Building a personal brand the non-cringey way

I’ll be honest, personal branding or self-promotion is something I find really cringey!

The problem is I’ve never stopped to think about what personal branding really is and what it should be for me. I’ve made assumptions about what it is solely by observing others (which is usually a bad idea!).

Accepting it is a big part of career success these days, I’ve done a bit of learning to understand the fundamentals of personal branding and how it can help me achieve my career goals.

I hope the following key points from my learning (sources in the further reading section) will benefit you and your journey:

·??????Personal branding is your image and reputation - its foundation is your unique knowledge and experience.

-?????If YOU don’t define your personal brand OTHERS will do it for you!

·??????It requires a lot of self-awareness, action and accountability – it should not be effortless self-promotion of achievement.

-?????It is more useful to think of self-promotion as ‘brand education’ – you’re educating the market about your value.

-?????It takes time to gain experience, build your portfolio, and discover what you’re truly passionate about in your career.

·??????Self-promotion vs bragging:

-?????Self-promotion is externally focused - your skills and accomplishments in the context of how they benefit other people, your team, and your company.

-?????Bragging is internally focused - how great you are etc.

Myths:

·??????Doing great work = a great reputation

·??????Your boss will market your brand

·??????Self-promotion is boastful and bad

Developing a personal brand:

1.????Figure out who you really are (your skills, values, passions, and personality) – a series of questions will help you to get into this more:

-?????What keywords describe your qualities quickly and clearly?

-?????What is drives your intrinsic motivation? “I know I am in my element when __________.”

-?????What is your authority factor, the knowledge that you hold and the skills that you possess? “People recognise my expertise in _________.”

-?????What is your unique factor, the qualities that set you apart? (how you get things done or what you’re known for.) “People comment on my ability to___________.”

2.????Who you want to serve (your target market or audience).

3.????How you differ from the competition (your unique niche).

·??????Use opportunities in person (at work, events etc) and online (social media, Linkedin etc.) to communicate your personal brand consistently.

As a leader: branding very much ties in with defining yourself, where you have to understand the manner in which you serve others. Two key questions to ask yourself:

1.????What value can I deliver to others?

2.????What do others experience from being around me?

Common mistakes:

·??????Having a target audience that is too broad

·??????Quality is more valuable than quantity and authenticity is more valuable than frequency. Be you and don't feel pressured to post all the time

·??????Not including your story

Communicating your brand

·??????You need to identify the people who have the greatest influence on how others perceive your brand - it’s not what you say but what others say about you that determines your reputation.

·? Start with your inner circle - the people closest to you.

·??????There will be a few key influencers, so focus on communicating your brand with them and maintaining a good relationship.?

The elevator pitch

If you have a good grasp of your personal branding you can communicate it concisely - think about a hypothetical scenario where you’re unexpectedly sharing an express elevator with someone influential and you only have 2 or 3 minutes to deliver the following pitch:

·??????What I Do (or Want to Do)

·??????Context and Value

·??????Evidence – your track record and how you currently deliver your value?

Evolving over time

·??????As you gain experience and grow, your skills and interests will evolve and grow with you.

·??????Revisit the points above regularly to decide how your personal brand needs to evolve with you.

Further reading:

1.????Branding Pays: The Five-Step System to Reinvent Your Personal Brand (Kang, 2013) – this book presents a framework, so its almost like being on a course. It will take you through the process of developing a personal brand in detail if you have the time.

2.????Promote Yourself: The new rules for building an outstanding career (Schawbel, 2015) – this is a great career book covering all aspects of building a successful career. Chapter 5 is the relevant on focused on building a personal brand.

3.????PWC have a useful personal branding workbook with lots of questions and prompts to think through.