WHETHER YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A NEW JOB, FREELANCE WORK OR JUST A PLACE TO FILE YOUR INSPIRATION, DEVELOPING YOUR BRAND IDENTITY IS KEY TO SHOWING OFF WHAT MAKES YOU, YOU. NATHANIEL D’COSTA TELLS YOU MORE
Not sure what a personal brand is? Google yourself. If you have a Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn account, your name along with these links will most likely pop up on the search page. There’s your personal brand right there. Now the next question you will probably ask is how is this important? If you’re already a 65-year-old CEO of a huge multinational company making a gazillion dollars a year, then you can probably skip this, but if you are looking to promote yourself to potential employers or looking to stand out in a country of a billion people then personal branding will go a long way in letting others know exactly what you are about and what you have to offer.
The term personal brand first came about when Tom Peters published ‘A Brand Called You’ in Fast Company Magazine i n 1997. As Peters writes, “Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.”
Just having a fancy resume no longer works. You now represent your resume. The more you are able to market yourself, the better are the chances of you landing a job.
5 STEPS TO YOUR PERSONAL BRAND
So now you know what a personal brand is, but how do you take that next step and get the country raving about your product? Here are five simple ways to get you noticed
Step 1
BE THE EXPERT
Figure out what is that one thing you know so well that you can take on a super computer or that two-year-old girl in Britain who seems to know everything, and beat them with your knowledge. It could be anything: sport, fashion, food or pink fluffy unicorns (not highly recommended, though). The more specific and knowledgeable you are on a certain subject, the more relevant and endorsed you will be. If you’re not sure what you are really good at, ask your friends and family to help you out.
Step 2
YOU ARE AWESOME! SHOW IT
Unfortunately, everyone else thinks they are awesome too, so you need to let your uniqueness outshine the others’. Be witty, quirky, sarcastic or plain silly if that’s who you are. Let your personality promote your brand. Have your own style that others will instantly recognise as yours, whether you are talking about world politics or about how you tripped on your own laces this morning. Warning: Don’t indulge in too much selfpromotion – you know how there’s that person who keeps talking about himself and annoys everyone around? Yeah, don’t be that person. No one wants to engage with someone who is constantly campaigning for themselves. You can promote your writing, opinions and ideas, but don’t forget to do the same for your followers.
Step 3
ADAPT TO YOUR AUDIENCE
If you notice that you got more likes and retweets for the picture of your shoes than the picture of your face then maybe you should go in for plastic surgery. We joke. Study your retweets, your shares and your comments. What are your followers telling you? What are they telling you that they like? Why do they love it so much? How can you do more of it? Figure out what your audience likes and share that type of content more often. Try and make assessments of your performance regularly and make sure you learn from your audience. Accept criticism even if it hurts your ego and work to make your content better.
Step 4
BUILD YOUR NETWORK
No, don’t send friend requests or follow everyone that FB or Twitter suggests. You will just end up getting a whole lot of spam like Justin Bieber’s pictures on your feed. Instead, start interacting with people who are in the same field as you or are connected to your brand. Follow experts, learn from them and create relationships. Actively participate in groups and forums and attend outdoor events that pertain to your field.
Step 5
STAY IN SIGHT
Do you remember how Felix Baumgartner continued tweeting until minutes before he took that epic leap? The next time you take a trip to the hills to find inner peace or plan to hibernate for the winter, make sure you have Internet connectivity. That’s not to say you can’t have time off, but don’t stay away for too many days at a time. If you do, you risk losing your influence and when you’re back, you’ll need to start creating your social media footprint all over again. Don’t let people forget who you are!
YOUR BRAND AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Tanvi Bhatt, a personal brand strategist and the founder of Panache, India’s premier personal branding company, shares some tips about personal branding and social media
How does social media impact your brand?
Social media has brought the world at our finger tips, and thus, your brand worth is now just a click away! People can Google you in seconds and form judgments about the worth of your personal brand based on the social media and digital footprint you own. You cannot afford to exist in the 21st century and live in the 10th! You cannot ignore the purpose and power of social media, and at the same time, you must not undermine the perils it presents. Be wary of what you say, what you post and what you tag online – remember, it’s like being in a press conference 24×7, so never post what you won’t host. What goes online stays online; social media can break or make your personal brand, all it takes is just one click.
How do you keep your personal life separate from your brand?
Your personal brand is your reputation. Your personal life will have a huge impact on what you do in your professional life and thus influence your brand reputation. The three golden rules to demarcate your personal life from your professional life are:
• Never mix your personal and professional circles online on various social media platforms. You may use Facebook for personal, LinkedIn for professional and Twitter for your social circles. If you do blog, keep your personal musings on a distinct blog away from your professional portfolio. • Do not publish personal/intimate/crazy/freaky/wild/inebriated pictures of yourself/others on the web; you do not want to end up being a victim to the same.
• Brand yourself to highlight the best of both worlds – personal and
professional life: for e.g., on Twitter, you can be anything but @sexysenorita
or @thebikerhunk! Be relevant and YOUnique at the same time.
Remember: every tweet you tweet, contributes in building or breaking your
personal brand.
THINGS TO REMEMBER
Be yourself: Nothing connects people to your brand like your personal story. Adding your personality to your brand is what gets people to connect with you. Just ask Matthew Inman a.k.a The Oatmeal. Inman started a comics and articles website called The Oatmeal in 2009 that became so popular that Inman himself is now known as The Oatmeal and he carries that personality all over the Internet.
Be inimitable: Being good at what you do, mixed in with a go-getter attitude, used to be all you needed to get noticed and be considered for a great position in your field. Now you need a brand that’s absolutely unique if you want your card, or resumé, or portfolio to get a second look. Find and dominate your niche; celebrate your expertise. Malini Agarwal extended her passions and her expertise to her blog MissMalini which is now synonymous with Bollywood and fashion.
Be valuable: A strong personal brand is focused on serving others. It sounds strange, but the easiest way to make it big is if others find value in your brand. Make your brand about the impact you can have on others. You’ll find that you won’t need to be concerned with self-promotion. Oprah Winfrey made sure viewers found value and connected with her show, thus building up her brand and making her one of the most powerful women in television. A strong, useful brand empowers your network to spread your story for you.
Value 3 Issue 2
