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Discovering, defining, and delivering on your personal brand is an essential journey towards increasing both your professional success and the satisfaction you derive from your work. It is a process that involves self-discovery, storytelling, and strategy. Your personal brand is your career’s most valuable asset, and cultivating it effectively through a structured three-step process can dramatically elevate your visibility and influence. Here’s how to go about it.
Discover Your Personal Brand
The process begins with introspection. To discover your personal brand, you need to understand the unique value you bring to the table. This involves a deep dive into what makes you authentic, how you differ from others, and your relevance to your target community. These elements form the bedrock of your brand.
Authenticity involves being true to your values, passions, and beliefs. Differentiation means understanding what sets you apart from your peers and what unique value you can deliver. It’s not merely about being better; it’s about being distinct in a way that matters. Lastly, relevance ensures that your brand connects with your community in a meaningful way.
To discover your personal brand, start by asking yourself these questions:
- What are my core values?
- What are my strengths?
- What am I passionate about?
- What makes me stand out?
- Who is my target community, and what makes me relevant and compelling to them?
Reflecting on these questions helps you increase your personal brand awareness. Then, it’s time to seek feedback from trusted colleagues, mentors, and others who can help validate and refine your self-awareness.
Define Your Personal Brand
Once you have clarity on your brand’s essence, the next step is articulating it. This means translating your introspection into a compelling narrative. A strong personal brand story connects your past experiences to your present efforts and future aspirations.
Telling your story in both real and virtual worlds is crucial. Whether it’s through professional networking sites, industry conferences, or social media platforms, your brand story should be consistent and resonate with your audience.
The story you tell weaves together your skills, achievements, and goals. It should highlight the value you offer and the difference you aim to make in your field. Remember, a well-defined brand doesn’t just speak about achievements; it articulates a journey that includes learning from failures and growing from challenges. It also highlights who you are as a person, linking accomplishments and accolades with passions, values and goals.
Deliver On Your Personal Brand Promise
Defining your brand is only a part of the process; delivering on your brand promise is where the magic happens. It’s about living your brand in every action you take and every interaction you have. Your brand execution plan should be strategic and intentional.
Being selectively famous is the goal here. You don’t need universal recognition, just recognition from the right people—the ones who can help you reach your goals. This requires being visible, available, and valuable to your brand community. Consider these factors:
- Who is part of your brand community?
- What platforms do they engage with?
- What are their needs, and how can you address them?
- How will you measure the impact of your brand?
Engagement is key to brand delivery. Being active in industry conversations, providing valuable content, and being accessible to your community are ways to demonstrate your brand attributes.
Finally, it’s crucial to remember that personal branding is underpinned by authenticity, but it requires empathy. Authenticity, devoid of empathy, leads to egotism. True branding means understanding and addressing the needs and concerns of your audience.
By discovering, defining, and delivering on your personal brand, you align your actions with your personal values and professional goals. It’s about carving out a niche where you can not only thrive but also contribute to the community in a meaningful way. The steps outlined above are not one-time tasks but rather an ongoing process that evolves as you grow. Your personal brand is a living entity; nurturing it will lead to a rewarding and fulfilling career.
William Arruda is a keynote speaker, co-founder of CareerBlast.TV and co-creator of BrandBoost – a virtual, video-fueled course to help you grow your self-awareness and amp up your personal brand.