Craft Your Own Story: Personal Brand

A personal brand is, in many ways, similar to a corporate brand. It is who you are, what you stand for, the values you embrace, and the way in which you express those values. Just as a company’s brand helps to communicate its value to customers and stand out from the competition, a personal brand does the same for individuals, helping to communicate a unique identity and clear value to potential employers or clients.

Developing a personal brand might sound challenging, but there are incremental steps you can take to build credibility in your field.

Here are eight tips to help you create an authentic personal brand — and amplify your career in the process.

1. Figure out who you are

In order to build a personal brand that accurately reflects your personal and professional identity, you first need to know who you are. Be introspective, and create a list of your personal strengths and weaknesses. Ask yourself:

• In which areas of work do I excel?
• What motivates me?
• What characteristics have others complimented me on?
• Which projects have others had to help me with repeatedly?
• Which roles seem to drain my energy?
• Which projects can I spend hours on without feeling overwhelmed or tired?

If you’re struggling to answer these questions, ask friends, family, and co-workers how they would describe you. Once you’re more aware of the different facets of your personality, you can decide how best to brand them.

Keep in mind that many people struggle to choose a specific niche because they don’t want to limit themselves. Realize that your personal brand, like many corporate brands, will change as your career grows. The best strategy is to choose a particular area you’d like to focus on and let it evolve over time.

2. Determine what you want to be known for

Your personal brand is more than a reflection of who you are today; it’s a roadmap of where you will go. In addition to understanding your existing skills and competencies, assess your strengths and weaknesses as they relate to whichever industry or career you want to break into next.

By doing this, you’ll uncover the skills and traits that make you distinct, as well as the areas where you need to improve or gain new knowledge in order to advance. Forecasting where you want to be in five or 10 years — and the attributes you want to be known for — can help you better determine what steps you need to take in order to get there.

3. Define your audience

Before you start crafting your personal brand, you also need to determine who you’re trying to reach. Is it other industry thought leaders? An individual at a particular company? Recruiters? The sooner you define the audience, the easier it will be to craft your story, because you’ll better understand the type of story you need to tell (and where you need to tell it.)

For example, if your goal is to reach hiring managers and recruiters, you might start by creating or updating your LinkedIn profile. Why? Because 92 percent of recruits leverage social media to find high quality candidates and, of those, 87 percent use LinkedIn.

On the other hand, if you are a graphic designer trying to impress existing clientele and attract new customers, you might choose to tell your story via a personal website or portfolio, where you can better express your wide range of talents.

4. Research your desired industry and follow the experts.

As you start mapping out the careers you want, compile research on experts in those roles.

Find out who the thought leaders are in whatever field you’re interested in, and don’t just follow them. Go online and find out if they have blogs, or where they contribute their thinking. Look for people who are successful and examine what they’re doing. Imitate them, and then do one better.

In building a personal brand, your goal is to stand out — but you can’t rise to the top without taking inventory of who’s already there.

5. Prepare an elevator pitch.

As you begin to conceptualize your personal brand, spend some time crafting an elevator pitch — a 30- to a 60-second story about who you are. Whether you’re attending a networking event or an informal party, having an elevator pitch prepared makes it easy to describe succinctly what you do and where you’re going (or would like to go) in your career.

You need to come up with very short, concise things to say — stories to tell — that frame your attributes in the right light. Keep your elevator pitch brief by focusing on a few key points you want to emphasize. This could include that you’re looking for a new position, have strengths in a particular niche, or recently increased the value of your current department or company.

6. Grow your online presence.

One of the most important aspects of personal branding is making sure your online presence is engaging in hiring managers, co-workers, and others — even if you’re not on the job hunt.

With so many different social media tools available today, your online presence will likely look different depending on the medium you choose. While your story should match across all platforms, once you know where your targeted audience is most likely to turn, you can redouble your efforts in telling your best story there.

Additionally, if you want one of your sites or profiles to be exclusively for friends and family, adjust your privacy settings to ensure that potential employers don’t stumble upon any information that could potentially harm your chances of landing a job. Here are some platform-specific tips to help you effectively craft your personal brand online.

7. Embrace networking.

As you cultivate your ideal personal brand, it’s important to network regularly (and effectively) to grow your professional circle. Connect with peers and industry Thought Leaders by going to formal and informal networking events.

The more connections you make — the more value you can provide in your interactions — the more likely it is your personal brand will be recognized. And, considering 85 percent of all opportunities are created through networking, regularly attending these events will help you not only build your brand but potentially advance your career, too.

8. Reinvent Your Personal Brand As You Grow

As the digital ecosystem changes and your career evolves, so will your personal brand. Adjust your persona accordingly as you meet different people, find new networking opportunities, and grow in your career. As long as it reflects your professional life, don’t hesitate to create a brand that lets you shine.