A successful personal brand is always authentic. People are naturally attuned to pick up on unique traits and characteristics. So it's important to have a deep understanding of who you are before diving into personal branding. You should consider what sets you apart from others and makes you rare. Your brand should reflect on things unique to you, making it difficult for anyone to copy or imitate.
That’s why developing a personal brand begins with self-discovery.
This phase starts with defining three core elements:?
- personal strengths and qualities;
- professional skills within your area of expertise, and abilities you have acquired through education, training, and other professional background;
- points of difference that set you apart from others in your field and allow you to add unique value to your personal brand profile.
Combining these elements will help to create a genuine and compelling personal brand that resonates with your target audience.
Here is the Step-by-Step Guide to go through Self-Discovery:
Identifying Strengths and Values
- Create a list of your personal qualities such as integrity, reliability, resourcefulness, creativity, courage, etc. and skill-based strengths such as leadership, critical thinking, sales, strategic management, project delivery, etc.
- Define your core values and passions that drive your personal and professional pursuits. Line up your brand with your values to enhance authenticity and foster connection with your audience.
- Identify your points of difference to stand out and succeed: a strong track record of performance, a unique professional background, unusual training, received recognition, skills learned from other industries, or things you do outside of work. Evaluate your skill set, including hard and soft skills, to identify areas of expertise and competitive advantage.
- Gain insights from peers and mentors. Ask them to define your top strengths, situations where you've demonstrated them, and what makes you different from a professional perspective.
- Take a personality test like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Enneagram, or Strengths Deployment Inventory.
Analyzing the Results of Self Audit
- Find any similarities and patterns; define obvious gaps, blind spots, or areas for improvement. It will help to determine the current basis of your personal brand, and vectors of progress in the future.
- Use repeated strengths to form the pillars of your personal brand and provide a competitive edge.
- Figure out the value proposition based on your strengths and professional skills.
- Define short and long term goals for your professional growth.
- Answer the question: Where am I supposed to be in the next 1-3-5 years and how is my personal brand going to help me achieve those destination points?
- Write an outline based on your vision.
Remember, your personal brand should be driven by things you really care about!
Self-discovery is the first step in creating a strong foundation for it. Take the time to consider all of the facets, and reflect on your strengths, values, passions, goals, and audience needs as you embark on your personal branding journey.
Follow
Vladislava Dolmat
on Linkedin, and subscribe to my newsletter to get more insights and guidance for developing a strong and authentic personal brand.
Impressive issue! For a deeper dive into optimization, consider leveraging Sequential Testing across multiple variables – beyond the typical pair comparison, to sequentially refine and elevate your content strategy.