Your Personal Brand

Hi. I’m Creative Curt. Welcome to the 5th Edition of “Why Some People Win,” a career newsletter providing helpful tips and tricks for building an amazing career and having authentic professional relationships.

This week's discussion is about Personal Brand. Enjoy this snack-sized read.

Now, there are plenty of resources out there to learn about personal branding. I recommend Googling “personal branding” and reading five articles that you find interesting. It will give you a good baseline for developing strategies to enhance your personal brand.

You are a Business. Act Like It!

If you go to McDonalds for a sundae and the ice-cream machine is always broken, how often do you keep coming back, at least for ice-cream? You may instead, go to the Dairy Queen down the street. The ice-cream is not the one you want, but Dairy Queen has better service. Has this happened to you with any of your interactions?

Now, imagine that you are a business. Each interaction you have with a colleague or client is an opportunity to engage a potential customer. What do you want your customer to remember about their experience with you?

Were you friendly?

Were they comfortable sharing their problem or concern?

Did they gain something of value?

Did you provide the service you promised?

What can be improved for next time?

Will there be a next time?

Customer Feedback is Key

As a business, it is important for you to get honest and untampered feedback from your customers. Ask your customers what they thought of you during the meeting. Were your points valid or relevant? How was your communication? Do they have any pointers for you? Asking for feedback lets your customers know that you value them, which helps build trust.

Brand Does Not Equal Reputation

According to Harrison Monarth, “Reputation is not the same as personal brand.” (qtd. in “What’s the Point of a Personal Brand?”). Reputation is how others view you based on your communications and interactions. Your personal brand is how you “want” people to see you. It is intentional. (Monarth, 2022). The author goes into detail about how to build a personal brand strategically at your job. Check out the article below. Thank me later.

Your Key Trait

When building a personal brand, it is important to understand what trait or value you want to be known for at your company. For example, I call myself, Creative Curt. I want to be known as the innovative problem solver that comes up with fresh, effective solutions. I have a natural knack for creativity and seeing the world from a unique perspective. My brand fits who I am.

At my job, I look for opportunities to make creative suggestions and add flavor to projects. For example, my manager asked me to develop a training manual for the team. Instead of using a typical Word or PDF document, I used Microsoft OneNote and Microsoft Teams, to have a live, auto-updating Notebook. The entire team can easily access the Notebook anytime and each member can add their expertise for the processes they are responsible for.

What is your strength? What do you want to be known for? Can you develop that trait further? Again, check out the personal branding article above.

Well, that is all I have for this week. Shout out to Teressa Shorter for suggesting this topic.

What are your thoughts on personal branding? What experiences have helped build your brand?

Share your thoughts by commenting.

Until next time, Stay Blessed!

Creative Curt