The Personal Brand: More Important Than Ever

“Today’s World of Social Media Provides a First-Mover Opportunity”

Most of us think that only big packaged consumer goods companies the likes of Nike, Coke, BMW, et al need worry about branding.  Some of us go as far as including celebrities – politicians (yes, they count as celebrities), musicians, movie and sports stars.  The reality is that in today’s social media rich environment that is just not true.  Add the double-digit unemployment rate to the mix and the importance of creating, maintaining and propagating one’s personal brand takes a giant leap up in the priority scale.

The Internet is lousy with sites.  Everyone can have a site so everyone does.  What makes someone come to your site, stay on your site and more importantly return to your site?  It is the BRAND – The brand is a promise of the value you'll receive.

It is what assures us that “Coke Adds Life”, that our car is “The Ultimate Driving Machine” and that we can “Just Do It” when we put on our Nike running shoes.  We seek out brands that make us feel good about ourselves.  We don’t necessarily drive our BMW like Mario Andretti but it’s nice to know that we can.  And while we may just take that brisk walk around the block there’s a sexy feeling that we could channel a little Carl Lewis if we wanted to.

The same holds true for that other killer app of the Net -- email. When everybody has email and anybody can send you email, how do you decide whose messages you're going to read and respond to first -- and whose you're going to send to the trash unread?

It’s not rocket science……it’s Personal Branding. The name of the email sender is a brand. It's a promise of the value you'll receive for the time you spend reading the message. 

Easy, right?

Now add FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, instant message, texting and comments/responses to other’s blogs/posts etc…..  Let’s face it – we’re visible.  So, rather than fretting and obsessively trying to figure out all the ins and outs of how to protect that status update or that wall post from all eyes…..figure out how to best leverage them to let the world know what makes you special and why you are worth knowing or working with or being hired.  You can only achieve this if you do the soul-searching work to KNOW YOURSELF.

How do I do this? 

Really not much differently than big boys – spend the time figuring out your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.  Identify the qualities or characteristics that make you distinctive from your competitors -- or your colleagues.
What would your colleagues or your customers say is your greatest and clearest strength? What is your most noteworthy personal trait?  Don’t be HUMBLE.  This is not the time for humility.

All of this needs to be wrapped up in a tight-every-word-counts consistent message that can be confidently said time and time again to the world around you.

By no means is this list exhaustive.  Given the constraints of the article size I cannot begin to touch the concepts of evidence and third-party credibility - equally important in the world of Personal Branding.  But at least you can get a start on things….knowing yourself and feeling secure about how you want to show up in the world is the foundation to creating a personal brand that accurately represents you.

Jacqueline ‘Jack’ Perez is Founder and Market Builder for Summit Strategy Partners, LLC, a Chapel Hill-based boutique strategic marketing and communications firm.  Jack helps companies align their marketing strategy to corporate objectives and uncover their Disruptive ConversationTM.  She regularly publishes MarketingSmack – a weekly humorous blog on the Human Experience.

 

Community Contributors - Marketing and Communications by Jack Perez