Personal Branding

Has it hit you that it is no longer enough to have a good education to advance in your career? Lately there has been huge commotion about personal branding. Developing your personal brand can do wonders for your career success. Everyone already has a personal brand whether you take control of it or not so why not use it wisely. Are you ready to be empowered by your brand?

Here are 9 benefits of personal branding

1. Showcase your strongest assets

Focusing on your strongest assets in personal branding allows you to underplay your weaknesses. Lets face it, everyone has weaknesses but creating a personal brand allows you showcase your strengths and downplay your weakness.

2. Comfortable in your own skin

The benefit of having a personal brand is that you do not have emulate anyone. This is about you. It is your opportunity to have pride and develop your personal qualities rather than try and be someone you are not. You do not have to have Martha Stewart’s cooking skills or Tom Cruise’s striking looks; you can simply be John the nerdy technical support guy and showcase your passion for technology.

3. Attract your targeted audience

Your personal brand will not attract everyone but it will reach and familiarize your intended audience with your brand. It will create a relationship between you and your audience that will help you land more opportunities and contracts.

4. Focus on your goals

Knowing your personal brand allows you to focus on an area of expertise and minimize distractions. Rather than waste your time on many different fields of interest, your personal brand will allow you to excel in an area that you will become known and accredited for.

5. Creates trust and connectedness with your audience

Your personal brand is an excellent medium to communicate your passion and motivation to your intended audience. It creates trust because it digs deeper than the surface creating a more personal relationship. Trust grows when an employer or client feels like they personally know you and that is why your personal attributes are just as significant in your brand as is your area of expertise.

6. Creates a consistent image

When you take the time to develop your personal brand you create a standard by which to live by. It helps you maintain a consistent image because you have a personal brand as a guideline to follow in how to portray yourself. For instance, if your personal brand is as a responsible and innovative marketing director, you know that posting a video on Facebook of you burning a Boston Bruin’s flag after a hockey game will not fit the standards of the brand you created.

7. Makes you an expert

Defining and marketing your personal brand makes you the go to person for a specific need. It makes you an expert in your area of specialization. For example Tom is an innovative and responsible marketing director. He is very diligent about maintaining his personal brand. He posts blogs every week, speaks in seminars, updates his Facebook page and always keeps his audience informed about his work. This makes Tom an expert and if you are looking for a responsible and innovative marketing director he is the person who will stand out from the crowd.

8. Makes the little things count

Personal brand allows you to make the little things in your daily life contribute to your career and personal brand. For example, that detested bingo game that you play with your grandmother on Friday evenings to make her feel happy and cared for is not a minor event. It will distinguish you as a caring person that your employer or client will appreciate. Personal brand allows you to make the most basic activities in your life count!

9. Gain visibility

Creating a personal brand allows you to market yourself and be known and distinguished from other competitors. It will give you that leverage or edge that other people in your field might not have.

Personal brand is what will get you noticed in today’s very competitive market. Managing your personal brand will not only give you visibility but also create trust and connectedness with your audience. We always love to hear your feedback. How has your personal brand contributed to your success? Even more interestingly, how has your personal brand MISMANAGEMENT impacted you and your career?

Before we even talk about the benefits of a personal brand, one must ask…what is a personal brand?

Well, imagine this, you have been eagerly looking for a job for over a year but haven’t been successful. Has it hit you that your profile picture on Facebook with a beer bottle in one hand and an indecently dressed girl on the other have anything to do with it? If you think you can just rely on your strong resume, interview skills or high-end suit to advance in your career, think again. Employers and customers are relying strongly on social media to evaluate you before you even have the chance to enter the office door for an interview. Think about it, the only thing that might be standing between you and your dream job is that blog you posted a month ago about how depressed you are or how much you hate your boss. This is why you need to develop a strong personal brand.

The PERSONAL in personal brand

Listen up people: your personal traits do matter. Not only does your personal brand have to be authentic and represent you, it has to represent more than your technical skills. This is not another form of a resume; it is your time to shine. Think for instance of Tom the financial advisor. It is not enough to have a college degree in order to get a job. His educational credentials do not distinguish Tom from John the financial advisor down the street. What makes Tom’s personal brand is his honesty, loyalty and his passion. His Facebook profile with an old couple that he helped achieve their retirement dreams, or a simple thank you note from a customer posted on his Linked In page will definitely contribute to his personal brand.

Market yourself

Think of Donald Trump. His personal brand is about success and wealth. If you want to learn about wealth you are likely to watch a Trump seminar. NOW, what distinguishes you? If you can choose three words to market yourself what would they be? Personal branding is making an online impression and standing out from your competitors in order to achieve your goals.

Tailor your personal brand and not just that Gucci suit!

Having a personal brand can help you advance in your career because employers are using social media and search engines to learn all about you before an interview. It is essential that you know your career goals and tailor your online image to be compatible with the job requirements. For instance, if you are applying for director of sales position, that photo you posted with hot pink hair will not exactly land you that opportunity. Remember that your personal brand is out there whether you like it or not so why not make it work for you? Tailor your personal brand to leverage you towards success rather than pull you down! Are you that person on Facebook with pink hair or the caring one campaigning against animal abuse? Here is a little exercise for you. Look deeply at yourself and evaluate how do use social media to contribute your personal brand.