I’m not talking about Jo Brand or Russell Brand I’m talking about YOUR personal brand. What do people think about you? How are you perceived among your clients, colleagues and within your industry?
Whether you are a business leader, a consultant, a sales person, a lawyer, an entrepreneur, a hairdresser or anyone in business who cares about how people perceive them, you need to think about your personal brand.
Without even realising it, you are influenced by the branding that companies spend thousands, if not millions, trying to tell you what their brand is about. Whether it is the prestige of a Mercedes-Benz, the safety of a Volvo or the fun nature of a Mini Cooper, you have these opinions mainly because of the way they are they are branded. The same applies to your personal brand. You need to understand what your brand says about you. If the answer is you don’t know, then it probably says little or nothing about you.
If you are applying for a job or trying to work with a new company or even working internally with people outside your normal network, then people may research you on Google or LinkedIn. If you don’t have a strong presence, then you will probably get ignored. You need to feature in the top few search results, if not the top one. If you have a popular name like Smith or Patel, you might need to work harder.
Here is a few ideas to consider:
- Who are your target audience?
- What message you want to tell people?
- Which methods of communication do you need to use?
A resource you may want to consider checking out is William Aruda who is a personal branding specialist in the USA, here is his YouTube channel.
I will cover these points in more depth in future blog post. Please subscribe to the RSS feed or add your name to the email alerts function on the right column.