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The art of your own brand
Today, branding isn't just for companies, Hollywood celebrities, or well-paid athletes. People in all walks of life are starting to use their personal brand to get ahead in the game of life.
The only factor that often explains the difference between a professional who is competent and performs well and one who makes a significant income and generates a lot of business is the private label.
Definition of own brand: own brand is a strong personal identity based on a clear perception of what it represents, what distinguishes it from others and the added value it brings to a job or situation.
Your own brand is the sum total of other people's feelings about your attributes and capabilities, how you perform, even their perceptions of your worth.
To mark or not to mark? Many people think that if they do a good job, their career will go well. But no matter how secure your position seems, you are competing with more people than you realize.
For some people, the brand may appear manipulative or fake. "I'd rather be myself," they say, "go with the flow and see where my career takes me." Or, the familiar line, "I'm not good at marketing myself."
If you don't brand yourself, others will. The fact is, you are empowering other people to mark you if you don't do it yourself.
Let me give you an example. A new client walked in who was furious at the way another executive introduced her at a conference. He called her the company's direct mail expert. That may have been the way she started at the company, but not exactly how she saw herself now.
Own brands are created, not born. Branding is primarily a process of analyzing a product in relation to a market and figuring out how to maximize the potential of the brand. Branding is creating an asset out of something. It is about satisfying a market need in a different way. And come up with an action plan, the marketing plan, to create awareness and test the brand.
Launching a person to become a successful personal brand is essentially the same process. It's a strategic conscious process, a branding process, a process that Hollywood celebrities and high-profile athletes have been using for some time.
The Own Brand Mindset: Private Label means seeing yourself as a marketer would look at a product that you want to turn into a winning brand. You don't consider yourself an employee even if you work for a boss. You think of yourself working for yourself marketing the brand, You.
The first thing a marketer does is analyze the market and the product to understand what the opportunities are, what the threats are. What are the current conditions? What are the assumptions about the future? What problems have to be solved? What needs are not being met?
Act as the marketer of the product - you. In personal branding, after analyzing the market, a self-audit is carried out. What are my strengths and weaknesses? How does my brand compare to the people I am competing with?
You focus on the key attributes and resources that set you apart. Skills, abilities and even personality traits that you have that are a solution to a market need.
Plan to dazzle - write a marketing plan. I often work with clients to develop a formal marketing plan that sets out a personal branding strategy and action plan. It is often in writing that new creative options come to light.
It's important to set personal branding goals with a specific time frame and action plan to achieve the goals. So just like a marketer would, write down the personal marketing activities to achieve your goals. And of course, execute the marketing plan. You can't get where you want to go unless you plan for it and then do it.
The last step is measurement. Evaluate your effectiveness. How is my "portfolio" different now from last year? What new projects did I take on? How did I expand my network? What new learning did I acquire? If something doesn't work, change trains.
Thinking and acting like a brand can create and sustain demand for your most important product - you.
