Defining Your Brand
Defining your brand is critically important to your personal and business success. Beginning years ago with “The Brand Called You” by Tom Peters, the importance of defining and building your personal brand has been growing and is hitting a tremendous stride in 2009. Peters pioneered the idea that your brand is not the company you work for but rather who YOU are in that company.
These days, superior skills, great resources, and inside knowledge are merely prerequisites if we even hope to compete in today’s global marketplace. Rising above, standing out, and hitting your target has become more difficult than ever. It is very crowded out there and it’s said people receive literally thousands of branding messages every day from news media, movies, online, print, billboards, radio, TV, etc. Our personal brand – the words and phrases we want others to think of when they think of us – is all that’s left to differentiate us from the rest of the pack. Add to that the fact that people are now changing jobs and careers so often, and your personal brand has become more important than ever.
You first define and then communicate your brand with a clear strategy. For many, navigating that invisible line between clear and effective communication of your brand and offensive self-promotion is tricky. It’s important to be authentic and speak to your accomplishments. However, you will wear out your welcome if you try too hard, sell too much, speak too fast. On Broadway, it’s called flop sweat. You’re not sweating because of the bright, hot klieg lights. You’re sweating because you’re losing the audience – you know it, and they know it.
Develop a Compelling Brand Message
On the other hand, people will pay close attention to a strong and compelling message. They’ll ‘lean in’ to something that resonates with them. Since it’s the first of the year, take time to review your brand message:
- Conduct a personal brand audit to determine your how your values and vision might have changed over the past year.
- Define who you are by writing a list of words that describe who you are and what you do.
- Review your online presence to ensure you’re maximizing the new tools available. When was the last time you Googled your name?
At the beginning of this year I wrote down the following words to describe what I’ve been doing for the past few years: I consult, teach, write, and speak. What’s changed in 2009 is my messaging strategy. My personal brand audit turned up an opportunity to ramp up my online presence significantly via social media tools. Social media is an outstanding communication channel and network builder for personal branding. My focus on my Twitter presence alone has already brought new clients and opportunities this year – a clear indication that the strategy is working.
Make sure 2009 is your year!
Define your brand. Decide on a compelling message and audit your online visibility to make sure you’re maximizing social media tools and tactics. Update your Linked In profile and get on Twitter, if you’re not already there. Explore blogging, podcasting, Facebook and more to learn how you can expand your visibility online. Be authentic and consistent. Make sure 2009 is your year!
Suggested Reading: Tom Peters What Your Personal Brand is NOT
Author:
Beverly Macy is Managing Partner at Y&M Partners LLC in Beverly Hills. She also teaches a social media class at UCLA and is organizer of the Gravity Summit event at UCLA February 25, 2009.
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Beverly – Thank you for a fine post. When I read the title, though, I was hoping for a treatise on doing the defining part of branding. I perceive that’s the hardest part for many – not how to gain visibility for the brand, but how to define it in the first place. It’s a different way of thinking for most people.
There has been a lot of conversation on how Barack Obama may have the best perosnal brand. I read a post on http://www.brandfasttrackers.com
where Brain Martin, CEO of Brand Connections said this:
“Leadership = Influence. …. We are all INFLUENCERS and influence is a craft worth cultivating.”
Influence has a great deal to do with personal branding. Who do you want to influence, how should you influence, what influence can you offer? All personal branding really is, is us being leaders in our own respective fields. Thus, back to what Mr. Martin posted.
Thanks for your thoughts, Beverly.
Another importance of stating what you will *not* do (or stand for) is it frees you from some laborious distractions and time-wasters that don’t get you closer to your goal. There is pointless hobnobbing on social media where you may get artificial points, but they don’t count for applicable results… or at least not ones towards your ends (so in other words, what you’re doing could be right for someone else, but not you).
Also, not everyone is suited for or interested in a personal brand; not everyone can “stand out” and that’s alright, we need strong supporters as well as leaders. And people who learn now, and then teach later.
(This comment box is very light gray and hard to read.)
Torley,
Thank you for your feedback on the post and blog design, too. We want it to be easy for you to comment because conversation and relationship are vitally important to us.
Regarding your comment, personal branding is not only about standing out, in my opinion. It is who we are, authentically. All of us, whether we know what it is or not, have some sort of ‘reputation’ or way that people describe us or think of us…whatever that is, is our brand. Branding is not about being grandly different or famously, uniquely you… it is about being authentically you. And, that, as Mary commented, can be a tough personal journey of discovery in and of itself.
I appreciate your post and feedback!
Thanks for taking time to comment, Mary. You are right, defining a personal brand can be a new way of thinking for many. I would suggest that the brand audit process I mention is a good place to start. Good branding agencies will often begin with a new client by taking them through this audit process. II suggest in my post an individual begin by listing words that capture who and what they are and what they do. It sounds simple, but can be harder than you think and very revealing. From there, you can hone in on the words that most specifically define you and your brand and see the beginnings of the message you wish to communicate. I’ll continue to speak about defining the brand in the coming weeks.
Uh-oh, gotta chime in again here. See, if I understand correctly, brand is something that applies to absolutely everyone. People may vary in how much they make use of their brand … but everyone has one. Everyone brings up a certain combination of thoughts when they come to someone else’s mind, right? That’s brand. Character. Your face and your name. Defining a brand means articulating and communicating your face and your name in terms of how they’re useful to others. Anyone can (and probably should) do this.
As I mentioned previously, HOW to do this is the major question. How to figure out the interface you have/want to have with the world. Listing words, or drawing/doodling, or making any kind of collection, or aerobic exercise, or playing music … people have moments of insight into their brand through many different channels. You have to be willing to spend time on the search, and be encouraged to believe it’s a worthwhile investment. So many people skip this step.
Mary,
Agreed, you’re points are well taken. I will be blogging on Personal Branding Blog each Tuesday. Would love your input on future topics and would be happy to include and quote your thoughts on the subject.
It’s true this world needs both leaders and followers, but now with personal branding and social media everyone has the opportunity to lead in their own way.
If you’re career minded and want to be successful in your niche you will absolutely need to have an online presence. If you choose not to build your personal brand you will eventually lose to the people who have. The individuals who have strong personal brands will find it easier to land higher paying jobs they actually enjoy and the benefactor of many wonderful opportunities.
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