How can you build a personal brand in the early stages of your career?

Early in your career, focus on the basics. A friend and mentor of mine, once said, "You need to be good before you can get fancy." This means showing up for stuff (on time), doing what you say you are going to do, being courteous and kind, writing well and without mistakes, making a point to swing by people's desks to say hello or thank you. After you've mastered this, then it makes sense to get just the right amount of visibility with the company's leaders. Don't try to over-impress, or you could be seen as lacking professional judgement. But don't be bashful, or you risk being invisible. A good mantra for starting out in your career, and interacting with executives - be brief, be bright, be gone! At least to start :). And smile.

Knowing yourself is weird. Because I'm 40, and honestly? I still don't know myself, you know? But owning yourself - that's more like it. And building a personal brand (in my head), is more about owning yourself, than knowing yourself. It's about owning who you are at that phase in your life, it's about owning your mistakes, your wins - and it's about taking your clothes off and standing butt naked in front of the world saying 'Here, this is me'. Personal brands become personal brands not because they're awesome. They become personal brands because they're honest. And if you can bring that kind of honesty in your content, that's awesome. Few however, can.

Knowing yourself early in your career is a total red herring. Most of us have no idea who we really are and how we will contribute to the world of work. My advice is try not to know. Be open. Be a sponge. Listen. Find who you admire. Equally importantly identify the behaviours that don’t match your values. Your personal brand develops from all these real experiences. It’s not a brainstorming session you complete on day 1…it evolves and develops over time.

Knowing yourself is a long process, but an absolute must of a soul search. Once you know what you like or love at that moment, find a goal or a direction you want to move towards. Contrary to what most people think, personal branding is a living document that can be adapted, sharpened and changed whenever you want to. Start with the basics: What is is that I want others to know, understand and remember of me. What is it that I want to do and why? What is it that others need to know, see and understand? What’s the best way to show, prove and pitch that? Can I form a message or content around that? Then consistently put it out there while using any variable of branding that is valuable to you until you want it to be something else.

Building a personal brand involves shaping and managing how others perceive you. The most important thing to build a personal brand is authenticity. Here are some key aspects to consider: Authenticity: Be true to yourself. Authenticity builds trust and credibility. Share your genuine values, passions, and beliefs. People connect with real, authentic individuals. Consistency: Maintain consistency in your messaging, tone, and appearance across platforms. Consistency helps in building a recognizable and memorable brand. Clarity: Clearly define who you are, what you stand for, and what you offer. Value Proposition: Clearly communicate the value you bring to others. Identify what sets you apart from others in your field.

Encontrar tu nicho es esencial para diferenciarte. No se trata solo de definir un mercado, sino también de entender profundamente a las personas dentro de él, sus necesidades y cómo tus habilidades únicas pueden servirles. Un nicho bien definido te posiciona como especialista en lugar de generalista, lo que a menudo conduce a una mayor lealtad y reconocimiento en tu campo.

As designers, we always help people with their personal brands, but when it comes to ourselves, we feel lost. For me, it took a while before I knew that building a personal brand should start with the niche. That may take a while to figure out. Take your time, but don't start without a clear vision of what makes your brand yours. Your audience will define you by this. So, be careful about how you present yourself

Having a niche is vitally important to ensuring that you have a competitive edge. This doesn't always mean you have to redesign the wheel. You could find competitive industries and still have niches in service, quality and timescales.

I was advised to be so niche it was uncomfortable when I started my podcast early this year. There have been many times I have wanted to be broader, and I have had fear that I was missing opportunities. But what has happened instead is I have been able to develop myself into an expert in that niche. Now I am broadening my offering I already have a trusted community who know I am good at my niche and therefore they will continue to support me as I branch out as I have built that value relationship with them.

You have to know what it is that you want to do. Telling me that you are a marketer and like to do it all isn't helpful. What are you passionate about - what are you good at? Be confident, but not cocky. If anyone tells me they are an expert in anything digital marketing, I am very wary as things change daily, if not hourly.

Los activos de tu marca personal son los pilares de tu representación en el mundo. Cada activo, desde tu logo hasta tu contenido en redes sociales, debe ser una expresión auténtica de lo que representas. La coherencia entre estos activos construye reconocimiento y confianza con tu audiencia.

There are many benefits of creating a well-crafted personal brand. The one benefit that stands out the most for me is enhancing your credibility and building trust with your audience/customers. When people understand your expertise, values, and personality, they are more likely to trust you and want to engage with you professionally. This essentially leads to more business.

Treat yourself like a brand. Have a purpose, a vision, core values, a mission statement. Have a business card that clearly states what you do. Don't make people guess. The same goes for your website. You have 5 seconds for someone to understand what you do and that you understand their problems before moving on the next provider. Don't make me go to the "About Us" page to read your value proposition and mission statement. Fully fill out your LinkedIn profile and company page. When I meet someone new will check out their LI page and website. If the messaging is different, I question if they are really who they present themselves as or just doing what they have to do to make a buck.

One thing I like to do is to create certain pieces that I repeat in the assets. Sort of like how the logo is repeated. I keep certain swirls and symbols in the backgrounds to connect the designs a lot more. The consistency makes the brand recognizable but it still gives variety because the uniformity is in the background and can be shifted however necessary because the brand guidelines are less strict for background pieces.

Your assets are the most fun part of your brand. Pick a thing or two that you love (for me its blue, beaches, skies, diaries) and then make them part of your content. Pick colours that go with your personality and the vibe you're trying to create. Don't rush into this because these elements are more permanent than the content you create. You can check out Pranita Bajoria and Chris Do's feed on Instagram!

Compartir tu valor es donde realmente empiezas a construir una conexión con tu audiencia. Crear contenido de calidad que resuene con las necesidades y deseos de tu nicho establece tu autoridad y muestra que eres un recurso valioso. La clave aquí es la generosidad; da libremente de tu conocimiento y experiencia, y tu audiencia crecerá.

Always show willingness to share your knowledge and be open to learn in every possible opportunities. Be yourself when you contribute. Help someone with authentic information and people should trust your inputs.

Get involved in your community by serving on a nonprofit board, then leverage your personal and business networks to further the cause.

Este ponto eu concordo 100%. é muito importante demonstrar a relevancia da sua atua??o para o mundo. Fa?a bem o seu trabalho e fa?a o mundo saber sobre ele!

Sharing the brand values in these times has a strong weightage more than ever. people want to know the person behind the brand, what they stand for, how is the brand effecting the environment, where and how the products are being manufactured, what are the values the brand would not compromise on. The values could include quality, customer satisfaction , ethical practices and more. The focus of a brand on these values helps the customer trust and in turn loyalty if these are being delivered. for long term growth customer loyalty and trust would then go a long away for success.

This one I hold dear to my experience, and an advice to I give my mentees. Gain experience, raise your hand for a pitch that people avoid, don’t be afraid to roll up sleeves with senior management when given a chance, take the path that sometimes is the more difficult one. The fastest way to learn and gain experience, is to get into the action. The more you “train” with the big leagues everyday, the more you accelerate chances of your success.

La reputación es la percepción colectiva de tu valor y confiabilidad. Se construye con cada interacción y cada pieza de trabajo que presentas. Superar las expectativas y aportar valor de manera consistente son las mejores formas de construir una reputación sólida. A medida que tu reputación crece, también lo hace tu influencia y las oportunidades que se te presentan.

If you tell your story well, and make yourself visible (networking, speaking, volunteering, etc.) people will start to introduce you to people as the go-to person in your field.

The advice Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger gave to me is “the reputation you get is usually the one you deserve”, with that they suggest to, “behave well”. I agree wholeheartedly. I’ll add to that if you are looking to turnaround your reputation or shift a perception of you, it’s important to follow up systematically on that behavior change with your key stakeholders. Marshall Goldsmith taught me that first impressions are hard to change on their own, so following up helps lock in the change for you and the stakeholders.

My first manager told me "This hippy attitude of yours isn't going to cut it. You better toughen up." Being an emotional being in the field of advertising at 20 years old was brutal. But I learned how to mitigate negativity and tension by addressing it. I didn't need to toughen up, others needed to lighten up. When attitudes flare, refocus the conversation on the objective. Acknowledge frustrations. Suggest resolutions when feasible. Empathy goes a long way. Be honest, earnest, and open to build trust and charisma. Hone your craft, but don't be pretentious; ideas can come from anywhere. Collaboration is key. Build rapport by learning what motivates and challenges your colleagues. Share your aspirations. Own your mistakes and let them go.

The only way to build a personal brand is by being yourself. It takes some time to recognise your strengths and values, as well as your down sides. The key to great personal branding is: 1. Know and build on your strengths and values 2. Aknowledge your down sides, not hide them, but show you are human and aware of them and willing to improve 3. Stay true to yourself and live what you teach 4. If the situation forces you to be something else, find the mental power to be above it or move on.

Authenticity can be defined in many ways. Loving and accepting yourself for your strengths and weaknesses is a great place to start. You can be your own worst enemy early on in your career, and even as experience grows, you will evolve, fail, and succeed as a human. Stay true to yourself, and never be afraid to reimagine what this means if change will help you learn something new.

Being yourself help you to think about what you do well and what you feel passionate about. Passion can motivate you to persevere during challenges.Establish a clear voice ,speak on the your passionate subject which help you create a niche audience which you may grow eventually.Being yourself will help you drive the conversation longer.

Authenticity is the key. Be true to who you really are, and let that be reflected in everything you do. And I mean EVERYTHING. People watch how you treat your Lyft driver, how much you tip the waitstaff, how you interact with strangers. If you are one way on social media but another in real life, people will sniff out your inauthenticity and they will not trust you. Authenticity and walking the walk builds trust. Trust builds loyalty. Loyalty creates opportunities. Opportunities generate revenue. Be boldly YOU.

Start with thinking youself as a product, something that you feel comfortable to be naturally and can play well. Discover and cling to a set of people, helping them to solve their needs/problems and in turn gain popularity and/or commercials. People start noticing you and grow a perception about you. Now, you have a personal brand.

My advice to those I mentor is to consider yourself as a value co-creator - recognise existing capabilities and start building a narrative of who you contribute value creation to - extending value to social, environmental and economic value - contextualisation helps depending on where you direct your narrative - such as career seeking opportunities.

Two important things to know about a personal brand: 1) Your brand lives in the minds of others, not in how you view yourself. A lasting, valuable brand will require consistency with interactions at all levels; peers, clients, leaders, etc. Nothing causes doubt more quickly than showing different behaviors around different sets of people. 2) You already have a brand. Everyone & everything does. The question is whether or not you are going to manage your personal brand. Do you want to be known as a hard worker? Strategic? Friendly & helpful? Then be that way. Always.

Across the last 25 years, my journey in building my personal brand has been deliberate. In the early days, I sought direction & purpose. Yet, as time passes, a realization dawned - GRIT, characterized by passion, perseverance, & resilience, is instrumental in shaping & building a strong personal brand, especially in the early stages of one's career. Grit instills the determination to persist despite obstacles or setbacks. Perseverance helps to stay focused. GRIT fuels dedication towards goals; channels enthusiasm into work, which becomes a defining feature of one's brand identity. Grit encourages a growth mindset. It enables individuals to handle stress, adapt to changes, & emerge stronger from setbacks. GRIT helps maintain consistency

I think it’s important to be open to opportunities at the early stages of your career. If you are recognised as someone who will give most things a good go, you will be amazed at the opportunities that come your way. But showing ambition, a positive attitude towards learning on the job and delivering will do more in the early stages whilst allowing you to define what your true personal brand strengths are.

Developing personal brand at the early stages of your career is key to transmit who you are and what you can bring to the table in terms of knowledge and contributions. Some ways to develop your personal brand is to engage yourself in conversations that are valuable for your personal growth, try to find alignment of your key interests and how you can communicate that more persuasively. Remember, personal brand development takes time, hence finding collaborations and support network is necessary.