In recent years, the term ‘personal branding’ has become more popular. The amount of searches hits on Google increases steadily, yet people often do not fully understand what a personal brand entails.
A personal brand is not about changing who you are and creating an image just to meet someone else’s expectations. It is about identifying who you are, and which selling points make you stand out from the crowd. People who market their own brand are more likely to be seen as experts in their field, and therewith receive job offers at higher levels.
How It Works
Before creating and displaying your brand, some thorough self-reflection is necessary. How do you project yourself to the outside world at the moment? What do you have to offer that you would you like to be seen by others? The personal brand can include, for instance, a mission, a niche product or profession, a lifestyle, as well as abilities. It helps to get a feeling of how one is perceived by asking others directly.
After having gathered a clear picture of yourself, the next step is to plan what and who to reach with the personal branding. By defining the goal, it becomes easier to figure out the competitors of the same niche. Their portrayal should be taken into consideration so as to differentiate with your own brand. Choosing the target group should be accompanied with analysing what is needed there, and how it fits to the personal strengths.
Once a concept for the personal brand is put together, visibility needs to be created. Usage of social media accounts should be in line with the branding; likewise on networking events, in interviews and conferences, and of the overall appearance, the personal brand should be represented consistently.
Obviously, a strong personal brand has many advantages. You can stand out as an expert in your field, create awareness for yourself and automatically connect with other influencers in the business. Here, it is more important who knows you, rather than who you know. Of course, personal branding can also limit you in some cases. Imagine you are seen as an absolute expert in a specific industry, but would like to shift your career to a completely different field after a few years.
Personal re-branding is possible! Retreat from the different channels for a while without being present with your old brand, and find out what your new brand should be about. Once the new concept is created, start your new marketing by building an atmosphere of optimism and of departure to something bigger and better, rather than defending your change. Give it some time and the new personal brand will be as successful as the old one.
By Togther Abroad