I read a great post today that asked the question is personal branding is right for you? Scott has some valuable insights that will help you to find direction in building a personal brand but I will interject by saying that you must work on “brand you.” The question is not if it is right for you, but are you doing it right?
We are all going to be a brand or branded in some fashion.
We all interact with people and we all do things that will help those people form an opinion of us. There is no way around that. Period! Branding is about what others think about you so the question I ask…are you building one that you can live with? If you want a personal or business brand that matches the story you want to tell, then you have to do a lot of work to lead people to believe that story – whatever that is.
I want my brand to be a kick-ass rebel biker like Jesse James of West Coast Choppers. I can believe this in my mind, but if you actually meet me, you are not going to get that vibe or that brand image at all. I don’t have a chopper or a motorcycle license and I only have one tattoo. The story in my mind will not match the one you actually see from my lifestyle. If I really want that brand identity then I have to make a lot of changes and work hard to connect the dots as well as fork out some serious dough for a bike!
The reality is that we all have a personal brand and we should always invest in it — or reinvent it if we don’t like it. Don’t ask if personal or business branding is right for you, but ask if you are creating the right one and a brand you can live with.
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James,
Thank you for mentioning the post.
Jesse James is a great example of being authentic and your point is well taken.
You last point was something that I failed to emphasize… don’t ask if personal branding is right for you but focus on creating the authentic one, that is what matters.
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Scott,
Thanks for stopping by and commenting! I really dig what you wrote and you provided some valuable thoughts on what people should think through with personal branding.
Authenticity IS the keyword and while some people may think this definition is over used with branding, I believe it’s an essential element to focus on.
Authenticity is the keyword. You need to differentiate yourself from your competition, which will allow you to gain your competitive advantage.
I am currently in the process of redesigning my website in order to create my company’s unique personal brand. We have only been operating for around 2 months and realised that our brand was not in line with our vision. Building your brand into your company’s foundation is extremely important.
Ryan,
Absolutely – you DO have to differentiate yourself from your competition, otherwise you just blend in.
It’s great that you have discovered that your company’s branding is not in line with the vision and it’s even harder to let go of what we want when it doesn’t match with who we really are. I battled this situation with many churches who wanted to commission me to do their branding. They desired to be something they weren’t and they refused to let go of their “hope” for what was reality. Needless to say, I turned them away.
Know thyself!