research who to hire or give business to. Use a personal website, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, blogs and other platforms to highlight any experiences which affect your brand positively.

Audit your online presence

Being online isn’t enough. You have to ensure that your online presence is strong and adds as much value to your personal brand as possible. If you have a common name, consider including a middle name to differentiate yourself. Regularly Google yourself to see what is being said about you so you can come up with a strategy to correct misperceptions. It is also advisable to create a personal website, one of the best ways to improve your ranking on search engines. It doesn’t have to be robust; just a few pages with your bio, resume, and links to social platforms will do. Don’t use your social platforms for boring, mundane posts. Be purposeful with your posts as every tweet, picture, video or opinion you share affects your brand. Find ways of adding value to your audience by linking content that is related with your brand.

Associate with other strong brands

A brand can be strengthened or weakened by other brands it associates with. Find brands which can strengthen yours and leverage them to your advantage… and theirs as well. For instance, make your association with charities, your alma mater, and sports you participate in part of your brand. Join relevant groups, forums and societies and be an active member. Also associate yourself with other industry experts by sharing their tweets, commenting on their updates and published works and having them do the same for you. This will increase your credibility and visibility and bring more opportunities your way.

Evolve

As a personal brand you are always growing, changing and reinventing yourself. “Every good marketer knows that a big part of branding is being flexible and responding to what’s happening in the marketplace. The same is true of your personal brand,” says Jim Joseph, a marketing expert and president of the Americas for New York-based communications agency Cohn & Wolfe. Your life might take unexpected twists and turns and instead of fighting the change, embrace it and use it to enhance your brand. Changes in your personal life such as becoming a parent, getting married, getting a divorce, moving to a new country or professional ones such as starting a new career will all affect your personal brand. Adapt to the changes, refine your brand and if necessary, rebrand yourself.

Muthoni Wachira