Brand Marketing at a Personal Level

By Kathi Crawford, SPHR, IAC-CC

Are you confused about personal branding? Everyone’s talking about it and why it’s so important to have a personal brand and how you must communicate it in person or on the web. Do you feel like you’re behind the eight ball on this one? Trust me, you are not alone!

What is a personal brand? Simply put, it’s your total perceived value, relative to competitors, as viewed by your audience. If you haven’t checked in with your audience lately, it’s hard to know what your personal brand is. And how can you communicate something you’re not sure about?

Did you know that you have both an external and an internal brand? What your audience sees is your external brand. Who you really are is your internal brand. Until you know who you are on the inside, it’s impossible to create and communicate your personal brand. Are you caught in the trap of “irreconcilable differences” between your inner game and your outer game. Are you afraid to let people know who you really are for fear they won’t like you or hire you or give you the time of day?

We try so hard to craft an image that we believe people want to see and experience with us. Over time, we get caught up in this image we have created and forget who we really are. We try to ignore our failures and hope they don’t come up instead of embracing them and finding the perfection in the experience. We feel that we have to “succeed” over and over again to keep up the image, yet we’re not really sure what success is in our hearts.

Don’t get me wrong, the image and perception we create is what defines a personal brand. That’s my point – if your intent does not equal reality then you have some work to do! If you don’t have a clue about what your true identity is and you are creating an image that isn’t congruent with who you really are, people will figure it out most likely before you do!

I promise you, if you can get in touch with who you really are to the point that perception is reality, and really know what makes you different, you will be able to leverage that difference in the marketplace.

Nobody can take away who YOU are. YOU are your richest asset.

Today it’s all about the B.R.A.N.D. If you want to explore your personal brand, join me at an upcoming workshop where you will learn about these key components and how to create your B.R.A.N.D. YOU Cloud:

–        Bio +/_

–        Relevant

–        Authentic

–        Noticeable

–        Differentiated

Experts agree — “personal branding” is a key to long-term career success. Join us in this workshop to find out exactly how to create your personal branding statement and the profound impact this work will have on your career.

For registration information go to: http://peoplepossibilities.eventbrite.com

Testimonials

“This was a very good process to complete. Thanks very much for your help. I learned that your Board of Directors will give you a lot of feedback! I also learned that it takes a little time to think about that feedback and come up with words and phrases that were common in that feedback. Lastly, I learned that my personal brand is a good summary of the words and phrases on the B.R.A.N.D. YOU CLOUD. It’s something I can talk about and expand upon when I’m talking to others.”

–          Larry Sherrell, Workshop Participant

“The B.R.A.N.D. YOU exercise was excellent and I believe what it did for me was to take a closer look at my recommendations and see what individuals thought about me and gave me a new perspective of myself, especially at this time of being out of a job.”

–          John Orrange, Workshop Participant