Don’t let your personal brand be a trade secret!

When I was a junior associate, the head of our patent department came to my office with a very harried look on his face. It was early December and he was just returning after shopping during lunch hour for a present for his wife. With the keen fashion eye of a shop associate, he selected a beautiful high-end purse.

He showed me the purse, and as a person with a belief that a purse can serve as an extension of one’s self expression, I had to concur that the purse was indeed fabulous.?While pointing to the still-attached price tag, he said “Well now I truly understand the value of a brand!”.

He of course said this in jest because being in IP, we already know how important it is for a business to protect its brand. Logos, colours, symbols, slogans – these are parts of a business’s brand. And we counsel clients to take steps to protect this brand.

Why? Because :

• brand elements evolve to have meaning and connection with consumers and clients;
• confusion can lead to a consumer using an inferior product;
• brand protection prevents marketshare from migrating to a competitor;
• and many more reasons.

Brands have their own value.

Likewise though, it is equally important for you as an individual to protect and build on your own “personal brand”.

Some people consider their personal brand to be the same as reputation. Are you known as the “go-to” for a niche areas of IP law or technology sector?

Others equate personal branding with thought leadership.?Are you the professional with the exceptional public speaking and presentation skills?

I consider a personal brand to be the awareness others have about you that is your voice of self-promotion when you aren't in the room.

Consider a company, logo or slogan that means something to you. Maybe a particular vacation spot invokes good feelings based on?childhood memories so now you take your kids there. Perhaps owning a particular high-end product signifies a level of success. These brands speak to you without actually being in the room.

And that's what your personal brand can do for you. It's your loudest cheerleader when the compensation committee at your firm is meeting. Or your promotional pitch when a potential new client is considering whether to hire you.

Creating and maintaining a personal brand is an important step for business development and your career.

What does a personal brand include?

Your personal brand is going to illustrate to your audience the person you are, from highlighting the values you hold to the expertise you offer. You want to be strategic and consistent about the things you say and write and the way you conduct yourself so that it is all reflective of the person you want to convey. Effective personal branding needs to cover all of the different facets of your life that make you, well, you.?

And this is exactly why building a personal brand is not the goal. Your personal brand is the by-product and result of the actions you take and habits you make in pursuit of your goals.

So..who are you?

Many years ago at an IP conference, I attended a workshop where we explored our personal identity. We were asked to list the adjectives we thought others would use to describe us. I took it one step further and asked some people around me how they would describe me – what adjectives would they use. To my surprise, my list and their lists did not match up at all!

1. Take a moment right now to make your list – how do you describe yourself?
2. At this moment, how would others describe you?
3. How do you want to be known?

Consider your:

-??????professional expertise

-??????professional persona

Do these three lists align?

Living in alignment with your desired personal brand

Now that you know what you want to be known for and how you want to be described, how will you make it happen?

First, are the things you want to be known for things that you can be known for? In other words, are you able to live up to the desired objectives or do you need to upskill? If you want to be known as an expert in a particular emerging technical area, do you need to take some classes or gain practical work experience?

Make sure your desired brand reflects your authentic self – it will be easier and more enjoyable to live in tune with your true self.

Second, build relationships with people in your sphere of reach. A big part of personal branding revolves around the people you know and who know you. Take a macro-level view of their presence in your life and career.

Third, set your actions to align with your brand. What matters here is consistent messaging. People won’t necessarily remember specific actions you’ve taken, but they will attribute feelings and vibe to you based on those actions.

Maya Angelou is generally credited with saying:

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”        

Creating your personal brand online

Your online presence is particularly important these days with the prominence of social media and the ability for anyone to "google" you.

The first thing you want to do is identify exactly what you want to be portraying as your personal brand.?Consider things like your values, what makes you unique, what is your expertise/niche, etc..

Then think about where your audience is. In other words, how can you express your authentic self and building visibility with your audience? For most professionals, this will include being active on LinkedIn. You may also consider other options, such as Twitter or a firm blog as your platform of choice.

Next you want to carve out a plan to use the platform(s) of choice and engage in a way that will reflect your personal brand.?There are number of places you can get tips on how to create this plan. In general, you want to be using your authentic voice. You want to be providing value. And you want to be consistent.

You also want to monitor the engagement you are getting on an on going basis. Collecting this data will help you understand if your current plan is working or if you need to make adjustments.

Going Beyond the Application

Having a strong personal brand is like having a cheerleader singing your praises to your entire audience. Your brand is what tells people who you are when you aren't even in the room. Taking the time to develop an online brand, in particular, can leave a lasting impression.?

Patent professionals sometimes have to counsel clients to NOT protect an invention via a patent, but to instead keep it protected via a trade secret.

I am counseling you to take your career beyond the application and promote yourself so you can benefit from your personal brand – become known for what and who you want to be.

Don’t let your personal brand be a trade secret!

When you're ready, here are the different ways I can help you:

90 day transformation journey: accepting new clients for Q2 of 2023

Hourly, no commitment consulting: accepting new clients for March 2023

Group workshops: accepting new clients for March 2023

Bite sized business development: sign up anytime for this self guided program at

https://www.hetalkushwaha.com/bite-sized-business-development

Email us at?[email protected]