Prefix and Personal Branding

Since this is my first attempt to build my personal brand. I would like to start by describing what a personal brand means to me.

Prefix and personal branding Earlier an individual was defined as a summation of their experiences, passion & profession, core belief system, values, and social activity in the real world. A person’s name was the most defining element. Cut to an explosion of social media and thereby the virtual world that demanded us to have a virtual personality which then became our most defining self. Not our name, but our ‘username’. Not as a person but as a personal brand. An insightful article on Forbes by Caroline Castrillon says that Personal Branding is all about telling a compelling story with the self as the central character. This rings true because in our virtual world, we are our own hero and our public perception is the by-product of our carefully curated skills and experiences we choose to show to the world for digital consumption. It’s our choice of a prefix we choose to put before our name that builds our brand. Personal Brand is important because it helps you distinguish yourself from so many in your circle cut from the same fabric but who needs to make their unique designs stand out. It also helps in building the corporate brand for your business and establish credibility for the same. Research has shown that audiences trust a business that has a face. You can be that face for your own brand. If your opinions, values, content, philosophy, and ultimately your brand hold water in the minds of the audience, your business shall too. Case in point Elon Musk whose personal brand holds so much value that it can drive leads for his business as well. While there is no stringent formula to build a successful personal brand nor does it happen overnight, there are a couple of ground rules that can propel an online profile to the position of a distinctive personal brand.

Define the who This is where your choice of prefix comes into the picture. You don’t have to be the smartest or most knowledgeable person on the planet to have a successful brand. All you need is self-awareness. While you may want the audience to know you because of your professional achievements, your personality may bleed beyond just your professional self. Who are you as an individual and whom you aspire to be constituted in itself a journey of self-exploration that your audience wants to see? Remember that you can’t be everything to everyone so avoid spreading yourself too thin in pursuit of pleasing everybody. Your personal brand must be about you and you decide how the public shall perceive you. In a sea of so many personal brands vying for attention, one can get lost if one doesn’t have a distinct voice. Your personal brand is your opinions, your skills, your experiences, and your relation to others, and the more authentic you are, the more credible is your personal brand. For example Creative Head and Founder of Meet Voice Company Mr.Bodhisatwa Dasgupta is more than a storyteller/copywriter in terms of his brand. His personal brand reflects his quirk, his honesty-someone who doesn’t mince words, how he perceives work, and more. 

Find out your why Before plunging into the bandwagon of creating one’s own personal brand, one needs to understand the ‘why’ of it. Persona brand is for everyone and anyone who wants to leverage on their professional experiences but the ‘why’ differs from person to person. Personal Brand establishes trust and authenticity to a profile that in turn can help garner business within the professional network which is why it is very important to understand the motive behind building one’s own brand. Ask yourself why you need a brand for yourself. To connect with influential personalities in your professional circle, to be a ‘virtual’ butterfly, to establish yourself as a thought leader, to garner business, or just to placate your ego. Also, this ‘why’ may evolve from time to time and that’s perfectly okay as long as the transition is smooth and honest. The public can see through if one is trying too hard. One mustn’t be scared of being transparent as audiences nowadays are appreciative of an honest and authentic approach. Having said that, there is a thin line between being authentic and being inappropriately public about personal things. The more you are clear about your why the easier it shall be to control where to draw the line and not overstep social boundaries. The reason why you want to create your own personal brand ultimately determines how you want to create it.

How to do it

Although it may sound a little flippant, but you need to think of yourself as a product. As a product, what problems do you solve and which needs do you fulfill. Who is your target audience? Once you have these insights at the back of your hand, there are lot of tools at your disposal that can be used to build a brand. Building your own personal site can be the first one. It’s no rocket science to build a website of your own with Wix, WordPress and many others to serve you whenever and however you demand (much like Aladdin’s genie). What the genie won’t do however is think on your behalf - The design that defines you and what you choose to show and whatnot. Solely, because you know yourself the best. One needs to spend and invest enough time to figure that out and if executed to the hilt, your website shall be your brand’s spokesperson for free. If not create, curate. This is another mantra that may pave your way to a successful personal brand. While it may not always be possible to create unique content for your brand, curate relevant content, articles, editorials relevant to you and your work and share your commentary on it. This shall benefit you in more than one way. One, sharing external content will grab attention of the original creator. Second, it shall help you in enhancing your network and connect with like-minded individuals. Third, reading such content shall help you broaden your horizon as well and make you aware of the market’s pulse. You can also advertise yourself on social media, guest blog at popular websites, join seminars and events with influential personalities, and engage with other communities relevant to you. Make yourself visible in your circle with your distinctive opinions and comments. As true to any brand, product, service, or even human, it is pertinent that you tell a story. No one is interested in your brand just blows its own trumpet. You need to provide your audience with something that is beyond tooting one’s own horns. Build a compelling narrative that suits your ‘why’ and also gives your audience a reason to hang around you. A great way to make your voice heard and amplified is by getting featured in reputed media channels. Share your thoughts and opinions in the form of well-articulated articles and get them published in substantial journals read by people interested in your field. Such features help in building your credibility so that your personal brand doesn’t get reduced to a manufactured persona but a real living-breathing individual with important knowledge to share.

Remind yourself why you are here

For every decision that you make in the online space, go back to the ‘why’ of it and understand if your decision justifies your big picture and entire value system. Align your professional steps with the vision of your personal brand and what it seeks to achieve. Over time your personality may evolve. Your business may also evolve and what you need from your personal brand may also transform which is absolutely fine. Change is constant and evolution only displays your adaptive nature. However one needs an anchor point so as to not stray too far. And that anchor point is your core value system that defines your ‘why’ in the first place. As you keep on growing, it is highly recommended that you come back to your anchor point from time to time so as to remind yourself why you had started this journey and what you had set out to achieve. It’s crucial to remember that once you set out to create your own personal brand, your brand becomes larger than you. But we need to see that the ‘you’ doesn’t become distant from the personal brand we build. This whole hullabaloo of going by the rules of building one’s personal brand may seem too clinical at times. While these rules are important and immensely help you reach your goal of crafting a distinctive brand, one can also sometimes learn to let go and be a little spontaneous. Spontaneity can be part of the strategy too. For example, if you watched a show or a movie that reminded you of your old times in college, go ahead and talk about it even if you have so far crafted your personal brand only basis your professional experiences. Maybe you can talk about how far you have come since then. Once in a while, it’s all right to be spontaneous and give room for some breathing space. Ultimately you are building a brand for yourself and if there is something that speaks to you, there is no harm putting that out. Personal branding is a constant exercise that requires long term commitment. One needs to follow the rules that orient with one’s vision and you will be surprised to find your tune as you walk along the journey of building your own brand. Be it orator, speaker, thought-leader, reader, writer, observer, choose the prefix that suits you. The Best of Prefix is the one that describes your vibes.