What IS Personal Branding?

?? Jeff Bezos once said, “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”?

Fundamentally I agree with the quote, but it also gives the impression that our brand is in the hands of other individuals; it’s about what “they say” about you. ????

I like to think our brands are more about what I like to say about MYSELF! ?? My personal brand is about what I want to SHARE about myself.?

In other words… I control the messaging. ??

?? Did you know that I love, love, love pretzels? Probably not, because I tend to share more about my love of tea. ??

?? Did you know that I spend a good chunk of my day negotiating hotel contracts for meeting planners? ? Perhaps not, because I spend more of my time talking about my LinkedIn and personal branding training. ??

?? I share the messages I want to share, and that is what makes up my brand.

When I’m not in the room, I hope people say that I have an honest and authentic brand, that I’m an expert in my field, that I’m knowledgeable and wise, that I’m kind and I like to help others. ?Those are the characteristics that are in the hands of other people. ????? But as far as what I want to share about my life, about my knowledge and about my brand’s differentiators, that is most certainly in my own control. ??♀?

Here is my personal definition of personal branding:

?? Personal branding is the intentional amplification of your personality traits so that you can set yourself apart from your competition,? build trust with your audience and attract more leads and opportunities.

If you are on the internet, you have a brand. ?? Your clients, your prospects, other suppliers and competitors, they are checking out your internet footprint. ?? The question shouldn’t be “should I have a personal brand”, but rather “what can I do to control the brand messaging that is out there about me?”

When you create a brand for yourself, you choose what the industry thinks of you, regardless of the product you represent.? ?? Over time, it will alter the results Google pulls up for you.? If you have a LinkedIn profile, it will likely show up as either the first or second result. ?? Other social media platforms will also come up.? If you write a blog, it will also start to drift to the top of the search results for your own name.? ??? This short quick video here is a screencast of where my LinkedIn profile and my blog lies in the search results for my own name. ? Having a personal brand will elevate your active platforms and channels, thus giving you control over what people will see and read about you.

There are a number of reasons why you should have a personal brand, but for me, the top reason is simply this.? ?? You get to choose what you want to be known for.? You have the opportunity to control your messaging. ??

So yes Jeff, it is what people say about me when I’m not in the room, but if I can influence that narrative with my content, my work and my platforms, I will do so. ????

Are you ready to take control of YOUR messaging? ??

You are uniquely and wonderfully made up of thousands and thousands of characteristics, traits, strengths, skills, passion, values, beliefs and stories. ? Boiling it down to 20 characteristics can be a daunting task! ?? Here’s a quick fun activity that may help you pick one of your 20:

? Is there a personality characteristic that can build a quick and easy connection with your audience?

?? For me, I like to talk about my introversion and create a place for other introverts to share their stories.

?? I also like to talk about tea. ? It’s incredible to meet other tea-drinkers in a room full of coffee aficionados. ??

? What can this look like for you?

?? To dive deeper into a study of your personality characteristics (and how to choose the ones that will create a strong personal brand) see if my course Brand Plan Academy is open for enrollment!

??? Empower Our Events? - May 4th

?? Join our friends from Engamio, Snoball Marketing, Ineventors, Remo and Quest AV and help event professionals come together in a unique community experience with those looking to hire talent.? My friend Shawn Cheng and I kick off the event talking about how to build your personal brand on LinkedIn (and how you can use LinkedIn to attract opportunities.) Special thanks to Connie Cay Santos for pulling us all together!

?? Learn more here!

??? Energize and Boost Your LinkedIn Profile - May 7th

Join me and 5 of my Thought Leadership Branding Club friends as we share LinkedIn tips to elevate your LinkedIn game ??

?? Bobby Umar’s sharing about Thought Leadership

?? Ilia Francis is sharing her rockstar video strategies

?? Lynne Williams is chatting career tips for job seekers

?? Heather Epstein is talking communication strategies

?? Melanie Wexler is talking about the power of LinkedIn’s newsletters (just like this one here!)

?? And I’m talking about Polls and Carousels, and how these formats will elevate your impressions and engagement on the platform!

?? Register today for early bird pricing!!

??? MPI’s World Education Congress - June 21-24

??? MPI’s WEC is heading to sunny California!! ??#WECSanFrancisco runs June 21-24 and will feature ground-breaking sessions around event design, contract negotiations, event wellness, and even a couple of LinkedIn sessions with Dawn Rasmussen and yours truly!!

Ottawa Meet Week last week was insane with new connections and friends in the Canadian meetings and events industry!! ???? I met so many incredible humans, here are just a few that made my week incredible:

?? Erin Bellwood - this rockstar event planner was so sweet and kind, it was just a delight seeing her and chatting with her ??

?? Allyson Tonelli with Tourism Kingston - this girl is making stuff happen! ?? From elevating Kingston’s profile with meeting and event planners, to volunteering with MPI, she is making change and helping others. ??

?? Erin Stankewich with the Regina Hotel Association - Erin cracked me up; she has a great sense of humour and kept me in stitches all week! ??

?? Elodie Lortal - Elodie has been doing a fantastic job of promoting her venue, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa - go say “hi” to Elodie, and let her know I sent you! ??

?? Chantel Beaupre and Patricia Pearson - these rockstar event planners executed a flawless and impactful Destination Direct Canada program last week. ?? This program brings destinations and event planners together in one-on-one appointments like no other!!? Each destination hosted appointments in their private hotel suite, all outfitted to represent their destination!? It was the BEST hosted-buyer appointment program I had ever taken part in!? Congrats Chantel and Patricia! ????

?? Vicki Zeppa? and Jennifer Beatty- These amazing ladies have been in the industry for almost as long as I have…. But this past week is where I really got to spend time with them and learn more about their brilliance.? Ladies, this is our year. ?? Love to you both!! ??

And hot off the presses, the brilliant and uber-talented Anthony Vade has joined the Encore AV team as their Event Experience Strategy Director.? What does this mean for your events?? Well, if you do it right and you hire Anthony and Encore, you could elevate your events beyond expectations.? This partnership between Event Design Collective and Encore AV is a game changer.? I cannot wait to see what they do!!!