Personal Brand
- Why Does It Matter?

What Is a Personal Brand?

In today’s competitive workplace, distinguishing yourself significantly from your peers can be a challenge. However, in magazines, as with many other industries, it’s not just about "getting a job"—it’s about building your own personal brand. But what does that mean—"personal brand"? Much like the brands that we all know, such as Coke, Nike, or McDonald’s, your personal brand in the workplace is a combination of the product you offer (i.e., your job performance), the values that you embody, and how the two work together to create the “wholeness” that is you. A personal brand is much more than a job title: It’s a holistic look at your goals, passions and values and how those figure into—and enhance—what you offer an employer. Oftentimes, it’s the individuals who truly know what makes them interesting, compelling, and differentiated who stand out from their peers. These people capitalize on their differences, parlaying them into an advantage. A person’s brand can be the thing that gives an ad sales executive a competitive edge or an editorial assistant’s ability to catch the eye of the managing editor. Of course, a personal brand is only as good as the reputation you are able to build around its unique promise of value—and what you ultimately deliver. Consequently, authenticity and honesty become the most important building blocks for your personal brand. Why Is Personal Branding Important?

No matter where you are on the corporate ladder—starting out, a rising star or an established leader—personal branding is absolutely vital to your success. After all, numerous others may have your job title, but only a few might share your vision and appreciate the particular talents you offer. If you connect with the individuals and companies that value your “mission” in the world, you will have a much greater chance for success. No full-proof path exists for building a personal brand, but you can take steps that will help you create the best personal brand for you.

Ask yourself:

• What are my strengths?
• What am I already known for?
• What am I passionate about?
• What would I really like to accomplish in my life?
• What am I truly good at?
• What contribution can I make?
• How do I define success? What does success mean to me?
• What do I want my legacy be?
• How would I like to be remembered?

You’ll be promoting your personal brand for many years, so make sure you identify qualities that truly embody your personal brand.

2. Boil It Down

While you’re brainstorming your personal brand, it is helpful to write everything down. You will want to create a statement that encapsulates everything you want your brand to be. This will be your "personal mission statement." Examples might include: "I am an effective and efficient production manager who remains calm no matter what crisis arises." "I am a highly qualified, proven, results-driven executive who wants my legacy to include mentoring young talent." "I am a passionate, people-oriented leader with solid business acumen, a strong work ethic and integrity."Once you have drafted a personal mission statement, define specific goals and objectives as they relate to your career development. In order to reach these goals, you need to create a measurable action plan to accomplish your goals/objectives. This is how you will get from "A" to "B" to "C"—all the way to "Z". As time passes, you will want to revisit your mission statement, goals and action plan because they will need to be adjusted as you evolve.

When choosing your brand, don’t let your job title dictate who you are. Your brand is much more than just your job title—it should evoke your purpose in life, what you want to accomplish, and the impact you want to have on others. Also, your brand does not need to showcase every aspect of yourself. A brand identity that displays your every interest rarely works. However, if done correctly, your personal brand’s reputation and credibility will help you stand out from the crowd, and create an environment in which job opportunities come to you.

Also, it might be tempting to try and mold yourself into a brand that fills a void in the marketplace. But don’t just pull a brand identity out of the air. You will either be found out or the day-to-day grind of living without authenticity will wear you out. Either way, you will lose "brand equity" with your audience. Your brand should be a natural extension of yourself.

3. Listen to Feedback

Once you’ve worked on your brand identity, you need to get input from those around you. Build your own "board of directors" (i.e., mentors, peers, friends, family) to give you feedback on your branding plan and how you are putting it into action. Branding is ultimately about communicating your identity; thus it is crucial that you know how it is being received in the minds and hearts of others. Afterall, without input from the outside, you only have half the picture of your brand. 4. Distinguish Your Brand

What need can you satisfy better than anyone else? The more you are able to distinguish your brand, the more you potentially will be able to find someone to pay you for it. Look at the market—read the news, websites, newsletters, etc. and find out what the status quo is so you can capitalize on what makes you special.

5. Do Your Homework

Go to a good search site and enter keywords related to your brand identity. Check out how those sites embody the qualities of your own brand. Note the ways that these sites present themselves and think about how you might do the same for your own brand online.

6. Seek Professional Help

Through the branding process, you may want to get professional help. Career coaches excel at helping clients formulate and promote their personal brands. You can also visit discussion forums on branding-oriented or career development websites that to get further feedback on your personal branding efforts.

7. Once You’ve Created Your Personal Brand, Keep It Current

Keep up with the latest advances in technology or other areas of knowledge that may be of particular importance to your brand. If you don’t, you run the risk of becoming "stale", you need to show that your brand is an evolving entity. Promote Your Personal Brand in a Variety of Ways

The Internet.

The Internet allows you to use a wide range of tools to communicate their personal brand to a well-defined target audience. Follow these key steps toward making sure your personal brand is seen.

Google yourself. In today’s market, if you don’t show up in Google, you don’t exist. That’s a reality in the new world of work. Clients, colleagues, hiring managers, executive recruiters and employees are all using Google to learn about you. To get a stronger presence on the web.

Create a profile on social networking websites such as Facebook and LinkedIn. These sites allow you to publish your biography, connect with other people in the system, and be found by people who need to know you. You should try to have a professional profile at all relevant social networking sites.

Create a website and/or blog—In all your communications, you can refer people, including colleagues, potential clients and employers, to this site even if only in your e-mail signature, so they can get a fuller picture of your personal brand.

Contribute to e-mail newsletters and discussion forums.

Get online media exposure by creating e-books or podcasts or writing free articles.

Branding Yourself for Success

We all know the power of brands: They are easily recognizable, stand for something, represent certain qualities, and stay true to their values over the years. Similar to how some of the largest companies in the world build their brand recognition, you can do the same; whether you are entering the job market or want to advance your career. Put the steps to personal branding into practice and you will become the success you were meant to be.

Please enjoy the articles listed below, and use the contact us form to give us feedback and your personal experiences.

Have you ever considered that every email you send makes an impression on someone? Each impression plays a small, but important role in defining your personal brand.

Just as every product has a brand, so do each of us. We’re all branding ourselves every day, in every way—by how we sound on the phone; by our appearance; by our level of physical fitness; by how we acknowledge people, and through our email communications.

If the people you have corresponded with via email over the last 30 days were surveyed and asked to describe your personal email brand, what would the results show? Now take a minute to think about your goals and consider the person you need to become to achieve your goals. Would these survey results be consistent with this image?

My mentor Jim Rohn said, “For your life to get better, you have got to get better.” Improving your email brand is part of getting better. Don’t ever allow yourself to think that something as routine as your email messages doesn’t matter—every thing matters.

As you read the 49-email tips contained in this special report, consider the refinements you can make to your email brand.

Creating Your Image

1. Be friendly—Your demeanor in your online communication should be similar to how you interact offline. If you value your relationships, take an extra 15 seconds to type something friendly at the beginning and/or at the end of the email. It could be simple one-liners such as “I hope you had a relaxing weekend,” or “Thanks for all you do.”

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