Crafting Yourself - Personal Branding

Craft your personal brand in the corporate world. Learn to shape your unique Style and credibility like a pearl in a sea shell. Let's shine brighter together!

In this current market situation, having a personal brand is essential. You are a unique personality in the current Rat race. So why run in the rat race when you can stand out by crafting your personality.

So What’s a personal brand? It's like a cocktail. A cocktail of your credibility, skills, quirks, and unique awesomeness that sets you apart from the herd of pinstriped sheep. Think of it as your superhero cape in a sea of business suits.

Personal Branding is the process of defining and promoting what you stand for as an individual. (General)

Personal branding is the process by which individuals differentiate themselves by identifying and articulating their unique value proposition and then leveraging it across platforms with a consistent message and image to achieve a specific goal. (Specific)

Now let’s see a few points that will help to craft a personal brand.

1. Define your Passion:? Know your passion? What do you like? Are you passionate about developing code or are you enjoying teaching, Nature activity? Discover your Passion.

Flaunt your talents, and let your individuality shine brighter than a star in the sky!

1. Appearance: Dress to impress (and Distress):? There is a quote which says “Do not judge a book by its cover”. Unfortunately, every book is always judged by its cover only. Irrespective of who you are and what you know, unless and until they know about you they will always judge you by the way you appear. We need to realize that society is visual and we are walking billboards for our practices. There must be a reason behind retail clothing stores and clothing designers spending so much money each year on marketing.

Using your appearance to enhance your personal brand means dressing and presenting yourself in a way that matches the image you want to convey. If your brand is about being professional, wear professional clothes. If it's about creativity, choose unique and stylish outfits.

There is no need to wear something out of some Fashion magazine. You need to wear what you are comfortable and confident with.

Own your style like a Bollywood diva on the red carpet!

1. Digital Presence - Identify your audience. In the digital age, your online presence serves as the primary platform for showcasing your brand. Start by conducting a thorough audit of your existing online profiles and ensure they reflect your brand identity consistently. Create a professional website or a blog to establish an online hub that highlights your expertise, achievements, and projects. Leverage social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram to engage with your audience, share valuable content, and amplify your brand message.

Don’t be a hard seller, do soft selling.?

Start Sharing. Share your expertise with the world.

• Write articles and share them on LinkedIn and social media.
• Share your quotes, writing and thoughts on twitter.
• Share photos on events, your process and quotes on Instagram.
• Send articles you write to your colleagues via email or start your own blog site.
• Find speaking engagements that match your expertise.

Remember, in the world of personal branding, consistency is key – so keep your online persona as sharp as a South Indian filter coffee!

1. Networking: Network like your career depends on it (spoiler alert: it does). Attend industry events, connect with like-minded professionals, and showcase your sparkling personality like a Bollywood star at a film premiere. Remember, it’s not just about who you know; it’s about who knows you…

1. Behavior: It defines your professional behavior. What's your attitude towards work? There are five key behaviors that you must enhance in order to effectively cultivate and maintain your personal brand. They are the five Cs: Competence, Connection, Courage, Character, and Credibility.

1. Building Credibility: Building credibility is like adding the secret spice to your personal brand recipe. It’s not just about what you say about yourself; it’s about what others say about you. Deliver on your promises, showcase your expertise, and let your actions speak louder than the words. Clients and colleagues trust a credible brand like they trust a good old cup of masala chai – with unwavering reliability and comforting assurance.

In today's connected world, where reputations are built both online and offline, the concepts of credibility and personal branding have become increasingly intertwined. While credibility is the quality by which one is trusted, known, and liked, personal branding is the strategy that amplifies those qualities.

1. Be ready to fail: Sometimes failures are good. Be ready and learn from it. Failures will help you to reanalyze your plans and strategies. Follow the examples of successful failures. Learn from them, how they succeed now with the failures. Success stories will give your motivation to work but failures will give you the strategic way towards your goal.

1. Stay true to yourself. Your Personal Brand is a shadow of yourself. Do not copy - paste someone else's version. Stay true to yourself and be a version of your own unique qualities.

Developing your personal brand will help you:

1. In Life (Professional and personal too).
2. IN your current job.
3. In your career search.
4. In finding new opportunities / partnerships.
5. Building rapport.
6. Networking / Making connections.

So these are the things that will help with branding your personality. You are aspiring Tycoons. Remember in this fast racing world working daily on little things of personality branding, will make you shine like a Diamond!

Vandana Gaikwad - Sapkal.