Five Tips on How to Build a Authentic and Powerful Personal Brand

Branding is a process. It is also unique; it is purposely, often carefully, created; but at its best, is both genuine and a promise of quality.  Or, for the business-oriented definition, according to Entrepreneur.com, branding is:

“The marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products.”

So when most people think of branding, this definition, or one similar, may come to mind. However, branding is also a daily practice we all have in common regardless of our occupation – I am talking about your personal brand.

Some of you may know your own brand and how you are perceived among your colleagues and personal peers — but for those who don’t, have no fear! Here are some steps you can take to identify your own, personal, distinctive “label”:

1. List Your Adjectives

No one knows you better than you. So make a list of adjectives you would use to describe yourself as a working professional. Give this some thought and be true to yourself; if you find that your list of adjectives is more negative than positive, create a list that contains “aspiring” adjectives. This will give you some kind of direction for the next step.

2. Create a Mission Statement

Make a personal mission statement for yourself. It should be sincere, concise, and describe your overall purpose in your industry. Use these four questions to start:

– Who are you?
– What do you do?
– How do you do it?
– What value are you bringing?

For example, my personal mission statement is: “Ali Beemer is an ambitious and driven professional who provides exceptional marketing services by bringing a positive attitude, an engaged mindset, and an eager vitality to all campaigns, challenges, and tasks in the marketing field.”

Remember, you are an individual; build this mission statement to reflect who you are and no one else.

3. Collect Other’s Adjectives

It always helps to know what people honestly think of you – so ask them. Ask your boss, your colleagues, even your direct reports, for the first words that pop into their head when they hear your name. If you feel that these people will not give you – to your face — the honest answers you are seeking, create an anonymous online survey for your fellow colleagues to take.

To do this, use a free online survey tool like www.SurveyMonkey.com – it is free for up to 100 responses. Ask open ended questions such as, “What are 1-3 adjectives you would use to best describe Ali Beemer?” Then ask close-ended questions such as, “Do you feel that the word ‘ambitious’ describes Ali Beemer?” And, in general, ask any question you feel would be relevant to your research.

Take these responses, and compare them to your list of adjectives and mission statement. Are there similarities? Are there differences? Are there some comments that aren’t in line with your mission statement or brand?

4. Wear It On Your Sleeve

When it comes to branding or re-branding, it has to go into immediate effect in order for the marketplace to take notice. The same goes for personal brands — your brand has to have a direct presence in your place of work in order for it to become effective.

Let’s say you received some feedback from your peers that wasn’t in line with your personal brand. Do you know why? Was it a specific instance? Is it behavior that you express often?  Be honest with yourself, then correct this to align with your newly discovered personal brand.

You can also take some chosen adjectives from your mission statement and align them with a goal you want to meet each week/month. I’ll use mine as an example:

Ambitious: I am going to evaluate my company’s competitors and their marketing efforts to find any missed marketing opportunities.
Driven: I am going to attend a profession-related networking event to increase my knowledge of the industry.
Positive: I am going to bring a positive attitude to my work and to my fellow peers.
Engaged: I am going to remain focused on the tasks I need to complete this week.
Eager: I am going to talk to my boss about being included in projects with which I am unfamiliar.

5. Commit to a Daily Practice

In marketing, brands become a household name based on the commitment they make to their customer. So in your professional career, you want to stand out in order to get that promotion, a pay raise, or to become a known expert in your field. Those achievements don’t happen overnight; to accomplish them,  “daily personal brand practice” is necessary.

How it works: in marketing, brands are fueled by emotion — and personal brands are even more so, so keep in mind that you can’t expect everyone to fall in love with your brand. What you can do, though, is to build a level of trust among your peers by being true and genuine to your brand, no matter what. This isn’t always easy, because we are human, but it is a must for your brand to remain intact.

Also, look at your social media accounts; do you have any content on your sites that are not in line with your personal brand? I understand that many of you like to keep your professional life and personal life separate; for those of you who are connected with work colleagues on any personal social media sites, you are at a greater risk for brand dilution. Just as is the case in the marketplace, brand dilution can be detrimental to a brand. Trust is easy to lose, and very hard to get back, so keep that in mind during your daily practice.

At the end of the day, no matter what you think your personal brand is, others perception of your personal brand weighs more and is likely different from what you think. When these two align, you have perfected the art of branding. So be consistent, be authentic, and be YOU